[AndreaV]

This year at the 2nd annual quick build that 610 hosted a dozen AM14U chassis were up and running by 7pm on the Saturday of kickoff. Last year we had only 1, with a vast majority of them ending up at the electronics and programming stage.

The frame is LIGHT. I am a bit envious. the churro is a dream to work with, the front and back rails are super rigid. Having used direct drive last year on our custom frame, I can really appreciate what you guys have done with the center wheel/gearbox. The flanges at the bottom for the electrical panel makes drop in belly pans really easy. The belts center to center was BEAUTIFUL I drooled.

A few teams assembled it incorrectly, and it was surprisingly easy to disassemble and flip the parts around. even with all the churro contact points, I can see wheel changes and drive train maintenance being a breeze. Oh wait, belts, what maintenance?

Now the bad:
I really really really REALLY wish the inside plate (as in the ones the gearbox is mounted to) had a flange bent on the top to match the one on the outside, making the inner and outer rails the same height.. this would allow upper structure to be easily mounted across the top.

One of the rookie teams put some thin wood along the top as a sleek cover. Unfortunately, with a 1/4 wood electrical panel, the cover was right over top the victor fan. this caused them to pop a mosfet on the victor. this is not at all the fault of the chassis, they learned their lesson, but i could imagine other teams having a similar experience. with a flange on the inside this would be impossible as the fan would run into the cover/structure. The unbent flange lends itself to wood very well, but it makes attaching box tubing significantly more difficult.

So in closing really my main complaint is the lack of flanges all around. everything else is leaps and bounds better to the C-base of yesteryear. Lets never look back, EVER.