pic: 1918 pneumatic hub concept

[topgun]

Originally Posted by Wayne TenBrink

Another thing - The axle is 3/4" aluminum with 3/8" shoulder bolts at each end. The shoulder bolts tightly connect the axles to the frame rails, which are basically parallel plates (inboard and outboard) with 3/8 holes, spaced and located as needed for ground clearance, quantity, etc. In order to control and adjust center wheel drop, we are thinking of putting the holes at each end of the mid-frame axles off center by about 1/8". By rotating the axle, we could have about 1/4 total adjustment range.

We hope to try 8 wheel drive (4 per side) tank drive, with the pneumatics in the center and skyway or plactions at the corners to improve turning and reduce bounce. We could fit this arrangement into either a long or wide axis.

Wayne,
I am not seeing/understanding the use of shoulder bolts at each end of the axle. Wouldn't it be easier if the axle is essentially a 3/4" round standoff with holes in the end? Then you come in with a 3/8" SHCS from the outside of the frame rails to tighten them down to the standoff/axle. As it is drawn now, if your shoulder bolt bottoms out in the axle before it is tight against the side rail, the axle will be loose.

I love the idea of adding the sprockets without major fabrication/modification to the wheel/hub. Your idea is doable by many less equipped teams.

Also, is this drawn in SolidWorks? Where did you get the model for the wheel?

General question for everyone: The idea of a 6WD with drop center is to enable easier turning, but then aren't you effectively only pushing with 4 wheels when shoving someone?