The pillar structure to which the passenger cabin end of the hood ridge panel is connected, is arranged have different localized structural deformation resistances which buckle/deform in a manner which causes the hood ridge panel to reorient in response to a vehicle structure deforming force being applied to the front of the vehicle during a collision, and results in the force, which passes through the hood ridge panel, being redirected by a load-converting and transmitting member included in the pillar, up and along an upper rearwardly angled upper portion of the pillar. This force redirection produces sufficient resistance to induce compressive bucking in the structure forward of the passenger cabin and thus attenuate damage to the cabin structure.

A process for spot-welding hydroformed members allows at least one hydroformed member to be positioned with an end butted against a lateral side of the second hydroformed member. A structural shell member sandwiches the joint around the two hydroformed members to provide a surface to which each of the hydroformed members can be spot-welded. The U-shaped structural support receives the lateral side of one hydroformed member in the bight portion thereof and has arms that are positioned against the perpendicularly positioned second hydroformed member. Each of the hydroformed members are formed with access openings therein to allow spot-welding electrodes to be positioned against an appropriate wall of the hydroformed member and the adjacent portion of the U-shaped structural shell member. The joint is rigidly formed by spot-welding each of the hydroformed members to the structural support. The process is particularly adapted for utilization in the manufacture of automotive frames.

A front structure for a motor vehicle comprising a front support connected to a vehicle frame member at a first connection location and to an engine support structure at a second connection location. Upon impact of the front structure of the motor vehicle with another object, the front support transfers energy from the impact to the first connection location, thereby reducing energy transferred to the support members.

A support structure of a motor vehicle, e.g., a passenger car, having a floor which, in the longitudinal vehicle direction, evolves into an upwardly extending end wall, and having an extension which is attached to the end wall by longitudinal members. The production of the support structure may be simplified by arranging the longitudinal members as profiles having a constant cross-section in their longitudinal direction, their longitudinal profile direction being inclined relative to the longitudinal vehicle direction.

A structural joint is formed between the upper frame rail, which bends downwardly to define a generally vertically extending portion, and a generally fore-and-aft extending lower frame rail that can increase bending resistance without sacrificing crash energy management of the horn section of the lower frame rail. The structural joint is reinforced with a crushable tubular reinforcement member formed in a clamshell configuration that includes a forwardly extending support arm positioned beneath the horn section to lower the center of gravity of a downwardly angled horn section to prevent premature bending thereof when encountering crash energy from a frontal impact. The horn section is formed in a pre-folded configuration to enhance the crash energy management of the horn section. The tubular reinforcement provides a double cell structural configuration adjacent the structural joint to provide a crushable structural joint that enables an effective management of crash energy.