Carbon Fiber additions to my TUFF 28

[Hayabusajm]

I’ve been running this Carbon Fiber tie bar for a while now and its surpassed all expectations, just waiting for my friend Nick to abuse it so I can get his “Nick proof” stamp of approval.

Some background: so looking to save weight, my friend Todd who runs a couple of cars in the Outlaw 632 class and is a performance buff ever since I met him with racing experience with cars and motorcycles, told me he’d get a hold of the engineer that builds the C/F wheelie bars for several different 1/4 mile drag classes as well for motorcycle dragsters, to see if he’d design and build us a C/F tie bar equal or better than the SS tie bar that I have now, and this is the final product: just shy of 2 lbs compared to 9.5 lbs for the SS bar

[Hayabusajm]

Last 2 pics came in wrong orientation & don’t show well, can some one fix them? Thanks.

[Hayabusajm]

So seeing how well the C/F tie bar came out and the nice weight saving it yielded I figured I’d take the next step and redo my wing plates and bases in C/F, again i turned to my friend Todd, who by the way also has a complete set up to do Cryogenics and has done a few of my props for me and in particular one of my favorites that i run on my Checkmate with the Merc 400R, a BBlades 25 Blaster that i flung a blade on, got it fixed, Cryoed it, and been running it hard to see if i can fling another blade on it, so far so good .....uuups got side tracked, this is topic for another thread...... back to my C/F wing plates, Todd got me a 2’ x 4’ x 3/8” sheet of quasi-tropic solid C/F, tough and rigid carbon reinforced Epoxy matrix composed of multiple layers of woven C/F fabric without any core material, these quasi-isotopic sheets utilize a balanced and symmetrical layup schedule of 90 degree and 45 degree fabric. Todd had a hell of a time routering it out, used 5 router bits. The original SS wing plates 3/8” thick weigh 14lbs each the 4 base plates 5/16” thick weigh 2.750 each lbs for a total of 39 lbs. the C/F wing plates 2.5 lbs each and the 4 bases .5 lbs each for a total of 7 lbs, 32 lbs weight savings.

[whipper]

Wow he does GREAT work what a great Idea!! Be cool to see how much lighter a Jack Plate or setpback bracket would be?

[altamate]

Cool, but what happens when one of those fancy parts lets go? Do you loose control of the boat at speed? Ever see a CF hockey stick let go, no warning, they just come apart. I don’t think dragster wheelie bars get anywhere near the repeated cycle loading in a whole year that those boat parts will see in one outing.

Maybe they are so thick and over built that they won’t flex, maybe the quality of the materials is much better, I have no idea.”

[Hayabusajm]

Wow he does GREAT work what a great Idea!! Be cool to see how much lighter a Jack Plate or setpback bracket would be?

Yeah my Porta Bracket weighs 230 lbs and there are a few parts that could be replaced with C/F but I would have to talk with Mr Porta first.

[FUJIMO]

Have any clevis tie bar ends been made yet, out of carbon? Or are the existing stainless versions used?

[Forkin' Crazy]

Cool, but what happens when one of those fancy parts lets go? Do you loose control of the boat at speed? Ever see a CF hockey stick let go, no warning, they just come apart. I don’t think dragster wheelie bars get anywhere near the repeated cycle loading in a whole year that those boat parts will see in one outing.

Maybe they are so thick and over built that they won’t flex, maybe the quality of the materials is much better, I have no idea.”

Apples and oranges. How about carbon parts on F1 cars, competition aircraft, etc...The weight to strength ratio is real going from stainless to carbon.

I am thinking about my Howard and how it is heavy in the rear. 6' beam and all. Of course I would have to sport CF cowls then too though.....

[altamate]

Apples and oranges. How about carbon parts on F1 cars, competition aircraft, etc...The weight to strength ratio is real going from stainless to carbon.

Lots of big body panels sure and agreed about strength to weight but the dimensions (thickness of the part) did not get changed when going to CF in this case. Plus those examples you gave, if the parts are getting cycled they are not in service long before getting changed out, especially if it is a component of the suspension or steering etc. Lots of inspection, lots of early change out.

Has someone started making connecting rods for motors in CF? If so do they last very long, if not why not?

[Hayabusajm]

Have any clevis tie bar ends been made yet, out of carbon? Or are the existing stainless versions used?

Haven't gotten that far yet, my tie bar rod ends now are FK 3/4” Heim joints with SS bearing. I read Hardin Marine is making titanium tie bars with titanium clevis ends, i’m going to look into their ti clevis ends and compare fit so maybe i can replace my ss steering ram clevis ends with the ti ones.

[Forkin' Crazy]

Plus those examples you gave, if the parts are getting cycled they are not in service long before getting changed out, especially if it is a component of the suspension or steering etc. Lots of inspection, lots of early change out.

Like the spar of an Extra? LOL!!! You go dude!!!

[Capt.Insane-o]

, I have no idea.”

No, no, you have no idea.

[Whaaaaat]

Are there inserts where the wing plates bolt up? To keep correct torque without crushing or fracturing the carbon under the bolt head?
Do you run in any salt water? Carbon is farther from aluminum than SS on the reactivity scale, it will cause electrolysis much faster.

I like to see people taking the initiative to try, test, and work the bugs out of more advanced materials.
Get your guy to make a full carbon 15 inch midsection!!

[Hayabusajm]

This 1st set doesn’t have inserts 2nd set will, I’ve changed out the ss nuts and bolts to Titanium and will use ti fender washers to spread out the load, I will keep an eye out for stress cracks and crushing and will inspect frequently up until we’re confident with the set up; yes i run in salt water and i thank you for the heads up didn’t know that aspect of it.

[altamate]

Like the spar of an Extra? LOL!!! You go dude!!!

Hey just asking, I hope this is successful.

The spar your talking about here, when the engineers changed it from metal to CF did they increase the cross section? Or if it was designed from scratch would they have a different cross sectional area for metal vs CF?

My limited experience with composite products is all out dated, but in that past it always required more of the composite material by volume ( not weight) to get the required strength for the application.

I didn’t see that happen here, so I’m asking.