pic: FrameDrive 6wd Concept

[Deke]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

As for the gearbox in tube, I think the difficulty of assembly and maintenance for the gearbox would offset the packaging advantage. We used to run "one plate" gearboxes integrated with one side of the drive tube, but it made assembly harder and repairs a nightmare. Inside the tube would probably be worse. Belts in the tube I do recommend as there are a lot fewer parts to align and belt failures are quite rare with proper sizing.

Assembly and maintenance is a concern of mine as well. I would like to build and test before using during the season, if that is a direction the team wants to go. It is tempting because it opens up quite a bit of room and lowers the cg a bit.

I went through and checked the weight, and it is 34 pounds with the motors (without the electronics). I'm not sure if that is higher or lower compared to other drives, it seems around the same weight we normally see.