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Just had to get my 3 cents worth in here..... The T3 is NOT a true unibody car. It is also not a body-on-frame design. It is a hybrid of sorts. A body-on-frame (like today's pick-ups) design uses a ladder frame to provide the bending and torsional ܱJ4s to react road loads and engine loads (torque). The body is soft mounted (for vibration and noise control) to the frame. A unibody (99% of all cars today) design utilizes the cars body to react road loads and engine loads. Suspension points are on the body and so are engine mounts. The car's roof and and pillars etc contibute significantly to the vehicle stiffness. The T3 (and the T1 for that matter) is a mix of these two design philosophies. The engine and suspension of the T3 are mounted to the pan (i.e. frame) which provides the significant portion of the bending stiffness with its central tube tunnel. The pan also provides enough torsional stiffness to make a driveable chassis. (Had one of those as a kid....just a VW pan with wheels and an engine...but that is another story) However, since the T3 body is bolted solid to the pan it will contibute significantly to the torsional stiffness of the vehicle. It also adds to the bending stiffness. So it is somewhat like a unibody. However, bolting the body on is not nearly as effective at transfering load as welding would be. Typical automotive bodies are spot welded together with weld spacing of about 2". This spacing is important. If the bodies were continuously welded (not practical or cost effective) the torsional stiffness would increase by as much as 15%. With the T3's 6" or so spacing on the pan to body bolts, the T3 body contributes significantly less than it would if it was a true unibody with a 2" spaced spot welded body structure. The T3 would also not need the heavy tunnel if it was a true unibody. So the T3 is a hybrid structure. Would I tow with one? Maybe a small trailer. Remember we only have 60hp or so and we are aircooled. Later, John Jaranson (former Ford body structure engineer) '71 FI Auto Fasty ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/