Carbon Fiber Chassis Skid plates

[lucias]

I was thinking about trying to make a carbon fiber chassis skid plate... I always end up bashing or dinking off around my house on the pavement and it tears the heck out of the chassis and also it wears down the screws on the bottom of the chassis. making it harder to get a good grip on them... I was thinking about getting a sheet of carbon fiber and cutting it out to match the bottom of the chassis, so it would cover the whole thing... It could be held on by clips or a couple of screws and it would protect the bottom of chassis from all road rashes and keep mud and grime out of the screws... What do you guys think? good or bad idea? I haven't really ever played with carbon fiber either would there be a better material?

[Arct1k]

Just use a piece of .08 lexan..

[bl-is-future]

^^^^^
Agreed, cheaper too.

[lucias]

Does it hold up well?

[MetalMan]

It will snap when flexed far enough. Keep in mind Lexan/polycarbonate is used for bulletproof "glass", so it's extremely flexible while remaining very rigid. The stuff also cuts nearly like butter...

[lucias]

How do you get your lexan to stick to the bottom of the chassis? Tape? Glue? anything special?

[Shark413]

Yeah I would stay away from carbon fiber for a skid plate. It is expensive and does not have good abrasion resistance properties.

[BrianG]

Yeah, I agree. Simple lexan affixed with small bits of servo tape in several areas should be fine.

[Shark413]

Here are some skids I made from 6061-T6 aluminum (finished ones next to rejects). You don't have to make them as fancy as these. You could take some aluminum bar stock of the right thickness and cut to the correct length, smooth the edges and then drill some holes for screws. I used 6061 because it is strong yet easy to cut/drill, 7075 aluminum is twice as strong if you want something really tough but still light.

[DRIFT_BUGGY]

I use 3mm T-6 hard grade aluminum

[Shark413]

Yeah the skids will really save a lot of wear and tear on your chassis, especially from the occassional lawn darts or pancake landings. I have made some improved skids that actually wrap around the rear of the chassis to protect my upgraded alloy rear suspension plate.

[DRIFT_BUGGY]