Inventor - shorten chassis segments?

[smcmahon]

I assume many people use the Kit/Parts files provided by Autodesk or AndyMark (whichever creates them). Everyone should have the same issue then, of having to shorten the C-channel to make anything aside from a square. Again, being a novice, this seems difficult.

I'm getting the hang of constraining things, but I don't know about trying to modify already-created parts. I wonder if any teams have Inventor files available containing the shortened bars for a "long wheel base" style machine. I'll look around.

Anyways, thanks to everyone that's replied so far. Accurate, detailed, and quick answers are why I always come to Chief Delphi first. Thanks!

[inventor_phild]

Great discussion.

I modeled the chassis parts so you can edit a chassis section to whatever size you need.

My preference is using the Edit Feature option on the appropriate extruded feature.

[mglucido]

How do I avoid making the shortened channel affect all similar parts? Thx!

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by mglucido

How do I avoid making the shortened channel affect all similar parts? Thx!

Do a "Save As" to the modified part, parts with the same name will be the same in your assemblies. You can do a "Replace Part" in the assembly once you have the new file created.

[mglucido]

Thx. EZ! ... still new to this

[inventor_phild]

Looks like you got good advice on how to modify the chassis parts. Let me know if you have any other questions.