Cybertruck frame / casting / chassis / body structure in plain sight outside Giga Texas 🧐

[RayzorBEV]

The Cybertruck's bare structure looks so cool, I'll bet that it will fit right in at the MoMa, NY

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[Cybergirl]

maybe more to your point:

These seams suggest a panel construction

On the other hand…

as ever, there are good reasons for sustained debates

Yes. Thank you.

 

[MEWoodsMFG]

Ridglines are small to midsize trucks at best, not an apples to apples comparison as far as use cases go, despite the unibody construction.
Let's see how a Ridgline body panel looks after one blow from a sledgehammer.

 

[wtibbit]

OMG!!!! It's the bestest evar! It's just what Elon described in 2019!!! Just super glue some overthick cold rolled stainless steel plates to it!

Not superglue, of course! This:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/oem-tier-us/products/automotive-structural-adhesives/

How else did you think they might do it? Bolts? Rivets? Spot welds? Well, maybe not spot welds...

 

[SKUUT]

Don't be sad, crew, when you realize what you're looking at. This is likely the most comparable production vehicle made, as far as I can think of at the moment. In my opinion, the CT is a hybrid spaceframe vehicle, which at least has a cool name. The battery pack, peaked rooflines, massive high-strength pillars, and highly-reinforced firewall and rear panels will make this a rigid truck capable of the intended specs. You should expect that this will be the safest production vehicle ever built and will likely remain so for quite some time.

We'll have a reliable and solid truck if Telsa fully integrates all suspension control points into a single subframe, ensure that the gigacasts are highly repairable, and designs all outer wheelhouses and outer body panel mounts/extensions as fixed and bonded components that can be easily replaced. The backside of the fenders and bedsides/quarter will likely be scored at multiple angles to allow for folding during an accident and not allow the panels to shear off and fly away, i.e., Captain America's shield, decapitating chaps along the way. Of course, they must also plumb a/c into the vault if they don't want CT owners to loathe the company

You've seen these before...

 

[Frank Mendez]

Just curious and don't judge me for not knowing. How many castings are used to create this frame skeleton? Are several castings welded together? Thanks in advance.

 

[scottf200]

Just curious and don't judge me for not knowing. How many castings are used to create this frame skeleton? Are several castings welded together? Thanks in advance.

 

[wtibbit]

Yes. Thank you.

I find the argu... uh, discussions about exoskeletons pretty amusing, but at least it's something to help with the waiting.

That said.....

It's a bit surprising that anyone could think that the use of "exoskeleton" in the Tesla announcements meant there would be no supporting structure under the skin of the Cybertruck.

It doesn't seem reasonable to me to think that all of the suspension components along with all the other functional loads - motors, batteries, doors, and so on - would be somehow attached to nothing other than a shell of stainless steel plates that are bonded together along their edges.

It does seem reasonable to think stiff and strong sheet metal that is properly bonded to an underlying structure adds substantial strength and rigidity to the overall assembly and allows more of the mass of the vehicle to be moved to the exterior. "Moving mass" is another way of saying reducing the mass of the underlying structure.

I tried to find the term exoskeleton used for basic structure applications in serious mechanical engineering publications without much success. Exoskeleton is mostly a buzzword unless we're talking about bugs or these things:

Now, let the argu.. uh, discussion continue. We need the distraction...

 

[Mini2nut]

The SS quarter panels are almost guaranteed to be scored on the underside to allow for a rear end collision crumple zone.

 

[cvalue13]

You should expect that this will be the safest production vehicle ever built and will likely remain so for quite some time.

why, exactly?

 

[rizvend]

Set your microcalipers to stun!

 

[rizvend]

People saying "guess no exoskeleton" have no idea what they're talking about. This unibody frame was shown on reveal night, never changed. Here it is, just without the castings but with the body panels attached:

I included the image with the Ford to demonstrate what they're talking about. The Ford is a body on frame, so everything is plopped on the ladder structure. Cybertruck is unibody. When Elon said they would push the mass to the outside, he never said there wouldn't be a frame, they showed it right there. Just stainless steel skin and seats would be ridiculous.

And this isn't new, unibody cars have been around for decades. What is new is doing it for a real truck that can carry 3000lbs or tow 15000. Getting rid of that central ladder enables much more efficient packaging and dramatically reduced overall weight which should give the Cybertruck significant competitive advantages in space, comfort and energy efficiency.

Precisamente! Translated: yeah...that...whatever he said!

 

[cvalue13]

It doesn't seem reasonable to me to think that all of the suspension components along with all the other functional loads - motors, batteries, doors, and so on - would be somehow attached to nothing other than a shell of stainless steel plates that are bonded together along their edges.

to be fair, that was never what reasonable people thought, see eg

https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...sis-of-cybertruck-exoskeleton-body-shell.366/

 

[evazquezcu]

People saying "guess no exoskeleton" have no idea what they're talking about. This unibody frame was shown on reveal night, never changed. Here it is, just without the castings but with the body panels attached:

I included the image with the Ford to demonstrate what they're talking about. The Ford is a body on frame, so everything is plopped on the ladder structure. Cybertruck is unibody. When Elon said they would push the mass to the outside, he never said there wouldn't be a frame, they showed it right there. Just stainless steel skin and seats would be ridiculous.

And this isn't new, unibody cars have been around for decades. What is new is doing it for a real truck that can carry 3000lbs or tow 15000. Getting rid of that central ladder enables much more efficient packaging and dramatically reduced overall weight which should give the Cybertruck significant competitive advantages in space, comfort and energy efficiency.

You couldn't put it together better, people in general have no idea the amount of weight and moving parts already erase with an unibody chassis.

 

[SKUUT]

why, exactly?

Correction: I'd expect that this will be the safest production vehicle ever built and will likely remain so for quite some time.

The passenger cage is more robust than anything I've ever seen or can think of at the moment, and the massive energy-deflecting/diverting design of the front wheelhouse's rear structure will hopefully prevent any significant compartment intrusion in moderate-speed overlapping accidents. All bets are off in high-speed accidents, and boils down to luck at that point. The upper pillars are laid inward past the belt line, which will aid in pillar and roof structure stability during side impacts and rollovers.

All of this is just my opinion, of course, and is simply based on the thousands of wrecked cars, SUVs, trucks, buses, tractors, trailers, and RVs that I've inspected over the past 18 years. I'll be inspecting many wrecked CTs in the future and hope that everyone, in all involved vehicles, will fare well.

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