You know, I've never thought to actually physically shake a fresh race car (rebuilt or new) before hitting the track. it makes sense.
The chassis has been built and the engine has been run. But will it roll?
The answer? Yes. ERAU Motorsports has hit its third largest milestone of this semester with its FSAE car: a rolling chassis.
What is a rolling chassis? Well, think of it as the stage where the car is a roller but not a runner. All of the key components of the car have been put on, and now, like a baby taking its first steps, it’s coming off the jack stands.
A rolling chassis allows a team to really look at all implemented designs, how they interact and their rule legality. From there, the team takes notes and makes adjustments as needed.
After all, you’d rather find a part failure now than when the car is running–which is just what happened.
As the team completed its shakedown–a period where students literally shake, bounce and roll the car around the lab–the car’s back-right suspension bell crank failed and seemed to crumple under the load forces. Uh-oh.
What did the team do?
Took the part off, examined the failure point, made a plan for a new part and continued working, placing the previous year’s bell crank on until the new one was complete–thank God for spares.
Even though the urge to run a project that’s 90% complete is high, a full examination before a test is something everyone should do. After all, a car on jack stands or a lift holds loads differently than a car on the ground.
The next time one of your projects is nearing completion, take it off the stands–if it’s ready–and give it a good shake. You never know what you may find.
Although a part failure is something no FSAE team or project car owner wants to see, it happens. The important thing is not to dwell on it. This is an opportunity to create an even better car than what you had before.
You know, I've never thought to actually physically shake a fresh race car (rebuilt or new) before hitting the track. it makes sense.
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
It is a very fun process, plus it makes you notice things you may not see in a normal look-through.
A lot of teams gunning for Le Mans use bumpy Sebring for such a shakedown.
It's like a grassroots-version of a shaker rig, haha
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