Rail to rocker joint using hydroformed members

A process for connecting a hydroformed front rail member of an automotive frame to the body side inner (rocker) beam does not require a substantive re-design of the frame to accommodate an overlapping parallel orientation of two tubular frame members. The hydroformed front rail member is laser cut at the rearward end thereof to remove a portion of a side wall of the tubular member to form a C-shaped section. The front rail member is formed with a vertical dimension that provides a nesting relationship between the C-shaped section of the front rail member and the body side inner member so that the rocker beam can be received into the C-shaped section. Welding between the two members can be accomplished using either MIG-welding or spot-welding processes. A body side reinforcement can be added to provide a stiff frame joint as the reinforcement is swept off the rail structure to provide a box section.