Attaching body to chasis

[kfisch7]

Hey, I've been reading around and can't seem to find a solution to this, though im sure its fairly simple. My team is going to use a fiberglass body, which we are planning on giving our design to a company that agreed to help weld and mold it.

My problem comes after the body is built. I've been given the task of finding a way to attach the body to the frame of the car. I admit my car knowledge is, well, horrible. Which is why im doing this competition so I can learn more about the design and structure of the car.

Can someone point me in the right direction of what I should be looking for? I'll gladly do research on parts and cost, but I don't even know the basics of how to attach the body.

[kfisch7]

Hey, I've been reading around and can't seem to find a solution to this, though im sure its fairly simple. My team is going to use a fiberglass body, which we are planning on giving our design to a company that agreed to help weld and mold it.

My problem comes after the body is built. I've been given the task of finding a way to attach the body to the frame of the car. I admit my car knowledge is, well, horrible. Which is why im doing this competition so I can learn more about the design and structure of the car.

Can someone point me in the right direction of what I should be looking for? I'll gladly do research on parts and cost, but I don't even know the basics of how to attach the body.

[Kenneth]

Well how would you attach anything to anything? What are the various ways to secure something to anything?

I myself am fairly new to this forum, but I believe that there is no secret behind this problem! Just think!

[kfisch7]

Normally I would say to either bolt or screw it into place. But would we actually have to bolt the body onto the frame itself, or if we bolt the body to each other will they stay secure on the frame?

Through more reading I came across DZUS Fasteners over on hrpworld.com. Im not sure if that does what I think it does. That looks like it attaches one section of the body onto another, but would doing that also hold the body onto the frame?

[rmk36]

You can weld tabs onto your chassis to accept DZUS tabs. They work well if done correctly.

[OspreysGoSWOOP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">DZUS Fastener </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Yup. It's the industry standard.

h t tp ://w w w. offroad-engineering. com/dzustabs.html

[Drew Price]

You want to be able to quickly and easily remove and re-attach the panels. For a while we used zip-ties and velcro straps, I've seen teams use nuts and bolts, rivets, plastic snap fasteners (like most OEM cars use for attaching non-structural panels), quarter-turn fasteners.

The possibilities are nearly endless, and your solutions don't necessarily have to come from race catalogs.

[kfisch7]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate the help, especially since i know this is such a basic question.