I thought I'd show you guys the first update since... ages!
I made a mockup on the inboard suspension and body. This layout gives it's own problems, this time not around the gear cover, but around the steering rack and rocker arms. There's not a lot of space to put everything, so I have to re-arrange some parts.
However, it looks promising to me. I just need to calculate what geometry I need to make maximum use of the potential displacement of the shocks but also keep track of whether there are springs, pistons and oils to make a good setup at that geometry.
Edit:
After working on the project for an afternoon, this is the result:
As you might have noticed, the rocker isn't as low and elegantly placed as it first was. But to be fair, that was a long shot. The problem is that the tie rods and the rocker arms 'ideal' position is in the same place. Something told me that might not work in practice
I tried moving the tie rods, but there is little room for changes without making the steering geometry kind of knackered. I also looked at moving the rocker arms, preferably forward, but there is no room for that due to the spur gear, motor plate and gear cover. So whatever I tried, the suspension ended up higher.
In the end, this is about the lowest I could get it to be. The problem only existed when cornering with the inside wheel pushed up - it's not likely to happen, but I thought it would be best not to limit the suspension's movement by having parts binding. As you can see here below, there is now plenty of clearance between the grey rocker arm and the orange adjuster of the tie rod.
I really like the result of removing the shock tower: It allows for more freedom in setup: There can now be 3 holes for mounting the suspension in the lower arm instead of one, and I can adjust the suspension drastically by using different rocker arms. The weight is further to the middle and I think the centre of gravity won't be affected much in terms of height. And last but not least, look at this front profile!
While working on the inboard system I realized I needed to adjust the arrangement of the electronics on the chassis - once again! To accomplish the arrangement below I need a custom top arm on the servo saver, because the standard 201 arm is in line with the lower arm of the servo saver, not perpendicular to it. Unfortunately, the large space between the gearbox and battery is necessary to make the steering rack. However, it does leave some space for weights low in the front of the car, which is nice.
The rear end won't have an inboard suspension system. I've looked at it, but if anything, it makes it more difficult to take the battery out and it doesn't lower the centre of gravity. Using the rocker arms actually made the rear suspension system higher than the shocks when placed at 45 degrees, which they are now. I hope I can use the shocks angled so far down so I can keep a low profile on the whole car. The wing will be mounted low to the small rear shock tower, and there will be a seperate mounting block or plate for the rear turnbuckles and rear tie rods behind that.
Today has been a day of some drastic re-thinking of this project. First of all, I have some experience in 3D printing nowadays, and I will use this production method for some of the parts, and probably many mockup/first test parts. Secondly, I reconsidered the whole design of an FF Buggy. I even drew up some sketches of an inboard motor FWD buggy with the steering rack and servo on the front, with room for chassis weights to make a good balance. It sounded nice, as if it would solve the problems with finding space for all the parts, but I thought that the space at the front wouldn't be a problem with a compact TRF201 gearbox instead of a Dyna Storm gearbox when I started this project. The only thing the 201 gearbox did is raise the stakes and make the project possible, but not problem-free or easy
I'm happy with what I got done today though: The mockup seems to have no issues, so I am now confident enough about how the parts fit together to start modeling all the parts for the inboard suspension.