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I have been working on drawing a new mid-engine based chassis. There is a 1 1/2" x 3" tubular subframe along with 1/4" plate for overall material use.

With the design I used a basic V8 engine and transaxle for layout purposes, along with a set of wheels fronts are 18x9, rears are 19x13

I have set the wheelbase at 110"
Body width at 72"

1.5"x3" tube? 1/4" plate? !! That's battleship territory! Even in aluminium (yes, I spell it the way the whole rest of the world does ) that's heading for overkill. Have you calculated the weight of this Sherman tank chassis?

Joking aside, using really heavy gauge plate is NOT the way to make stronger chassis.

Fun stuff and fast-study on the CAD! I'd suggest getting the suspension geometry going now that you have a rough idea of the chassis size. That way you won't spend too much time refining something that may change. You'll also find it helpful to place a driver in the model.

Yeah, I'd think that .060" sheet would be best for sheathing the frame. I haven't paid much attention to best practice semi-monocoque design details, though, so hopefully someone in the know will chime in with a good number. Are you planning on a welded aluminum(ium) frame and riveted panels?

Pete

Lives in the 'Hood and works nightshift at 7/11.

Yo, Evrybody-
1.5 X 3 tubing is fairly common for the "ladder" type frames found in street rods, and in older production automobiles. While it seems like massive overkill to all of us "space frame-lightweight-Se7en" minded people, it's not really an odditiy (in the US anyway) for frame rails.

1/4 thick plate, however, sounds a bit much... Steel? Aluminum-ium maybe...

Shooting from horseback here...floor pan 6 x 8 (averaging the notches and extensions) plus 50% for the vertical surfaces...at 1/4" that's 1-1/2 cubic feet, about 750 pounds of steel in the plate alone. Heavy, yes, but you'll fear no IED.

Nothing wrong with a basic 2 run ladder frame or better still, an 'X' frame from 1.5 x 3, which well designed can give a spaceframe a run for the dough but based on the runs in the 3D above with the 1/4" plate, OzGecko's "Sherman Tank" comment stands up!




1/8 max for "ala - min - ee - um" (not "aloooon - nah - mum"!).

I was thinking USS Missouri.... just need some wood barge boards to protect from torpedoes. That's heavier construction than a Humvee. Think light.
Great you are starting a design but, read some chassis design books and look at frames of typical(similar) race cars. Something like a Can Am car. Stiffness and strength
come from careful design and materials selection. Not overly thick materials.

have you ever worked with 1/4 in plate?, I could get a sheet put into my truck but then I would have no way to get it off! and then how would you cut it?

read up on Colin Chapman, not off road rock crawler books.

Add Lightness

Remember Acceleration = Force x Mass, you are stuck with natural laws

Close... Per your equation, if he cuts his mass in half he'll acceleration half as fast... It's actually F = MA

In any case, you're right about the weight - the OP needs to do more reading. While you can make a chassis with 1/4" plate, having a dead stock Miata get a faster laptime would be a real downer. It's all about less weight, so the armor plating is out.

I guess I did get that incorrect:

We can manipulate the formula (F =ma) to work out the mass or the acceleration of the Vehicle.
a = f/m
or
m = f/a

"Add Lightness"

thats funny