[RyanN]

Although the normal KOP chassis is setup this way, I would avoid using the current configuration. A corner hit on the chassis can easily warp the frame out of alignment. Adding crossbars (making an X in the middle of the frame) or using round tubing instead of square tubing linking the left and right sides will greatly strengthen your frame. Of course, you will have an upper frame and bumpers to help out, but with a little effort, this could save you a lot of time at competition.

We have been using a square outer rail and middle round tubing for the past 4 years, and we've never had a frame issue. It was well abused at IRI and it only came back home with some small dents.

Round tubing is structurally stronger than squared tubing, and you cannot torque it very much without breaking a weld.

Before everyone says that the KOP frame is very tough, I want to say that this is my personal opinion and I do not want to discourage the use of the KOP frame. I personally like custom frames with round tubing. Auto manufactures use it for a reason, and so do many teams. I would love to hear some input on this as well.

For the wheel setup... If you drop the center wheel about 1/8th of an inch, you shouldn't need omni wheels on the outer corners. We've never had issues turning. Actually this year it turned too much. As for the dead axles... I assume you mean that the axles don't spin, but you have a sprocket bolted to the wheel that spin on the axle. If that is so, we did exactly that this year and didn't have any issues... actually, we have done this for the past 4 years. Our base design has stayed mostly the same with improvements each year. This year we identified a problem with using roll pins, and having them shear, so we're probably going to use larger ones next year or come up with a better way to attach the wheel to the shaft. We're also looking into stronger chain. We were pushing the limits of the #25 chain.