Just for the record... here are the photos of my frame... Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't know who makes it. It was posted on one of the Japanese blogs. I am going to Japan for Tokyo Auto Salon Jan 8th. I'll ask some of the shops. I didn't know the product existed until the blogger posted it.
Challenge front and rear cross members... . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Maybe to protect the bottom of the engine/trans from being what bottoms out over curbs? Obviously, also stiffer
Despite all the talk of how thin the metal is that the cross member is made of, they only really have issues due to incorrect usage, i.e. being used to jack the car up by placing a jack in the middle of them. They were never designed for this purpose on the road cars and do not have a reputation for failing from doing their original designed job of adding rigidity to the sub-frame. On Challenge race cars, I doubt that the thicker version adds that much additional rigidity, but what it does allow is for a single jack to be used to lift the car in the heat of a race when necessary. And let's be totally honest here, cars that are running with bent cross members (355's and 348's), do not suddenly become wild handling, uncontrollable cars do they? - So they're not Mega-critical to the structure (I wouldn't advise running a car without one though!).
Thank-you for that "Like," Ken. Yes, John. The front and rear Challenge cross members are stiffer than stock with their triangular cross-sectional welded additions... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login They certainly provided a lot of protection for the bottom of the engine and transmission when Challenge cars ran over curbings when they raced... 1:58 - 2:06
Looks like just a piece of angle iron welded to the cross member and yes, good for what you described.
You described it well, Joe. An angle iron welded to the cross member. The picture I posted eight years ago shows that the cross members are the lowest points on my car's chassis. It would be a simple matter to convert a stock cross member to a Challenge cross member.
I was trying to find pics of the challenge cross members to see what the actual differences were. You might be the only one who's posted clear pics on Fchat. I never knew challenge had different ones. You learn something new everyday with these cars .
Right. The F355 Challenge Technical Regulations Manual doesn't show the Challenge cross members clearly... Image Unavailable, Please Login
To stray a bit from this thread, the lowest point on my 550 is the front section of the undertray where the vent louvers reside... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Road and track mileage took their toll on that undertray section and several louvers were cracked and missing. Rather than getting a new undertray, I had my shop fabricate this screen to do the job of engine bay venting... Image Unavailable, Please Login It gets scraped every so often but there are no louvers to break off. The NACA duct provides cooling of the cam belts via ducting. That's stock on the Maranello.
