Re-enforcing the front end of a Mopar has been around alot longer then XV, hotchkis, etc... It is just a good move all around.
And that's funny, I talked to the guys at Mopar Muscle, they had to work the frame on the B-body to make it work, AND they re-enforced it with plate steel to make sure it was strong enough to take the abuse. And they never did finish it.
As did Dave at Totally Auto, he did significant upgrades to the entire front end of the Barracuda, including re-enforcing the front K-member bolts to ensure there would be no issues. I spent a week with him last year on the Power Tour, talked quite a bit about it. He's the one that told me about some options to re-enforce the front frame rails to make sure they wouldn't fail.
And I think we all know how E-Booger feels on the subject.
Here is what Mopar Builder John from US Car Tool said.
Now, when an Alterktion is installed, all the suspension forces are carried by the front frame rails. There is no more torsion bar to distribute some of the force to the crossmember and the Alterktion coil over upper shock mount is ultimately connected to the frame rail. All the suspension forces are now carried by the front frame rails (supported by the inner fenders as well).
This is where Bill and I diverge. I believe that reinforcing the top of the shock tower to the firewall helps keep the frame rails from deflecting under serious suspension load, Bill believes the stock frame rail / inner fender is very strong and no extra bracing is needed under that load.
Ornamental:
You're absolutely right. Energy is transferred through the movement of the suspension, previously alot of that energy was passed along the torsion bar and then in the crossmember. Now all that energy from the suspension movement has no place to go, it is transferred along the unit to the 4 K-member bolts, that can cause the frame rails to fail. It hasn't yet to anyone's knowledge, but it can.
Since the 4-bolts are the parts that actually connect the two pieces together, that is where the energy travels from. Just having it on top of each other doesn't transfer alot of energy, because they aren't really connected to each other, just sitting near eachother. The bolts are where the two pieces are connected.
Hey, I'm done, you guys keep saying "None have failed yet, so it must be good.", I keep saying "I'm saying the design has a flaw, that can be fixed, but can allow the frame rails to fail." You guys wanna go around and around, fine. I've laid the information out there.
Ryan
