Anyone care to explain to me what a unibody/sub frame is?
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Senior Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 527
From: Long Island, NY
Anyone care to explain to me what a unibody/sub frame is?
I tried looking online and couldent find any articles about the difference between the 2 and tried to get an idea of what they look like. If anyone could help out that would be great
BF Veteran
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 3,209
From: Sudbury, ON, Canada
If I'm right... the uni-body is part of the body and all that, and the sub-frame has motor mounts, and control arms for the front end... essentially if you drop the subframe you drop the whole front end of a FWD car.
Most unibody chassis use a subframe in the front to support the engine/transmission and the lower links for the front suspension. This subframe bolts to the unibody.
On a body-on-frame vehicle, the engine, transmission, and all suspension components are connected to the frame and the body doesn't support anything but itself.
On a body-on-frame vehicle, the engine, transmission, and all suspension components are connected to the frame and the body doesn't support anything but itself.
Beginning Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 27
From: Buffalo, NY
Think of it this way. There are two types of vehicles, Body-on-Frame vehicles and Unibody vehicles.
Blazers and all trucks that I can think of are Body-on-Frame construction. Some older cars are too such as the rear wheel drive Monte Carlo.This means that there is a full frame that the front and rear suspension, engine and transmission are all bolted to. The body is bolted to the frame but serves no structural purpose. Basically, you can remove the body and the frame will still be there with everything attached to it and it'll stand on its own.
Unibody cars come in several varieties. What they all have in common is that there is no single frame to which both the front and rear suspension are bolt bolted. Some Unibody cars have a front subframe, which is basically a partial frame that the engine and front suspension are bolted to, and the front subframe is bolted to the body. Other Unibody cars have neither a front or rear subframe that can be unbolted... the entire car is made of one structure that serves as both body and frame and can not be separated. A 1st and 2nd generation f-body (Camaro and Firebird) have a bolt-on front subframe, as do old Novas. 3rd, 4th and 5th generation f-bodies are a completely unibody car with no removable subframes. Sometimes the front and rear sections are still referred to as subframes even though they aren't bolted on.
I hope that made sense.
Blazers and all trucks that I can think of are Body-on-Frame construction. Some older cars are too such as the rear wheel drive Monte Carlo.This means that there is a full frame that the front and rear suspension, engine and transmission are all bolted to. The body is bolted to the frame but serves no structural purpose. Basically, you can remove the body and the frame will still be there with everything attached to it and it'll stand on its own.
Unibody cars come in several varieties. What they all have in common is that there is no single frame to which both the front and rear suspension are bolt bolted. Some Unibody cars have a front subframe, which is basically a partial frame that the engine and front suspension are bolted to, and the front subframe is bolted to the body. Other Unibody cars have neither a front or rear subframe that can be unbolted... the entire car is made of one structure that serves as both body and frame and can not be separated. A 1st and 2nd generation f-body (Camaro and Firebird) have a bolt-on front subframe, as do old Novas. 3rd, 4th and 5th generation f-bodies are a completely unibody car with no removable subframes. Sometimes the front and rear sections are still referred to as subframes even though they aren't bolted on.
I hope that made sense.
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