The 6x6 Build!

[yoraish]

Hi everyone,
Some time ago I've started working on a new (my first) 6x6 project, based on parts from the wheely king and the crawler conversion kits. The final goal is building a model of Oshkosh M925. But a functioning model is needed before working on the looks.



Right now, I think the drivetrain is ready. I used 4 wheely king axles, as two of them are used to make the middle axle, which has an output from both sides.



The suspension on the front axle is the stock 3 link suspension. But the 2 rear axles are mounted on a balance cart, that works great right now.





My only issue, is the steering. I am testing various options to steer the front axle. The stock configuration (in the pictures) is not giving enough travel nor force. And by placing the servo on the axle I still don't get much travel.
If you have any ideas that may be helpful (longer servohorn...) I'll be glad to hear them .

Thanks!
To be continued.

P.S.
The chassis will be made out of aluminum.
Once I'll receive the additional pair of wheels I'll upload a picture with them mounted.

[yoraish]

Made some progress on the steering mechanism.
I made my own servo horn using cutting board:



It is longer than the stock one, so it allows achieving a smaller turning radius.
I tried mounting the servo on the axle with a mount I made using thin plastic.



It actually works quite well!



That's it for now, I hope getting into manufacturing the aluminum chassis soon.

To be continued.

[ped453]

looks like a good start. Keep up the good work.

[17dean]

Good start !

[roglum]

if you haven't already, you need to shave the flanges off the center axle housing, so the two halves sit flush. and i hope you plan on an aluminum servo mount, that one doesn't look like it will last too long.
other than that, looks good so far.
i'm interested to see how the suspension works.

[yoraish]

Originally Posted by roglum

if you haven't already, you need to shave the flanges off the center axle housing, so the two halves sit flush. and i hope you plan on an aluminum servo mount, that one doesn't look like it will last too long.
other than that, looks good so far.
i'm interested to see how the suspension works.

Both sides of the center axle have their lips trimmed, they fit good.
Meanwhile I will keep the servo mount as it is. I guess I'll manufacture an aluminum, one later on.

[yoraish]

Here comes the BIG update!
Today I found the time to finally work on the aluminum chassis. Because I'm not such a good builder I asked my fried for his help. We cut the shapes of the 2 chassi-plates out of a 0.5cm thick aluminum sheet using a jig saw.
It came out nicely shaped, rigid, and reasonably heavy.



Let the assembling begin!
Because of some imperfections regarding the positions of the holes I had to make some light fixes, and add a hole I forgot to drill .
And now we can start.

Connecting the motor and gears



front axle (I currently don't have any M3 nuts left, so the shocks are temporarily mounted using zip ties)



I decided to take advantage of the situation and take a better picture of the rear suspension disconnected.



Rear suspension mounted





Right now I only own 4 wheels, 2 more are on their way. That's how it looks
(I know the wheels are "backwards". This way they provide more resistance to the ground, well, you got the idea)




But what do you do with 4 wheels on a 6x6 truck? You drive it anyway!



I'll make another update when the remaining pair of wheels arrive.

To be continued.

[701 Technique]

Looking pretty good, love 6x6 builds