4329's Drive Train

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Our sponsor did bend the 6061 T6 for us. We went with a larger bend radius hopefully to avoid cracking or fractures. This is our first year trying a sheet metal drive and our first year doing all-gear so I'm sure we'll learn a few things that we should or shouldn't have done for next year.

One other feature that I'm loving (so far) is that we don't have a flange on the bottom of the outside plate. This allows for very easy removal & insertion of our wheel assemblies. Our tube shafts are low enough in the frame that they act as support ribs. We're still considering adding additional standoff supports if needed once we start driving this with full weight.

Beautiful drivetrain! 1983 accidentally cut some 1/16th 6061 on the waterjet in the pre-season and decided to try it rather than scrap it. We found it bent quite well when we used a large radius tool, and didn't show any issues with cracking in the corners. I am surprised that your shop was set up to bend 6061, since most sheet metal places I've worked with heavily encourage 5052.

Regarding the flange, I suspect your shafts will be enough support considering you'll have bumpers on the chassis during competitions. The only scenario of concern would be a point load low on the side panel in between shafts, and that's going to be hard to do with a flat field and bumper-to-bumper contact.