It's the Hobao Hyper 9e Steel Uni Center Drive Shaft (89339) and its overall length is about 8.5". It should work perfectly for my front center drive shaft, giving me a wheelbase of around 18". I'll get the front bulkheads together and then be able to fit this in and see where I want to cut the front of the chassis.
Edit: Here's how it looks on the chassis with the battery trays:
I was able to cut the front of the chassis today - I left it long because I have an FG bumper that I need to mount on the front, so I'll cut it to its final length when I see how that's going to fit.
I tried to bend the front to give it some kick-up, but this is some tough metal to bend. I have only been able to bend it a little over 1°, so either I'll leave it like that or take it to where I can use a larger vice and bend it more.
Yeah 7075 is pretty hard to bend. Try to make a curve rather than a corner- 1/2" diameter is the smallest curve I'd recommend for material that thick, 3/4" to be safe. Otherwise, like MM said, it might crack.
Edit: Actually I just went back through the thread and saw that it is 4mm thick ( I had thought it was 3mm), so definitely >3/4" diameter to avoid cracking.
Last edited by What's_nitro?; 07.04.2011 at 01:37 PM.
The front shock tower is just about finished - still needs a few more holes, and some filing and polishing:
I think this is the last major piece I'm going to fab myself. I need to figure out how to mount the body - so some work ahead of me, but this thing is coming together.
I like using Maxx/Revo body posts. They're pretty strong, easy to mount being rectangular, have a ton of holes already drilled in them, and are available in pretty long lengths from Proline and others. Are you going to use body posts on the sides at all? Your body looks like it already has the hole in the front doors for one.