Howard Jones
Supporter
What Ford GT?...................................
The Ford GT has great performance, and the maintenance expenses are very reasonable....and it only costs you about $250K......seems lika a good investment.
The other unit has a performance index that can be highly variable and unpredictable......and the maintenance can be astronomical....Further, unless you have an iron-clad lease agreement, it can cost you half of everything that you own....and a big chunk of everything you will make for the rest of your life!
Just like the Concours d'Elegance: Look but don't touch!
Just my opinion,
David
I have included a couple of links. Of note is the tensile strength values. 4041 CM steel is significantly stronger than 7075 T6 aluminum. 95Kish to about 83Kpsi. Shear modulus number differences between steel and aluminum are huge. 3900Ksi to about 11000Kis. Additionally I believe that CM tubing is structurally much more resistance to bending than hex solid alum shaft. It appears to me that you have reduced the strength of that push rod significantly maybe a LOT more, as it fatigues.
Watch the female shaft rod end thread wall very carefully for cracking and elongation. If it fails it will be at one end or the other. Most likely in one of the rod end to shaft interfaces. That's where all the stress risers are.
The push rod on the rear suspension is just about the most highly loaded suspension part on the car with the possible exception of the rear hub shafts.
I love all my SLC and GT40 friends and I would urge you to consider the consequences of experimenting with suspension parts. I am not a mechanical engineer but I have learned a few things mostly from trial and error. We all like to put our personal touches on our cars but sometimes it may not the best idea we ever had to mess with the "itwillkillyaparts" as I like to call them. The term comes from a certain set of handlebars that I "fixed" between moto's a very long time ago. My neck still hurts from that lesson.
Anyway here's the info.
AISI 4140 Alloy Steel (UNS G41400)
ASM Material Data Sheet