Semi-monocoque construction

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Tom

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Ever wonder what the term "semi-monocoque chassis" means in term of motorhome construction? I sure did and was never able to get a straight answer from anybody when I asked what it meant.

As Ned always reminds us, "Google is your friend", so I Googled and came up with, among others, the following:

According to the U.S. Centennial Of Flight Commission the term Monocoque is French and originated in airplane design.

Wikipedia discusses the extension of the concept to unibody construction in automobiles.
 
per Ned Google advice this is what I got.....an article by Bob Gummersall.

"The Chassis under 99% of the Class A Motorhomes manufactured today is a basic Frame Rail. One Hundred % of over the road passenger buses are built on monocoque or semi-monocoque chassis. Full monocoque chassis surround the complete vehicle with frame members. Semi-monocoque chassis use frame members on the lower half of the vehicle, and that provides a very strong base for the rest of the coach."

Click the link above to read the full article.
 
Impressive post.  Had no knowledge of thee difference,  had only heard it mentioned a couple of times in the past.
 
vladdy daddy, thanks. I'd meant to include a link to that great article, but somehow didn't.

BTW to avoid copyright issues I modified your message to include a brief extract and a link to the full article.
 
The word "monocoque" is common to many mountain bicycle suspension systems. Still don't understand what they mean, and I've probably owned a couple bikes with it.

--pat
 
Pat,

It doesn't make sense to me in terms of a suspension system for a mountain bike.
 
That makes more sense Jim. Maybe one of our bikers will jump in here.
 
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