pic: WCD Sheet Metal Hybrid

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

I really like the elegance of this design. A lot.

My only two comments:

-I think that you should use a 'truss-like' pattern in the bellypan, i.e. triangular cut-outs. I would bet that using triangles instead of quadrilaterals will make the belly-pan stiffer and stronger.

-My personal preference for joining would be riv-nuts instead of rivets. I like the idea of being able to easily remove and service parts. It looks like you could remove and replace a whole drive pod with just a few bolts, which is pretty cool.

I won't comment on the rest of the design, as this is Cory's, not mine, but the bellypan is a fairly similar to what we and others run.

The goal with the diamonds is to create a single web of material from corner to corner. In theory the belly pan could just be the two corner to corner strips without issue. The bellypan really isn't loaded in any other direction (aside from component weight), and additional material doesn't really contribute. It's worth noting our superstructure generally places a crossmember somewhere along the frame which helps the front/rear crossmembers a lot.

Also, we consider the bellypan integral to the frame, so rivets are a much lighter and faster mate.