How strong are the sills?

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I'll hijack a photo from another thread in this section to ask the question:




How strong are the sills that run underneath the car? ie. if I were to clamp something on it, that is very heavy, would I have any risk of the sills 'coming off' from the car?

And are they metal or plastic etc?

Maybe a strange question but it does have a reason lol!

 

[JR]

Metal.

You would be better of clamping said something to a bar of dairy milk imo.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

lol, what makes you say that?

 

[ForceIndia]

Go to the fridge, get some cheese out. Comparable strength.

 

[JR]

They are very weak Dan.

When ever i have jacked any of my previous Rs clio's up or the current one i have always used a plank of timber between the sill and the jack.

Otherwise there is a strong chance the sill's would bend, thats how weak they are.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Ok, but thats when the force is being pushing up onto the sills and squashing them.
I'm talking about something hanging off the sill, so it would be pulling downwards.

I was just curious as to whether they would rip off the car given enough pulling force.

Soz, I probably wasnt very clear lol, kinda hard to explain

 

[Gareth]

what the hell are you trying to do?? They are very weak, I've seen them bent easily.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

lol, ok it will probably be easier if I post up a pic of what Im doing.

This is part of the set-up from my new photography rig (those who have seen my photoshoots threads will know what Im on about )

So you can see how the pole is clamped on, on the sills.

Now Im just curious if the sills will ever pull off (downwards)

It should be clear now that I have no worries of the sills bending etc, as Im not applying that type of force

 

[Riley!]

if the pole is for the camera, for that sort of set up I would think you would be fine. The ones at the front only bend when jacking as there pushing 300kg plus under load.

whats the weight of the set up?

 

[iimushroomzii]

They'll be fine mate!

 

[JR]

In that respect fella i would have thought they would be fine.

 

[Gally]

I would be more worried about those bolts slipping and tearing the stone-chip guard material and leaving you with one big bill.

The pole looks heavy and the stone guard is 'chewy' if you will.

Edit these are plastic sill guards my bad.

Aslong as you don't mind circle holes on either skirt then it's fine.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Yeh the camera will be on the end, but that can be 4 metres from the car!! The camera isnt very heavy itself, but when its 4m from the car, the 'moment force' (I think that's right, trying to remember my A level physics days!!) will be MUCH greater!

So that's why Im a little concerned. :dapprove:

^ Which bit exactly is the 'stone chip guard material' m8?

And the poles are aluminium, so very light in itself

 

[iimushroomzii]

How much material is left, under the bolts? If you get what I mean?

 

[Gally]

The stone-guard is underneath the plastic sideskirt. I didn't realise it was going on a sport sorry.

Still you won't be bolting to metal, it'll be plastic.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Well I did the clamping bolts up quite tightly (as you would!), and when I took them off, they did leave a little hole where they had digged in, so thats good in respect that I dont have to worry as much about them slipping off, but then if I use it a lot, I'll end up with little circular grooves all along the sills lol!
Which I dont mind too much in my car, coz you cant really see the sills unless you look, but other people may disagree!

 

[iimushroomzii]

The stone-guard is underneath the plastic sideskirt. I didn't realise it was going on a sport sorry.

Still you won't be bolting to metal, it'll be plastic.

NO, its metal!

 

[Riley!]

put a wheel on end of pole lol

 

[Gally]

NO, its metal!

No it's plastic my friend.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

lol Riley, you arent the first person to suggest that, but trust me it wouldn't work lol

I'll be giving it it's first test Friday night (on my car first I think ) so I can't wait

 

[chrispy.clio]

Oooooo i like your idea. cant wait to see the pictures

 

[Riley!]

just avoid bumpy roads for the first few runs, maybe torque up the bolts onto sills too so you know what tightness they are, then if they slip a little adjust how tight they are, if that makes sense. So you can get it the same every time . . .

 

[iimushroomzii]

No it's plastic my friend.

Nope, hasnt he bolted through the plastic into the metal? :S

 

[Gally]

Buy a camera suction?

 

[Gally]

Well I did the clamping bolts up quite tightly (as you would!), and when I took them off, they did leave a little hole where they had digged in, so thats good in respect that I dont have to worry as much about them slipping off, but then if I use it a lot, I'll end up with little circular grooves all along the sills lol!
Which I dont mind too much in my car, coz you cant really see the sills unless you look, but other people may disagree!

Nope, hasnt he bolted through the plastic into the metal? :S

Nope he has only tightened them slightly onto a plastic sill guard not all the way through.

 

[iimushroomzii]

Nope he has only tightened them slightly onto a plastic sill guard not all the way through.

Aha, I get it!! Wouldn't it be better to bolt all the way through?

 

[Gally]

Lol yeah he's aswell as because he's going to have big marks in his sill anyway!

Any pothole and that thing will be off under the car!

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Thanks for the info guys, I feel slightly more confident lol!

And FYI, when you do the rigs shots, you drive VERY slowly, probably slower than walking pace, so Im not worried about bumps etc.

And this idea is to replace suction mounts, which have MANY disadvantages over this (if it works!!)

 

[Gally]

A suction mount looks so simple compared with this mate! It's like scaffolding!

Can't wait to see the shots tho.

 

[Riley!]

does it have to be under the center of the vehicle? i.e could it be coming out the back bumper area . . .

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

does it have to be under the center of the vehicle? i.e could it be coming out the back bumper area . . .

That's where the slight disadvantage of this is I think. The sills are really good for clamping, but as they only run either side of the car I cant find a good place to clamp it to so it comes out the front/back of the car

 

[Riley!]

bit of a ball ache but if you could source a second hand tow bar could be cheap. And a removable option that dosn't mean modifying your car in any way but will be truely secure to your car.

Weld mounting plates to bolt to your camera structure to and the different angles you need and wala

This would mean your camera would be more secure due to the mounting plates you have welded could have holes for bolts rather then clamping

What you rekon

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I like the idea, but it sounds like a lot of messing about, something I had a lot of finishing this one off!

I think I'll see what sort of shots I can get as it is, then I see if I need to devlop it further.
Tbh, I personally rarely do rig shots from directly infront/behind the car, they never look as good usually.

EDIT: LOL! Just remembered the rig shot on the homepage of my website is from directly infront. D'oh!

 

[Riley!]

lol loving the owned by yourself comment.

Fair enough fella just an idea to throw at you. Glad you understand what I meant by what I was saying, didn't think it made sense

 

[Riley!]

Just checked out your website, good stuff. Loving the simplistic/subtle layout. Always wanted to be good with a camera but wouldn't know where to start other then with a point and shoot ha!

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Thanks, I didnt want anything fancy, it's just a photo gallery at the end of the day

Hope to get some even better shots with this new rig though