Quote: The XV product is a very good idea. However, I think the demand has really gone down on the product with the arrival of the new Challenger.
I'm pretty sure the guy who runs XV is just a business man; not a designer.
Regardless of what the guy who runs XV is, these are the most detailed pics I have seen of the alum k member design, and how anyone can accept a non robust, non gusseted, stock material shaped, constantly reverse loaded, significantly stressed, non reduntant alum welded daily street driven high performance suspension piece is beyond me. It is simplely a matter of time before cracking in the HAZ welds occurs. Its a neat idea that will likely fail.
An alum roll bar would likely be just as practical.
As extra clarification to my :
"Non Robust"- Nothing heavy duty about it
"Non Gusseted"- no gussets`used to reinforce stressed connections
"Stock material"- off the shelf shapes, ie nothing custom extruded for the intended loads
"constant reverse loaded"- any material when loaded alternately in opposite directions fatiques much quicker then when loaded in only one direction
"significantly stressed"- a mopar K member is likely stressed
"non redundant"- if this part fails, very bad things happen quickly, not like say if one lug bolt fails
"Alum"- every grade of alum fatiques over time when stressed
"welded"- welding alum changes any heat treatment properties of parent material, and does so in a small area leading to a HAZ, leading to area likely to fail first when repeatedly loaded over time
"daily street driven"- constant use over less then ideal unforeseen surfaces
