Design Updates

Front Upright Updated Design

The initial technical analysis showed acceptable stress levels, but there was significant responsibility put on the corner welds to hold the upright together. To provide more welding area and structural support, 2 additional side plates were added to the upright. This increased the overall strength of the part while maintaining its intended manufacturability. This also provided useful surface area to place the wheel-side steering mount.

Steering Mount Updated Design

The steering mount needed a simpler way to be located on the side plate of the upright. The side plate was modified by cutting small holes so that the steering mount and the side plate would fit together like "puzzle pieces". This would greatly increase the manufacturing accuracy and reduce setup time for welding.

Rear Suspension Updated Braking Design

With the outboard brakes concept selected, a brake caliper mount had to be created to hold the rear brake caliper in line with the rotor mounted to the rear wheel hub. The original design used a bent steel plate welded to the lateral link tab. This was unnecessarily complex by requiring a bend and welding to the side of the lateral link tab. The brake caliper mount was updated to being welded straight to the bearing carrier, which greatly simplified the design. The rotor mounting bolt holes were also shortened by 0.25" on the mill to move all the components slightly closer to the wheel hub for tidier packaging.

Steering Tie Rod Updated Design

The steering tie rod was updated to remove the interference in the suspension travel. The same structural analysis for the steering tie rod was performed again on the new design. The redesign reduced the stress in the tie rod by about 25%, which increased our factor of safety while eliminating the interference caused by the original design.