Quote: Brazing is/was widely used for race car and aircraft fab work in Europe. Is welding "better" (stronger)? Yes, but brazing is almost always strong enough. The issue would generally be the rules organization(SCCA/NASA/etc) S/F....Ken M
I agree. In competition its always about what's strong enough vs slapping the biggest baddest piece of a part in there that seems more prevalent on the street side of things. .125" wall tube for sub-frame connectors, wow, talk about overkill, but there is a certain demo-derby mentality to car building from some people.
Having been in the bullrings of oval track racing, I can definetly see the need for certain stoutness in components, but I've also worked on hill climb car that have parts so small and lightweight that most guys would be afraid to run them on a go cart.
One of my favorites is mopar's 11/16 tie rods. A 9/16 rod end is capable sustaining 5g tensile and compressive loading, but a lot of guys insist on using 11/16 units.
But I do see where a street car that does not get regular inspections of all its components should have a greater margin of error to make up for the "disregarded" factor they are often subject to.
