Making your own seat brackets?

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by RETed

Is that aluminum?
If so, for safety sake, please change it to mild steel.
Aluminum work hardens very quickly and can fail with very little warning.


-Ted

Unfortunately it is aluminum. Not my first choice but given the resources I have it was really my only option (can't drill steel/weld). Fortunately the aluminum really isn't serving too much of a structural purpose. I understand the holes in the aluminum are kt's (stress multipliers) and therefore may tear under significant loads, but they're really just serving as a means to join the brackets to the seats. The stock seat brackets (mild steel, I assume) and the grade 8 bolts are really what is carrying the loads. I suppose I could always do a FEM analysis in ANSYS to make sure everything is okay, LOL!

I will be removing these again in a few weeks to see how they're holding up. If I see signs of distress I will likely go buy some mild steel bits and take them to a machine shop to be put together (i.e. welded) in a manner similar to the current configuration.