Whenever someone points out something that I’ve thought of but dismissed (read, rationalized away), I take it as a warning that I should revisit it. This time, it’s about how the wheel supports attach to the main truss.
I had decided that using exhaust clamps to hold the support brackets in place would provide enough strength. The clamps “biting” into the truss tube would create creases that the clamps would sit in. He cautioned that vibrations could easily cause slippage under the right conditions and I should hedge my bets and bolt the supports directly to the truss.
These are exactly the thoughts I had when originally deciding to use clamps. But now someone else said it out loud, so it’s not me overthinking it. 😅 I have extra 2-1/4″ wide tubing that fits over the truss’ tubes. Instead of plates bolted to the clamps, I redesigned it to use half round pipes that will be bolted in two directions.
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| Rear support with half-round tubing |
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| Old design using clamps |
I also made the same change to the front end.
