Hello everyone,
I was going to make a few threads on my truck builds.... But realistically, my trucks have been highly neglected in the last 8 months or so. I've been extremely busy with my the Lakehead University Formula SAE car. Basically, we have to build a formula style racecar for competition in Michigan every year. It's the worlds largest engineering competition. It's a 4 day event that includes dynamic and static events.
The only reason I put this in the 'Street Bike' section is because we use a Honda CBR600 engine for this project. If you want to put it somewhere else Marc, go ahead.
TW Racing (the team name) has built 3 cars thus far, and this car will be our 4th (which is why the car is named TWR-04). In your 4th year of the Mechanical Engineering program at LU, you can do your degree project on a section of the car. This year, there are 20 mechanical engineers doing their project on the car, split into 5 sections; frame and drivetrain, engine, suspension, driver controls, and body. The team is responsible for funding, designing, building, and testing the car, ontop of our full-time class schedule.
I am the frame and drivetrain team leader, and I'm also the one (of two) engineering managers for the team. We oversee the entire design of the car. We do not have an unlimited budget like some teams, so we do the best we can with the money we bring in. We basically build off last years design.... We pick it apart and try to improve on it. Lakehead gives us a shop and tools, but not $100,000 like some schools. Things like carbon fiber monoque chassis' aren't really an option for us lol. Enough talk... Let's dive into the pics:
Our newly acquired engine dynamometer. It's designed to go onto a snowmobile crankshaft. This should help with engine tuning.
Shaft machined to accept the input on the dynamometer.
The exhaust on the engine is last years setup.
Control station for the dyno.
Bending tube. Thanks for the help Shawn Allen!
Solidworks helps with the tube notching.
What the rear suspension will look like.
Chromoly tubes for the a-arms, tie-rods, and push rods.
Frame coming along slowly lol.
Rear upper engine mounts cut on the CNC.
Suspension parts getting made on the lathe.
We started by building 4 main sections for the frame.
Then built a jig to hold those 4 sections exactly where they belong in space. The table surface is the ground (everything gets built at ride height).
7075 T6 aluminum chunks for the hubs.
AT Power throttle body. We have to run through a 20mm restrictor for competition (as per the rules).
Front aluminum rotor carriers.
Ready to play with the dyno.
Rear rotor... Made in house on the CNC.
We added these sections to our jig to ensure the suspension points are EXACTLY right.
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icon to the right to add to my Reputation. It's a neat way of saying thanks or to give props for a helpful/excellent post.
Originally Posted by Yota
