8 Wheel Chassis Design

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

Keep the transmissions centered but space the center wheels. Do a comparison between effective wheelbase between a 6wd and 8wd and you will realize the with the wheels evenly space on an 8wd your effective wheel base will already be shorter leading to quicker turns than a drop center 6wd. Try to split the difference somewhat.

This.

The average Long Base 6WD has an effective wheel base of somewhere around 14"-16" depending on wheel size and chassis design. The last two drive trains I worked on (10WD and an 8WD) had effective wheel bases of 16.5" and 17.25" and neither had any major problems turning and both liked tracking straight at speed. If I were going to make an 8WD again, I think I'd space the center wheels ~14" apart from each other to have a good mixture of straight line stability and maneuverability. (Short center wheelbase 8WD's have a tendency to over rotate)