[pfreivald]

Please forgive the thread-o-mancy, but this was the most relevant one I could find for my question...

We found a company with a CNC plasma cutter willing to do some sheet metal work for/with us (yay!), but they're primarily a steel place. We used 1/8" steel on our octocanum wheel pods last year, and they held up *great*.

This year we'd like to go lighter, so I requested 7075 T-6... They proffered 5052 as an alternative that's easy for them.

Is this a good substitute? Would those with experience on FRC drive trains consider 5052 a reasonable alternative to steel? (I know it's lighter... The question is, how does the strength and the stiffness compare?)

We have no metals experts on our team, so looking up the numbers doesn't do a lot of good at this point in time. Any expertise people are willing to share would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Patrick