[AustinSchuh]

Getting closer, but you still have a ways to go.

Shorten the frame. There is no need to make it that tall. Height adds weight. You can take out at least a pound out of the frame by making it shorter.

The flanges on the front of the base aren't long enough. Make them 1.5" - 2" long. That frame will bend otherwise on impact.

Connect the two side plates. I like to do it by making the outer plate have really long flanges and pop-rivet to the inside plate. This will make the sheet metal tubes holding the wheels very strong. Right now, the plates will easily bend upon impact, potentially dropping your wheel out of the frame. Not pretty. We have used standoffs before, but I really liked making the flanges longer.

On a frame like this, it helps to draw in some sort of electronics base plate, and to use that as a structural member. Bolt your frame to it. This will help keep everything square, and augment the flanges on the front and back. Some teams use a large piece of aluminum plate with holes to keep the weight down. We've used 1/2" baltic birch before to good effect. Your call. We are looking at making that plate out of punched aluminum next year.

Which brings me to my next question. If you are going to try to make this (either during the season or now), what machines do you have access to? The triangles look like they won't punch out, though this all depends on which punches your sponsor has. Design for manufacture is huge. Will it be CNC bent, or hand bent?

While you are at it, how are you going to do bumpers? I like how 971 did it last year, but there are other ways. Now is the time to think it through. We could swap bumpers in O(1min) with ease, and have thoughts on how to make that even faster for next year.

Do you have a plan for tensioning the chain?