The Quest for A Durable Front Crossover Pipe

[scott schmerge]

+1. I don't know if the OE part always fails at the same location, but if so, and if that area can be reinforced... might be easier/cheaper?

Not sure, but open to any/all ideas. I’m guessing the plastic is going to crack eventually as it gets brittle no matter how it’s reinforced- but not an engineer either. But I did stay at a holiday inn last night ;-)

Problem is, we likely won’t know for another 50-75k... by then most of us may be driving the new Defender or resigned to keeping our LR4 on life support until LR gets their $h!7 together.

For me it’s all about the challenge. I’ve got a new crossover ordered and a failed one in hand to get a cad done of it. Let’s see what comes back in the form of quotes and then decide if worth pursuing. Obviously we’ll know if we need to keep these things once the defender is revealed. Although, I plan on passing my LR4 to my kids in a few short years.

 

[mbw]

Just spitballin' as I know nothing about manufacturing...

What about taking an existing factory piece and wrapping all but the print connections in carbon fiber or fiberglass?

Seems like that might address the most common failure point of the factory bonding of the two halves.

Would the temp of carbon fiber curing destroy the original part?

I was thinking the exact same thing earlier today. Heck.. even a bit of JB weld to beef up the seems. Might look like ass though.

 

[TheWidup]

Is it truly ABS plastic? If so, maybe this might help? https://airwolf3d.com/2013/11/30/7-steps-to-a-stronger-abs-part-with-resin/

 

[scott schmerge]

Is it truly ABS plastic? If so, maybe this might help? https://airwolf3d.com/2013/11/30/7-steps-to-a-stronger-abs-part-with-resin/

Hmmm. Interesting! I’m not 100% it’s abs plastic- I’ll need to confirm that. But if it is- this could be a very interesting find

 

[Quijote]

Not sure, but open to any/all ideas. I’m guessing the plastic is going to crack eventually as it gets brittle no matter how it’s reinforced- but not an engineer either. But I did stay at a holiday inn last night ;-)

There are plastics that can withstand harsh environments. Maybe they need to be fiberglass reinforced, or be a more expensive material. Plastics can have wildly different material properties. They can also have very different costs - not just of the material, but for the tooling and or process.

Haven't read the whole thread, but resin selection for 3D printing is still very limited. The few printers that offer good selection often have fairly poor dimensional accuracy. This is important for properly sealing without secondary operations (millling/grinding/etc.). For a highly (thermally) stressed part, I'd be concerned about the anisotropy of the material in the part.

That said, it may all work wonderfully. But beware of assuming the engineers were a bunch of bums and a simple 3D printed part can do better. As is often the case, they were probably forced to squeeze cost out of it leading to issues down the line and they did they best they could and proposed a less expensive design that they felt would work.

The part probably fails for one of two reasons (or a combination of both):

1) The part is failing in fatigue based on either heat cycles (thermal expansion/contraction) or
2) stresses brought upon by dissimilar thermal expansion rates between the part and the part it is attached to.

Embrittlement or other deterioration (resulting from hygroscopic properties, UV exposure, etc.) would make matters worse.

Do we have a close-up view of the failed part?

 

[JVreeburg]

Let me know, would be interested

 

[blacktie]

I'm in on this as well- will someone post a picture of the crossover? I have a bunch of friends that are in NASCAR, INDY etc... I bet they would be able to help.

 

[scott schmerge]

I'm in on this as well- will someone post a picture of the crossover? I have a bunch of friends that are in NASCAR, INDY etc... I bet they would be able to help.

 

[avslash]

I'm in on this as well- will someone post a picture of the crossover? I have a bunch of friends that are in NASCAR, INDY etc... I bet they would be able to help.

Would love to know what they say. That is the level at which if they need a part, it gets made.

 

[Quijote]

Would love to know what they say. That is the level at which if they need a part, it gets made.

Absolutely. But cost is usually not a concern for those guys. ;-)

I'm tempted to buy a part since I'll probably need one eventually anyway and look at the design in detail.