SDSU Mechanical Engineering Senior Project Design: Custom Rhino ATV

vsanchez

New Member
Apr 10, 2011
8
0
0
San Diego
Hello to all,

I'm part of a group of 6 that will be developing a new chassis/suspension design concept for a custom Rhino ATV. Successful completion of this project will fulfill all senior design class requirements. We are all rookies, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hope all is well on your end.
Thanks in advance.
-Victor
 

mosslager

STEEEEEEEEKERZ - UTVUnderground Approved
Nov 4, 2009
1,345
11
38
Hello to all,

I'm part of a group of 6 that will be developing a new chassis/suspension design concept for a custom Rhino ATV. Successful completion of this project will fulfill all senior design class requirements. We are all rookies, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hope all is well on your end.
Thanks in advance.
-Victor

Sounds like a cool project. There is already your standard a-arm and now trailing arm setups out. Maybe a cantilever design would be worth looking into to keep it "new". I have not seen one done that way yet. It would allow shorter shocks to be used due to triangulation.
 

mosslager

STEEEEEEEEKERZ - UTVUnderground Approved
Nov 4, 2009
1,345
11
38
bump stops are also a great idea.. not widely used but add a cool factor and purpose.
 

vsanchez

New Member
Apr 10, 2011
8
0
0
San Diego
welcome to the site Victor. Are you guys starting with a RHino or are you going to build it up from Scratch?
Thanks for the welcome. This sport is very new to me, but it's fun and I'm ready to learn a great deal and also help other in the process.

No. We plan to use a stock Rhino base frame and design our chassis/suspension to mount to it. I made a rough SolidWorks model of a stock base frame using some pictures....it's a start for now. I have been looking all over the place for a website that would give me dimensions for the base frame....and still no luck.

So at the moment, we are looking for someone that has a base frame we could pull dimensions from or maybe even buy.
 

dezerteryx

Active Member
Jun 13, 2010
891
28
28
san marcos
my little sis goes to sdsu. i have a kawi teryx if your guys need something to look at that has already been modified for ideas. im located in escondido so not to far away. also there are quiet a few vendors such as black rhino that are close to the sdsu that make some great products and have alot of knowledge to help with the build. good luck . lets us know when you get to the testing phase would love to see how she runs.
 

waytay

Get Outta MY Waytay - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
652
13
18
59
Hello to all,

I'm part of a group of 6 that will be developing a new chassis/suspension design concept for a custom Rhino ATV. Successful completion of this project will fulfill all senior design class requirements. We are all rookies, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hope all is well on your end.
Thanks in advance.
-Victor
I wish my son who is going to NAU would have done this project LOL BTW he has a job all lined up here in SD after he graduates on May 14th WOOHOO
 

waytay

Get Outta MY Waytay - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
652
13
18
59
I wouldld bet Chris from Benchmark performance would help you hand over fist!!
 

vsanchez

New Member
Apr 10, 2011
8
0
0
San Diego
Sounds like a cool project. There is already your standard a-arm and now trailing arm setups out. Maybe a cantilever design would be worth looking into to keep it "new". I have not seen one done that way yet. It would allow shorter shocks to be used due to triangulation.


From what I have seen so far, the A-arm setup is used for the front suspension while a trailing arm is used for the rear. Will a trailing arm setup, by design, absorb more shock than a cantilever?
 

vsanchez

New Member
Apr 10, 2011
8
0
0
San Diego
my little sis goes to sdsu. i have a kawi teryx if your guys need something to look at that has already been modified for ideas. im located in escondido so not to far away. also there are quiet a few vendors such as black rhino that are close to the sdsu that make some great products and have alot of knowledge to help with the build. good luck . lets us know when you get to the testing phase would love to see how she runs.

That would be great! let me know when your available. Also would you happen to have some pics of your teryx?
 

vsanchez

New Member
Apr 10, 2011
8
0
0
San Diego
I wish my son who is going to NAU would have done this project LOL BTW he has a job all lined up here in SD after he graduates on May 14th WOOHOO

Nice, good for him. I graduate till this fall, so I'm almost done. Where will he be working at? Maybe you guys could pitch in some ideas???
 

mosslager

STEEEEEEEEKERZ - UTVUnderground Approved
Nov 4, 2009
1,345
11
38
From what I have seen so far, the A-arm setup is used for the front suspension while a trailing arm is used for the rear. Will a trailing arm setup, by design, absorb more shock than a cantilever?

The Rhino uses double a-arm front and rear. The Commander and RZR XP use a trailing arm rear, however they are slightly different from one another. Member Steve from Makn' Trax suspension has built a custom trailing arm Rhino. You may want to ping him. The trailin g arm setup get rid of wheel scrub and allows more travel through triangulation... In an a-arm setup the more travel yopu want the farther out to the sides your wheels must go as the arms get longer. On a trailing arm setup your rea wheels will go back further for more travel, but you can only go so far before CV binding.
 

waytay

Get Outta MY Waytay - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
652
13
18
59
Nice, good for him. I graduate till this fall, so I'm almost done. Where will he be working at? Maybe you guys could pitch in some ideas???
I know my son has finals coming up next month, he is going to work for a company called seektech on ruffin rd.

PS
The phone number for Benchmark is 760-484-0986.
Email is: [email protected]
 

warlock

Wanna Go Fast? - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 23, 2009
1,041
170
63
54
az
Incorporate a front steering system so the tie rods are in tension like a car or truck and not in compression so the steering racks and tie rods are not always bending and breaking.:D
 

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