Bugs Buggy

[hotwheels000]

A few changes to the chassis, I am going to go with all aluminim tube work. That necessitated an aluminum chassis so everthing could be tig welded to its self.

Started with the axial chassis at the begining of the thread that I cut up and bent into the general shape you see below. I had it traced on paper for future use. Sent that off to my buddy at 3d performance solutions. He made a file and sent if off to toyzuki. Toyzuki cut the g10 version that is pictured. I then cut that chassis up during mock up and super glued everything exactly were I want to prep for the new forward motor mount and t-case.

Final version I hand cut and filed out of aluminum. It has ben drilled with speed holes and all holes are beveled for even more wieght reduction.

I think it went from looking like a duck to looking like a roadrunner

[hotwheels000]

Roller status ! I decided I wanted the cage and sliders to be removable. Standoffs are in place, time to start bending some tube.I also finished up the servo brace, painted and installed.

[hotwheels000]

FAIL,

I bent up all the cage work yesterday in preparation for tig welding it today at a buddies house. Well, I must have got the cheapest alloy ever made, it was not going to weld nicely at all.

So, I am looking to find some 6063 or 5052 1/8th and 3/16th tubing or solid stock. At least my chassis and sliders are decent material and weld niclely.

[badhoopty]

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

FAIL,

I bent up all the cage work yesterday in preparation for tig welding it today at a buddies house. Well, I must have got the cheapest alloy ever made, it was not going to weld nicely at all.

just use some zipties.

[hotwheels000]

Originally Posted by badhoopty

just use some zipties.

I did, lol and blue painters tape..

Originally Posted by 4.3 Zook

Nice work on the chassis!

Thank you, credit needs to go to toyzuki and 3d performance printing for all there help getting all my thoughts into the machine.

[MAC FAB]

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

FAIL,

I bent up all the cage work yesterday in preparation for tig welding it today at a buddies house. Well, I must have got the cheapest alloy ever made, it was not going to weld nicely at all.

So, I am looking to find some 6063 or 5052 1/8th and 3/16th tubing or solid stock. At least my chassis and sliders are decent material and weld niclely.

Question: Did it act like the material was dirty regardless of being cleaned and wanted to be welded at a low amperage setting? 1/4" bar welded at 30 amps and I was smoking through it. I did a chassis with something alloy aluminum, thinking I got the smoking deal on 6061. Not. Don't know what alloy it was, but it formed nicely. That said, I ended up using a lot of filler rod to complete the joint and then had to file them down afterward to reduce the size. That sucked. Silver lining in the cloud is that the chassis is super strong because of the welds. (A go fast dirt car, not a crawler, so it takes a beating.) You sure you want tube that small? Might as well weld paper, the wall thickness will be about that. Stick with the bar stock. Keep the pics flowing.

[hotwheels000]

I couldn't tell you what was happening since I have zero experience with tig welding or aluminum. My buddy welds Ti, alum, and all kinds of exotic and medical grade alloys for a living. He said it was the series of aluminum I picked up... The .040 plate welded nicely(yes, you read that right. Same thickness as most lexan bodies), just the rod was crap.

Originally Posted by MAC FAB

Question: Did it act like the material was dirty regardless of being cleaned and wanted to be welded at a low amperage setting? 1/4" bar welded at 30 amps and I was smoking through it. I did a chassis with something alloy aluminum, thinking I got the smoking deal on 6061. Not. Don't know what alloy it was, but it formed nicely. That said, I ended up using a lot of filler rod to complete the joint and then had to file them down afterward to reduce the size. That sucked. Silver lining in the cloud is that the chassis is super strong because of the welds. (A go fast dirt car, not a crawler, so it takes a beating.) You sure you want tube that small? Might as well weld paper, the wall thickness will be about that. Stick with the bar stock. Keep the pics flowing.

[MAC FAB]

Yes, the .040 aluminum welds like a dream. You using 5052 or 3003? Be sure to fixture your cage pieces when your buddy welds it up, the material wanders all over the place with heat applied to it. Finally, will the .040 floor pans be strong enough to support the cage mounting in a nasty roll over down some rocks?

[hotwheels000]

Tube work is all .125, .035 wall 6061, secured to the chassis in 6 places. I made some stand offs out of 6061 .25 tubing. Drilled and Tapped to attach to chassis end then cross drilled to accept
The .125 tubing. The B Pillar will be the only structural piece attached to the sliders. Sliders
Double as inner fender wellls as they reach up 2" and grab the chassis., both front and rear. Hopefully it is
Strong enough, if not, I have the stainless cage as a backup lol

[nwnewbie]

This thing gonna make it to nationals? Lol can't wait to see the final product!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[hotwheels000]

That's the plan, it gets welded up tomorrow. only thing left will be trying to make my OD transfer case work with the cfx axles. I may even rock it without OD if need be.

Originally Posted by nwnewbie

This thing gonna make it to nationals? Lol can't wait to see the final product!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[hotwheels000]

Wrapping the details before the next round of welding. Tiny fish mouths, FUN !!!!


All mocked and clamped in place.

[hotwheels000]

So after 4 different atempts with different grades of material and two welders.... I GIVE UP, aluminum just isnt playing nice with me. It welds nice on the steel bench that can soak up the heat, we then try to weld in place and it goes to hell real quick. Seems the small diameter. .125 just cant handle the heat without a heatsink so to speak.

I think I will persue this after nats, maybe fimd someone with a micro setup.


For now, I went back to what I know. THIN WALL BRASS. Knocked this out in a couple hours>

[MAC FAB]

I really like the brass look. How sturdy is the tube/chassis? All the rolled/non flat tube adds to the strength, good call there.
Before you throw all the aluminum cage away, know that you can braze it as well, just have to clamp finished joints because the material conducts so well, that the finished joints don't come apart. There is a guy in Russia who built a Trophy Truck and beats the crap out of it. Brazed aluminum. See the youtube videos on the how to if interested.

[badhoopty]

why not use this cage?

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

Painted all the raw steel, stainless will remain raw. Masking it off was easy, removing the tape once it stuck to itself

[hotwheels000]

I will most likely use that for a C3 rendition in the future. That one was proof of concept and is done in stainless steel. I was looking to save some weight and lower the CG...that's what started the whole aluminum adventure. I also needed to change the angle of the skid for the MST CFX W portal axles, they place the link mounts higher causing a "point" so to speak at the link/skid transition. It was designed around SCX based axles and those do not create that issue with the POC chassis.

[hotwheels000]

The brass works out well for the most part, dents are real to scale in a tumble. As you can guess it is nowhere near as durable as steel. The solder joints are usually the week point. I have done a few exposed cages in brass along with many internal cages. So far the risk is worth the reward, I wouldn't use it on a basher rig. For a comp rig it is perfect.

I will check out the vids, not ready to give up on the aluminum idea yet, just out of time before Nationals. Thanks for the tips

Originally Posted by MAC FAB

I really like the brass look. How sturdy is the tube/chassis? All the rolled/non flat tube adds to the strength, good call there.
Before you throw all the aluminum cage away, know that you can braze it as well, just have to clamp finished joints because the material conducts so well, that the finished joints don't come apart. There is a guy in Russia who built a Trophy Truck and beats the crap out of it. Brazed aluminum. See the youtube videos on the how to if interested.

[Szczerba]

Master of his craft!

[hotwheels000]

Originally Posted by Szczerba

Master of his craft!

Right back at you sir

[hotwheels000]

Blasted and ready for paint !