pic: WCD Summer Project

[pmangels17]

Originally Posted by Travis Schuh

I would drop 2 of the CIMS and add that weight back in to the front/back rails and adding a bellypan. 6 CIMS will be a liability next year with the brownouts.

I get worried about taking so much weight out of frame rails like that, the weight savings are usually not great compared with the greatly increased risk of bending a frame rail.

Also, any reason you don't have your gearbox in 2 stages given that you are running 4in wheels?

I figured I'd design for more CIM's rather than less. Plus they can always be replaced with MiniCIMs or removed later, it's a lot harder to add a motor that wasn't designed in than to remove one that was.

As far as the gearbox, there are currently three reductions going on:
The 12t CIM Gear to the 50t Cluster Gear
The 50t Cluster Gear to 40t dog gear or 30t Cluster Gear to 60t dog gear
And the final stage 30t spur gear to 44t output gear.

I couldn't package the speed I wanted in only two stages, so I added the third stage to get the speed I wanted without going to something like a three inch wheel.

There is still lots of lightening to go, and the bellypan will be non-structural, only to support electronics, so I'll have to find some other way to stiffen the chassis. As far as removing weight, I'm designing this assuming there will be bumpers next year, in which case some added rigidity can also be included in the bumper construction, most likely.