Nicks Comprehensive 86 Build - Weight Savings

[blsfrs]

I found a website that says the shipping weight is 13.5lbs. Official enough?

[jflogerzi]

Carbon doors?

[rice_classic]

I predominately see weight savings here. With this being ST5/TT5 which is a Power:weight + modifiers class, what are you plans for the modifiers?

Tires, Brakes, suspension etc. Link to the class builder here for the folks following along: https://form.jotform.com/drivenasa/s...ification-form

I imagine that big brakes are not worth the point hit while really grippy tires are.

[Nick Dugdale]

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

Carbon doors?

Once the cage goes in, potentially.

Would love to link up with a composites manufacture for this however.
Pricey indeed!

Gutting doors for now to see where that gets me.

[Nick Dugdale]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I predominately see weight savings here. With this being ST5/TT5 which is a Power:weight + modifiers class, what are you plans for the modifiers?

Tires, Brakes, suspension etc. Link to the class builder here for the folks following along: https://form.jotform.com/drivenasa/s...ification-form

I imagine that big brakes are not worth the point hit while really grippy tires are.

You can find my TT5 paperwork submissions HERE

[Nick Dugdale]

2023 NASA TT5 rules are about to be finalized. The car is going to see some changes for next season.

Gutting the doors next week. Let's see how much weight we can take out.

Weight info on these parts confirmed:
Front wheel liners -1.5 lb (each)
Wiper Motor assembly -4.6 lb
Wipers -1.2 lb (each)
Mini windows (in front of door) -2.3 lb (each)
Replace RUCA's (Racer-X) -4.0 lb (each)

[RedReplicant]

Originally Posted by Nick Dugdale

2023 NASA TT5 rules are about to be finalized. The car is going to see some changes for next season.

Gutting the doors next week. Let's see how much weight we can take out.

Weight info on these parts confirmed:
Front wheel liners -1.5 lb (each)
Wiper Motor assembly -4.6 lb
Wipers -1.2 lb (each)
Mini windows (in front of door) -2.3 lb (each)
Replace RUCA's (Racer-X) -4.0 lb (each)

What made you choose RUCA over the Verus poly LCA?

With the Verus you wouldn't take the spherical points like you will with the RacerX since you're retaining a balljoint rather than moving to a heim joint. Nice that they're letting us have one adjustable rear arm though.

[Nick Dugdale]

Originally Posted by RedReplicant

What made you choose RUCA over the Verus poly LCA?

With the Verus you wouldn't take the spherical points like you will with the RacerX since you're retaining a balljoint rather than moving to a heim joint. Nice that they're letting us have one adjustable rear arm though.

There are many advantages to choosing the RUCA over the RLCA. It seems unjust to penalize the 'Racer-X RUCA' for using a spherical joint when in fact the 'OEM RUCA' uses a spherical joint in the same location. From my perspective there are no engineering enhancements / changes or performance advantages / disadvantages in light of 'deflection' as they are both spherical type ball joints.

Definition of a ball joint as it relates to vehicles (per Wiki): "Ball joints are spherical bearings that connect the control arms to the steering knuckles, and are used on virtually every automobile made."

I don't happen to know of any other way one would properly affix a control arm to a steering knuckle besides the traditional spherical joint. I could justify the penalty if a urethane bushing is replaced by a spherical design joint, but not if an OEM spherical is replaced with.... another spherical.

Standing by for apr.

[RedReplicant]

Originally Posted by Nick Dugdale

There are many advantages to choosing the RUCA over the RLCA. It seems unjust to penalize the 'Racer-X RUCA' for using a spherical joint when in fact the 'OEM RUCA' uses a spherical joint in the same location. From my perspective there are no engineering enhancements / changes or performance advantages / disadvantages in light of 'deflection' as they are both spherical type ball joints.

Definition of a ball joint as it relates to vehicles (per Wiki): "Ball joints are spherical bearings that connect the control arms to the steering knuckles, and are used on virtually every automobile made."

I don't happen to know of any other way one would properly affix a control arm to a steering knuckle besides the traditional spherical joint. I could justify the penalty if a urethane bushing is replaced by a spherical design joint, but not if an OEM spherical is replaced with.... another spherical.

Standing by for apr.

I don't disagree, I was thinking from a rules interpretation point of view.

[Nick Dugdale]

I am gutting the OEM doors this week (with removal of passenger OEM door beam.) Standby for aprox weight savings.

Lexan windows from P4P going in once my new nut-sert tool arrives in the mail. (Should shed -23.0 lb's in total off the top.) Stoked!

[Nick Dugdale]

December 2022 has been a super busy month fixing and prepping the car for the NASA 2023 TT season. Parts are on order awaiting arrival and fenders and bumpers are coming out of paint ready to be bolted back onto the car.

Below are parts I have swapped out to save weight:

A1. OEM RUCA -8.7 lb (each)
A2. Racer-X RUCA +4.3 lb (each) [50% unsprung weight savings vs OEM]
A3. Wheel speed sensor brackets -0.2 lb (both)
Total unsprung weight savings = -9.0 lb

B1. Rear rotor shields -7.1 lb (both)
B2. Custom CNC cut 6061 aluminum hub shims +0.4 lb (Shouts to SendCutSend.com)
B3. Front rotor shield delete -2.0 (both)
Total unsprung weight savings = -8.7 lb

C1. Removed Eibach 7'' (2.25'' Ø) 700# springs (x2) -5.4 lb
C2. Changed to Eibach 6'' (2.25 Ø) 600# springs (x2) +4.2 lb
Total unsprung weight savings = -1.2 lb

I will be posting my 'Google Sheets Doc' link soon so you guys can have a real time update on the official weight savings sheet.

Standby.

[Nick Dugdale]

Rear brake rotor shield delete must be swapped for a similar thickness 'shim plate' in order to maintain adequate distance for the wheel speed sensor to recognize / read the magnetic servo axial ring on the wheel hub.

I made sure to dial in all necessary caliper measurements before creating a oil negative photo of the flange surface. Once I peeled off a negative photo using paper and used oil, I scanned the image into Adobe Ai and went to work rendering out a vector file of the shim exactly to spec. I connected with Send Cut Send to have the shims laser cut from '6061 aluminum' to maintain strength and corrosion resistance while keeping things light.

• The OEM rear rotor shields weigh (~3.60 lb each)
• The CNC cut shims weigh (~0.19 lb each)
• Total savings of (~6.80 lb unsprung weight)

Huge unsprung weight savings off the rear suspension. My vector designed shims came out looking fire.

[blsfrs]

Those shims look awesome. In the picture, they look much thicker than what I would imagine the thickness of the original shield would be.

[Nick Dugdale]

Originally Posted by blsfrs

Those shims look awesome. In the picture, they look much thicker than what I would imagine the thickness of the original shield would be.

Appreciate it. These shims are in spec with OEM shields down to the thousandths.