Frame (vehicle)

A Land Rover ladder type frame

A vehicle frame, is the main structural element of a motor vehicle. All other components are connected to the frame. Another term for this design is body-on-frame construction.^[1] A vehicle's frame is part of the chassis.^[2]

The first motor vehicles were almost all built on a frame.^[3] Since then, nearly all cars have changed to unibody construction (see below). The last UK mass-produced car with a chassis was the Triumph Herald, which was discontinued in 1971. By contrast, today nearly all trucks and buses still use chassis frames.

Types

Ladder Frame

Named because it resembles a ladder, the ladder frame is the simplest and oldest of all designs. It has two rails, or beams, and crossmembers connecting them. Most manufacturers stopped using them on cars around the 1940s. They are now seen mainly on trucks.

Unibody

In a unibody (also unit body) design, the sheet metal of the body is also the frame.^[4] It may use subframes in certain areas.^[4] Unibody designs first appeared in the 1930s on some Citroën automobiles. Many modern vehicles use unibody construction including cars, minivans and crossovers. A few SUVs use unibody construction. An example is the Dodge Durango.

Frame (vehicle) Media

Ladder frame pickup truck chassis holds the vehicle's engine, drivetrain, suspension, and wheels
The unibody - for the unitized body - is also a form of a frame
A ladder frame, named for its shape
Pickup truck frame, with heavy c-shaped longitudinal rails (slightly arced over the rear axle), a similarly sized c-shaped crossmember just forward of the axle, and a tophat-shaped smaller gauge crossmember towards the rear
High-performance custom frame, using boxed rails and tube sections
Ladder chassis with diagonal cross-bracing and lightening holes
Rolling X-frame chassis
Bertone FW11 prototype with perimeter frame
C-Type Frame XKC 045
The Lamborghini Aventador has a carbon fibre central monocoque, with front and rear steel subframes, mounting the mechanicals

References

↑ Mark Gustavson, Custom Car: Modeling (Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1999), p. 7
↑ Tim Gilles, Automotive Chassis: Brakes, Suspension, and Steering (Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2005), p. 317
↑ Hugh Dolner, 'Considerations of Motor Car Elements', Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal, Philadelphia (1 April 1906), p. 78
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 CDX Automotive, Fundamentals of Automotive Technology: Principles and Practice (Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2014), p. 971

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[1] Mark Gustavson, Custom Car: Modeling (Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1999), p. 7

[2] Tim Gilles, Automotive Chassis: Brakes, Suspension, and Steering (Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2005), p. 317

[3] Hugh Dolner, 'Considerations of Motor Car Elements', Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal, Philadelphia (1 April 1906), p. 78

[CDX971-4] 4.0 ^4.1 CDX Automotive, Fundamentals of Automotive Technology: Principles and Practice (Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2014), p. 971

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