Eldora Intrusion Plate

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Welding 4 plates onto the door bars is not going to tweak the chassis.

It absolutely can. Anytime you heat and weld on something you will change it. Just does.

My only issue is you made your regulars weld em, and now the big boys can just bolt them on. Because they absolutely didn't wanna be welding on their chassis after it was done and off the jig.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Welding 4 plates onto the door bars is not going to tweak the chassis.

It will add residual stress into that area. Will that have any impact on the load path between the front and rear wheels? Depends on car, but probably not. However, no one wants to weld 20# of steel to their car when it is not needed at any other facility.

[JustAddDirt]

I would not want to weld that straight to my chrome-moly chassis, especially without the proper weld wire.
( I assume Rockets still are, and others too)
I would much rather weld a tab, and bolt it on, or bolt in on with weight clamps.
much less risk of making it brittle, and a molecular metal change.

My mods have always been built with them welded onto chassis on the jig. (not 1/8 thick though) that's way overkill

[tb1545]

Most other sanctioning bodies for other classes require plates on the drivers door so its pretty much about time they required them in late models. 16"x26"x.125" translates to 14.75lbs of weight. So tell the driver to eat a few less cheeseburgers and maybe a 1/4 turn on a couple coilovers and youre back to where you were.
You can freak out when they make the rules on fuel cells that costs hundreds of dollars, but a steel plate that might cost $25 maximum to do it yourself if you dont have piles of scrap laying around isnt excessive. the only ones that complain are the lazy ones. Youd be surprised how many guys cut up their cars changing suspension mounts so the ruining the paintjob is kind of mute.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Most other sanctioning bodies for other classes require plates on the drivers door so its pretty much about time they required them in late models. 16"x26"x.125" translates to 14.75lbs of weight. So tell the driver to eat a few less cheeseburgers and maybe a 1/4 turn on a couple coilovers and youre back to where you were.
You can freak out when they make the rules on fuel cells that costs hundreds of dollars, but a steel plate that might cost $25 maximum to do it yourself if you dont have piles of scrap laying around isnt excessive. the only ones that complain are the lazy ones. Youd be surprised how many guys cut up their cars changing suspension mounts so the ruining the paintjob is kind of mute.

Been waiting for this comment. Thank you

[zach51]

It absolutely can. Anytime you heat and weld on something you will change it. Just does.

My only issue is you made your regulars weld em, and now the big boys can just bolt them on. Because they absolutely didn't wanna be welding on their chassis after it was done and off the jig.

Not near as much as everytime they smack the friggin wall.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Not near as much as everytime they smack the friggin wall.

That only involves contact with flimsy bolt on pieces unless you really screw up.

[george w]

You think the chassis which also is considered the biggest spring on/in your car will flex the same afterwords right? I guess testing is cheap to do though right? I'm all for driver safety but saying it wont affect anything is silly......

[zyoung25]

You think the chassis which also is considered the biggest spring on/in your car will flex the same afterwords right? I guess testing is cheap to do though right? I'm all for driver safety but saying it wont affect anything is silly......

Consider the sources.....

[Clayton_Wetter]

It would seem that welding this plate on would hamper the FLEX of the chassis. To what degree I have no idea.

[george w]

Consider the sources.....

if u got some knowledge an a credible source enlighten us how much change is there i have no clue but it definitely add a variable

[Matt49]

A lot of non racers are turning this into a tech discussion.
There are about a dozen technical reasons that the touring guys don't want to weld heavy metal plates to their car at the most extreme far left point possible. It has nothing to do with being lazy.
I could also argue that they are making the car LESS safe by stiffening an area that already offers very little energy absorption in an impact such as driver side first into the wall.

[kiwi1955]

Interesting thread. Here in New Zealand we have had door and head plates on our saloons and super saloons since before I started on dirt and that was 1983. If you have ever been drilled in the door at speed you appreciate that plate. It obviously better if the plate was part of the initial chassis build. Have a look at www.hypermacracing.com and you can see how we have to do it here. Hypermacs are the dominant super saloon/late model chassis in NZ currently.

[93Nelson]

Most other sanctioning bodies for other classes require plates on the drivers door so its pretty much about time they required them in late models. 16"x26"x.125" translates to 14.75lbs of weight. So tell the driver to eat a few less cheeseburgers and maybe a 1/4 turn on a couple coilovers and youre back to where you were.
You can freak out when they make the rules on fuel cells that costs hundreds of dollars, but a steel plate that might cost $25 maximum to do it yourself if you dont have piles of scrap laying around isnt excessive. the only ones that complain are the lazy ones. Youd be surprised how many guys cut up their cars changing suspension mounts so the ruining the paintjob is kind of mute.

The plates are old news to a lot if us. I figured everything had them. Kinda if a no brainier to me.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Longhorn will have them available next week.

[Forward Bite]

As I mentioned in another thread, IMCA has required intrusion plates on driver side bars for over 10 years on the modifieds. All IMCA modified chassis builders weld the plates on the drivers door. Surprised to hear the Late Models raced without them.

[MaverickSprints]

The only people with voices in these decisions are those who have stuff to sell and the most well funded teams.

Hear! Hear!

They continue to run around fixing things that aren't broke and breaking things that were NOT an issue, all to appear to be doing things. What a bunch of know nothings. I use to dream of making a trip to Eldora, now I could care less if I ever race there or see it from the stands. Boo! Boo!

[zach51]

Hear! Hear!

They continue to run around fixing things that aren't broke and breaking things that were NOT an issue, all to appear to be doing things. What a bunch of know nothings. I use to dream of making a trip to Eldora, now I could care less if I ever race there or see it from the stands. Boo! Boo!

Maybe the guy earlier this week that said he'd never go to FALS will swap seats with ya lol

[Bubstr]

I think we are missing the bigger point of this. Last I checked, Eldora is a UMP track. UMP preaches they brought standardized rules to Dirt LM. It's one of the reasons, promoters should have a UMP track and why racers should race at a UMP track.

Eldora gets special treatment anyway, as they never lost their UMP sanction or race dates for allowing a Best car to run at their track. Now they get to make rules that do not conform to other UMP tracks. I think someone should wake up and take care of business in a fair and impartial manor. Seems like here lately, any group can make their own rule, with out consulting with the others. It used to be setteled at PRI show, long before the season starts.

[mcarter815]

You think the chassis which also is considered the biggest spring on/in your car will flex the same afterwords right? I guess testing is cheap to do though right? I'm all for driver safety but saying it wont affect anything is silly......

Your chassis isn't supposed to flex. Your chassis acting as a giant spring does bad things to the handling.