{"id":32037,"date":"2019-08-29T16:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/2019\/08\/29\/3d-printed-parts-create-a-tricked-out-truck\/"},"modified":"2019-08-29T16:00:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:00:33","slug":"3d-printed-parts-create-a-tricked-out-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/2019\/08\/29\/3d-printed-parts-create-a-tricked-out-truck\/","title":{"rendered":"3D Printed Parts Create a Tricked-Out Truck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PADT<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Austin Suder is a Solidworks CAD wizard,\na NASA design-competition (Two\nfor the Crew<\/a>) winner and a teaching assistant for a course in additive\nmanufacturing (AM)\/3D printing. Not bad for someone who\u2019s just started his\nsophomore year in mechanical engineering at Arizona State University.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"PADT's <\/picture>
PADT’s Austin Suder 3D printed these custom LED reverse-light housings in carbon fiber PLA, then added heat-set inserts to strengthen the assembly and mounting structure. (Image courtesy Austin Suder)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In last month\u2019s PADT blog post about adding heat-set inserts to 3D printed parts<\/a> we gave a shout-out to Austin for providing our test piece, the off-road LED light unit he had designed and printed for his 2005 Ford F-150. Now we\u2019ve caught up with him between classes to see what other additions he\u2019s made to his vehicle, all created with his personal 3D printers and providing great experience for his part-time work with Stratasys<\/a> industrial printers in PADT\u2019s manufacturing department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What has inspired or led you to print multiple parts\nfor your truck?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like cars, but I\u2019m on a college budget so instead of complaining I found a way to fix the problem. I have five 3D printers at my house – why not put them to work! I understand the capabilities of AM so this has given me a chance to practice my CAD and manufacturing skills and push boundaries – to the point that people start to question my sanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How did you end up making those rear-mount LED lights?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted some reverse lights to match the ones on the front\nof my truck, so I designed housings in SolidWorks and printed them in carbon\nfiber PLA. Then I soldered in some high-power LED lights and wired them to my\nreverse lights. These parts made great use of threaded inserts! The carbon\nfiber PLA that I used was made by a company called Vartega that recycles carbon\nfiber material. (Note: PADT is an investor of this company.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: In the PADT parking lot, people can\u2019t help but\nnotice your unusual tow-hitch. What\u2019s the story with that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw a similar looking hitch on another car that I liked\nand my first thought was, \u201cI bet I could make that better.\u201d It\u2019s made from ABS\npainted chrome (not metal); I knew that I would never use it to tow anything,\nso this opened up my design freedom. This has been on my truck for about a year\nand the paint has since faded, but the printed parts are still holding strong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An <\/picture>
An adjustable-height “topology optimized” trailer hitch Austin designed and printed in ABS. The chrome paint-job has many passersby doing a double-take, but it’s just for fun, not function. (Image courtesy PADT)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This part also gets questioned a lot! It\u2019s both a blessing and a curse. In most cases it starts when I\u2019m getting gas and the person behind me starts staring and then questions the thing that\u2019s attached to the back of my truck. The conversation then progresses to me explaining what additive is, to a complete stranger in the middle of a gas station. This is the blessing part because I\u2019m always down for a conversation about AM; the downside is I hate being late for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What about those tow shackles on your front bumper?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unique <\/picture>
Unique ABS printed tow shackles – another conversation-starter. (Image courtesy PADT)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Those parts were printed in ABS \u2013 they\u2019re not meant for use,\njust for looks. I\u2019ve seen towing shackles on Jeeps and other trucks but never\nliked the look of them, so again I designed my own in this pentagon-shape. I\noriginally printed them in red but didn\u2019t like the look when I installed them;\nthe unusual shading comes because I spray-painted them black then rubbed off some\nof the paint while wet so the red highlights show through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Have you printed truck parts in any other\nmaterials?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I\u2018ve used a carbon-fiber (CF) nylon and flexible TPU\n(thermoplastic polyurethane) on filament printers and a nylon-like resin on a\nstereolithography system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CF nylon worked well when I realized my engine bay lacked the real estate needed for a catch can<\/a> I\u2019d bought. This was a problem for about five minutes \u2013 then I realized I have the power of additive and engineered a mount which raised the can and holds it at an angle. The mount makes great use of complex geometry because AM made it easy to manufacture a strong but custom-shaped part.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Custom <\/picture>
