splitters?

[Lumpyguy]

Has anyone made there own front splitter or side extentions? if so what did you use to make them and please post pics.

I would like to add something on the front for sure mostly for looks but dont want to pay a fortune for the carbon one and with exchange and shipping to Canada it will be almost 1000 bucks!

[Scargo]

Tegris is used by NASCAR teams and others. Not cheap either, but tough.
Look at aluminum coated sheets, like Alumalite and Alumacor. Many racers use it. Most sign companies will carry some version of it. Frequently used for skinning the bottom of the car, too.
Some glass over plywood.

[Rasmus]

I made one out of Alumalite for my Wagon. It turned out nice and was able to take the force of pressure generated at 130+ mph. See this thread for more details/pictures.

[Scargo]

What was the bead material you edged it with? How did you bond it on? I was thinking of just filling the edge with silicone sealer.

[Rasmus]

That was the edging that the sign company (local place in Vegas) had to edge the material. I don't even think it was made by the company that makes Alumilite. It's just edging that they had in stock for whatever. It was only a few dollars so I picked it up and glued it on with rivets, construction adhesive, and silicone. What ever you use to glue it on with it has to be flexible. JB weld would just crack right up. By using the twisted wire rope for stays on my Wagon's splitter, instead of more traditional rigid mounts, I could kiss and touch the ground from time to time and the splitter could flex up, but couldn't flex down, negating it's purpose.

[mikeinatlanta]

.040 6061T6 aluminum, carbon, 7781 fiberglass, and foam core for me on the roadster. Carbon and foam from aircraft spruce, resin from us composites.

It's still not trimmed or edge sealed in this pic. Also need to fab the end planks.
DSC00349-693x522.jpg

[Rasmus]

When I make a splitter for the 818 it's gonna be out of fiberglass and resin, with a foam core. Probably about 25mm thick. Why fiberglass instead of carbon weave? It's cheap. It's a splitter. One small misstep or off track and you've shattered your carbon fiber one. Alumalite was good but it's flat and is really only strong in one direction.

[mikeinatlanta]

When I make a splitter for the 818 it's gonna be out of fiberglass and resin, with a foam core. Probably about 25mm thick. Why fiberglass instead of carbon weave? It's cheap. It's a splitter. One small misstep or off track and you've shattered your carbon fiber one. Alumalite was good but it's flat and is really only strong in one direction.

25mm is a mighty thick core. Something to keep in mind: When using solid laminates, carbon will indeed fracture before glass when being deformed, however, the carbon part can take much greater load before deforming. When you introduce core into the mix, a bending load on the component is more effectively converted into a compression load on one surface and tension on the opposite. The added tensile strength of carbon will actually take more load without breaking than fiberglass, while they will both fracture at about the same amount of deflection.

The common misconception that carbon parts shatter has more to do with the reality that racing carbon parts tend to be built far lighter than their lower end fiberglass counterpart, rather than carbon actually being more fragile. Carbon allows the part fabricator to achieve the needed stiffness with significantly less material than glass. The resulting part will be far lighter than glass and significantly more fragile. If the carbon part were built as heavy as glass it would equal to, or more robust than the glass part.

[carbon fiber]

Mike's right. I also use fg & cf together on some thinner parts so the part still has some flexibility as compared to an all cf part in the same thickness.

[Sgt.Gator]

Alumalite. The same guys that do my race car graphics have a sign shop and plenty of scrap Alumalite laying around. I gave them a cardboard template and they had my Alumalite splitter cut out in minutes on their cnc router table. Dirt cheap since it was left over used sign material. It has a motorcycle shop sign on the bottom.

I really like the wire rope idea! Makes hitting the apex berms a little less nerve wracking and also loading on trailer ramp. Thanks!

[BC Huselton]

How do you finish the edges where the core gets exposed? An epoxy or resin product?

[mikeinatlanta]

How do you finish the edges where the core gets exposed? An epoxy or resin product?

A mixture of the same resin used to fabricate the part, micro balloons, and fumed silica. Resin is the binder, micro balloons to make it light, fumed silica to prevent sag. All available at composite supply houses. Other option is to buy an expensive purpose made potting compound or use lightweight body filler as a last resort.