Designing a Chassis/Drivetrain

[ksafin]

Hello all.

Our team used aluminum extrusion last year, since it was our rookie year, but this year we're looking to move towards custom parts if we acquire a machining sponsor that we plan to soon approach.

I'm reasonably able at CAD (SolidWorks) but I know little about how to approach a design for a chassis.

I wanted to get some feedback from CD in regards to what kind of chassis is optimal, what thickness of sheet metal to use, which metals, using bearings in the sheet metal, supports between walls, axles, gearboxes built into the chassis, bellypans, etc.

I really am completely new to this, so any guidance in terms of how to design and construct a chassis would be helpful.

(I'm particularly interested in what designs you use to eliminate weight from the sheet metal used in the chassis - I see people use ellipses, circles, rectangles, and triangles as cuts in the chassis walls to reduce weight).