anyone know what needs to be supported by the space frame?
Your starting from the wrong point Russ
A space frame is designed from the tyre contact patch inwards
Wheel size/type and movement needed
Suspension Geometry required
That gives you the suspension pickup points
Spaceframe links the suspension pickup points, and should be fully triangulated
Engines gearboxes and Passenger compartments all reduce the Efficiency of the design and force more tubes to triangulate around the "holes"
A true spaceframe does not need welded joints either as all the tubes are loaded in either compression or Tension
you could bolt it together and it would still work
There are very few true spaceframes out there and a lot of "Spaceframes" on Kit Cars are terrible - loads fed into the middle of tubes through single shear brackets
Damper mounts being a prime example.... leaving the Tube they are mounted to to act like a huge undamped spring, flexing in the middle ;D Great for setting up they are
As you can see a spaceframe is not a "One size fits all" universal fix, its designed to do a specific job in the lightest most efficient way...
Might be easier to tell us what you want a frame to do
HTH
Dom
EDIT: just seen your Sig and if its for Drag Racing you don't want a space frame, spaceframes are for "Roundy roundy" stuff, straightlines require a Different setup alltogether, think more ladder frame with arcing cage connecting front legs all the way through to the rear of the Chassis rails behind the axle, and a BFO 4 link rear suspension setup stiffly tied in to the cage to allow the suspension to react properly on launch
;D
you could bolt it together and it would still work
