Need input on a chassis im making
 

Well as most of you guys know already the little trinity NOW trucks have a POS chinese aluminum chassis that wont handle any offroad action at all...... So to make this short im building a new chassis both the main chassis and the top deck, ill also be adding some braces resembling those on a 1/8th scale buggy, i gotta eliminate the chassis flex and bending so it wont strip anymore spurs gears. I am impressed with the electronics, the shocks (after i rebuilt them) and the simple design of the truck, I think there is hope for these little things but its gotta start with a good chassis under it.

Here is what i was thinking, .125 (or 3.17mm) 6061 T6 aluminum for both the chassis, the upper deck, and the braces. I can get this stuff for a decent price and i know it would be plenty strong (prolly overkill). The next size down is .095 which i dont think is quite thick enough at only 2.41mm its also the same 6061 T6......which one?........The plan is to use the stock chassis as my template with a few minor changes such as raised edges, more travel for the arms and possibly having no hole under the chassis so dirt cant go straight to the spur gear. The top deck will be simular to stock and drilled out to keep the weight down, it will also have mounts for the bracing and for the on/off switch. I will be leaving enough room for a fullsize standard servo on there even whith the raised sides.

also i was thinking about adding a 6-8 degree front kickup for better bump handling? would this be worth the trouble? considering my top deck would have to have a matching bend at the front.

UNTILL which ever aluminum i order gets here i am gonna test out an aluminum top deck with the bracing on my straightened stock chassis...I highly doubt itll hold up but it should last for more than 5 mins like the stock one did with the fiberglass topdeck.

Personally, I would go for carbon fiber. If not for the lower, definitely for the upper.

any specific reason? the truck doesnt need to be any lighter ill be using a light battery than came with it some the extra chassis weight wouldnt matter.

where would i get some 3mm thick carbon fiber, i would also need a couple of 90s

I think ill pass on the carbon fiber unless you have a link to some place that sells it cheap because for just 6x9 sheet its $50, i can get enough aluminum to do 6 chassis for that much.

Yeah, and al will take a beating, but may bend. I made a chassis out of the 6061 t6 in the same thickness you want to use, it worked fine for me.

do you have a NOW lincpimp or did you just get the chaos?

I would use carbon fiber because the chassis will never flex enough to break, and it won't bend, plus it looks cool. You can get it pretty cheap on Ebay. If you look, a 12"x12" is only like $20ish I think.

maybe i should make one of each? lol ill look some more at the carbonfiber im not sure yet

squee, while you are right in all those assessments of carbon fiber, that is assuming it is the proper grade of carbon fiber. From my experience, the right grade of carbon fiber, when thick enough, is amazingly strong.

However, most carbon fiber sheets out there, unfortunately, are not of this quality - especially eBay ones (ebay sold stock material is NOTORIOUS for being of poor quality, unless you are buying from some sort of reputable source through eBay).

For $20 it doesn't hurt to try, but I'm just saying be careful...

Plus with the CF, you cant put any bends/kick up in it

But if you can get a good sheet of CF, DO IT! CF is awesome

the 6061 T6 i think will be more useful to me and i can get 6 times more of for less than the carbonfiber, the ebay junk is polyester resin which i even know isnt the right way to make carbon fiber rigid, you have to use a good epoxy resin and the good stuff cost to much. ill try and order the 6061 .125 T6 tomorrow through the college and get their discount.

Just got the chaos in today. Need to scare up some aaas for the car and find my nitro fuel! At least still have a good glow driver! It does look cheap, not nasty, but what do you expect for 100 bucks!

my aluminum should be here first of next week, ill update once i get it cut and ready to go and when my spur gears come in.

you guys think this cf is high quality?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Woven-Carbon-Fib...QQcmdZViewItem

Try Polycarbonate.

If your looking for stiffness, try 7075 T6 Aluminum. It's much much stronger thatn 6061 T6, and a tad lighter as well.

I couldnt find any for a decent price....neither of the places my college orders from carry 7075 T6 in anything but 4x8 sheets and bigger, i can get the 6061 T6 in smaller pieces like 1x2 feet and its alot cheaper,

i do already have some .160 7075 T6 but thats WAY to thick and heavy. Its good for making skids plates for atvs though.

Too bad you're on a budge, because the CF from DragonPlate is amazingly tough... I bought their sample pack, and it's very well made.. just major $$$$

Polycarbonate. Easy to cut. Tough and scratch resistant (So some say).

This is where I buy all of my materials.

honestly i ended up getting the aluminum for free since the instructor said we need to have some for some brackets that needed made....he said i can cut out what i need and hey its hard to beat something thats free.

If this helps I purchased my Carbon Fiber from a company called outfrontdrames. The guys name is wes. Let him know what your looking for and he will hook you up. He has real high grade Carbon Fiber and uses it for RC projects he builds. If you go to my signature you will see my website. Go to the links area and look for his site. I think for your best bet you should look in the neighborhood of 3mm CF