Unlike the part updates last week, which was a design improvement, this week’s is a change for manufacturing.

For the original front axle crosstube (A001_P009_R001) was designed, the two tube bends were sized to an appropriate radius for the axle geometry, but

  • They were described by internal radius. This is not how tube bending radii are normally specified; centre line radius (CLR) is normal.

  • The CLR I chose was not equivalent to any standard former radii for this tube diameter.

So, I’ve adjusted the centre line radius to be 152.4mm (6”) (A001_P009_R002). While not all machine shops will have a former of this radius for 2” diameter tube (and not all machine shops will be able to do tube bending), as a common size, if they can do bending, then the are likely to have this size former.

Here’s the technical drawing: A001_P009_R002 Front Axle Crosstube

My current information suggests that this part might actually need two manufacturers, one who for the tube bending, and one for the cutting as there don’t seem to be many companies who can do both in-house.