Rear Wheel Brackets

I am currently in charge of the machining and manufacturing for CSULA SAE Supermileage. The rear wheel brackets are machined out of a single block of aluminum, we decided to make a one piece rear wheel bracket because first, our old brackets do not fit the blind plate holes and therefore gave us a reason to make new ones, we additionally did not want to rely on other people to weld together our brackets (the old brackets were four different parts welded together). A single piece bracket therefore will have more strength than a welded together one as we do not have to worry about the weld's penetration in the metal. The process however, takes quite a bit of time (so far, I have spent 10+ hours on trying to make two, and I am not finished yet).

Derek and I took turns cutting the stock (2.5x2.5x34 inches) with the handsaw because all the horizontal band saws were down..

I then faced the blocks (x2) with an endmill to get that shiny smooth finish and made the blocks 5.25 inches long.

The two blocks were both about 5.25 inches long (off by .001 inches)

I then took a 1/4 inch end mill and slotted holes .3 inches deep for the mounting holes (an endmill broke while slotting the first hole)

In the middle hole, you will notice that the hole starts out deep, but then becomes not as deep (The deep hole is where the endmill broke. I cut too deep and it snapped.). That is when I decided to make the slots at least .3 inches deep.

I then put the angle of the mill at 25 degrees and used the fly cutter to cut the angle of the brackets.

First stage of angle cut.

First block to be angled (this step requires a lot of endurance and patience as the flying cutter makes hot shavings fly everywhere and it takes a few hours to cut it. I got a few burn marks on my wrist, chest, and face. I was also covered head to toe with aluminum shavings.)

Block #2 after a few more hours and some burns.

Beginning to hollow out the block.

An hour after hollowing. (I broke the endmill shortly after).

After changing the endmill to a bigger one, the groove began taking shape and after an hour or two, this is how it turned out, I just need to use a ball nose to put in the fillets and it shall be a completed bracket.

First completed bracket.

After a few hours, the second bracket was nearly finished.

After going deep enough, the slots will emerge at the bottom and sides of the block.

A couple hours later, the second bracket is finished. (this bracket is a bit off from the other bracket)

Both brackets together.

Conclusion: The brackets will fit the blind plates on the rear of our vehicle, but they will not fit the suspension slides, therefore I will be making adapters that will help the slides fit on the brackets as the slides may not be used for competition as a suspension system to replace them is under development.