1/16 Scale FrankenDiff

[ddmckee54]

Zabco:

I found about the sub-assemblies after about the 2nd or 3rd time my suspension assembly tried self-destructing the axle on me. I tried to pivot the axle around the equalizer beam pivot, and just about every part of the rear axle moved separately - and I couldn't undo it. The rear axle, the center axle, the equalizer beams, and the torque rods are all separate sub-assemblies now. I did discover that when you insert sub-assemblies they are rigid until you tell them to be flexible. It took me a while to find out why the axle beam mount brackets would pivot in the equalizer beam assembly, but when that sub-assembly was inserted into another assembly they wouldn't pivot.

This frame is just a test jig so I haven't made it a sub-assembly. It will be a sub-assembly when I start working on the actual frame though. The frame rails shown are sized to the 1-1/4" square aluminum tubing with 0.063 walls that I got. The rails and the cross-member are the only parts that are currently anchored.

I've been poking and prodding at my current suspension assembly so much that I've gotten it completely confused. I think I am going to throw this version away and start fresh - and LEARN from my mistakes, instead of repeating them. That's tonight's task, now I've got to finish the yard work.

Don