Custom mount, 3D printed in carbon-fiber reinforced nylon, puts aftermarket catch-can in just the right location. (Image courtesy Austin Suder)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After adding the catch can to my engine, I needed a way to\nkeep the hoses from moving around when driving so I designed a double S-clip in\nTPU. The first design didn\u2019t even come close to working – the hoses kept coming\nloose when driving \u2013 so I evaluated it and realized that the outer walls needed\nto be thicker. I made the change and printed it again, and this time it worked\ngreat. In fact, it worked so well that when I took my truck to the Ford\ndealership for some warranty work, they went missing. (It\u2019s OK Ford, you can\nhave them – I\u2019ll just print another set.)    \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Just-right <\/picture>
Just-right 3D printed clips keep hoses anchored and out of the way. ((Image courtesy Austin Suder)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Other parts I printed in TPU included clips for the brake-lines. I had seen that my original clip had snapped off, so when I had the truck up on jacks, I grabbed my calipers and started designing a new, improved version. Thirty minutes later I had them in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also made replacement hood dampeners from TPU since they\nlooked as though they\u2019d been there for the life of the truck. I measured the\nold ones, used SolidWorks to recreate them (optimized for AM), printed a pair\nand installed them. They\u2019ve been doing great in the Arizona heat without any\ndeformation.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New <\/picture>
New hood-dampeners printed in TPU have just the right amount of give. (Image courtesy Austin Suder)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My last little print was done on my SLA system in a material\nthat behaves like nylon. (This was really just me showing off.) The plastic\nclips that hold the radiator cover had broken off, which led me to use threaded\nsheet-metal inserts to add machine threading to the fixture. I then purchased chrome\nbolts and made some 3D printed cup-washers with embossed text for added personalization\nand flair.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Even <\/picture>
Even the cup-washers got a 3D printed make-over on Austin’s F150: printed in white resin on an SLA system, these parts got a coat of black paint and then some sanding, ending up with a two-color custom look. (Image courtesy PADT)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Q: What future automotive projects do you have in\nmind?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m working on a multi-section bumper and am using the\nproject to standardize my production process \u2013 the design, material choice, sectioning\nand assembling. I got the idea because I saw someone with a tube frame car and\nthought it looked great, which led to me start thinking about how I could\nincorporate that onto my truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I bought my F-150, it had had a dent in the rear bumper.\nI was never happy with this but didn\u2019t have the money to get it fixed, so at this\npoint the tube-frame look came full circle! I decided that I was going to 3D\nprint a tube-frame bumper to replace the one with a dent. I started by removing\nthe original bumper, taking measurements and locating possible mounting points\nfor my design. Then I made some sketches and transferred them into SolidWorks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best part about this project is that I have additive on\nmy side. Typical tube frame construction is limited by many things like bend\nallowance, assembly, and fabrication tooling. AM has allowed me to design\ncomponents that could not be manufactured with traditional methods. The bumper\nwill be constructed of PVC sections connected by 50 ABS printed parts, all\nglued together, smoothed with Bondo and filler primer then painted black. This\nis a large project!  It will take a lot\nof hand-finishing, but it will be perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: If you were given the opportunity to work on any printer\ntechnology and\/or material, what would you want to try working with?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great question! If I had the opportunity to use AM for\nautomotive components, I would redesign internal engine components and print\nthem with direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), one of PADT\u2019s other AM\ntechnologies. I would try printing part like piston rods, pistons, rocker arms,\nand cylinder valves. Additive is great for complex geometries with exotic\nmaterials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go Austin! Can\u2019t wait to see what your truck looks\nlike when you visit over semester break. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about fused deposition modeling\n(FDM\/filament), stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS) and\nDMLS printers and materials, contact the PADT Manufacturing group; get your\nquestions answered, have some sample parts printed, and share your success\ntips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PADT Inc. is a\nglobally recognized provider of Numerical Simulation, Product Development and\n3D Printing products and services. For more information on Insight, GrabCAD and\nStratasys products, contact us at <\/em>info@padtinc.com<\/em><\/strong>.\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PADT\u2019s Austin Suder is a Solidworks CAD wizard, a NASA design-competition (Two for the Crew) winner and a teaching assistant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":32038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1905,222,624,2228,596,2229,483,600,544,520],"post-podcast":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32037"},{"taxonomy":"post-podcast","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-podcast?post=32037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}