Design, Prototyping Forrest Lucas Design, Prototyping Forrest Lucas

4runner Bumper - Design

bumper render v1.PNG

I was looking for high-clearance bumpers for my 2004 4Runner, and found really cool, really expensive options. They look fantastic, but it’s a lot for a bit of metal. So I wanted to see just how hard it is to design my own.

It’s hard.

I took the bumper off the car, did my best at measurement, made a cardboard template, then re-built the bumper in cad. If it actually fits, I’ll be pretty happy. I wanted to test if this thing could actually handle the winch loads that I’d be asking out of it. The 4Runner is about 4,000 lbs, and it started to deform at over 8,000lbs. I’d like to have more than a double safety factor, but for now, I’ll take what I can get.

Read More
Electronics, Design Forrest Lucas Electronics, Design Forrest Lucas

The Electric Longboard Lives.

At long last, my custom-built electric longboard is completed. Of course, I’m only willing to call this version 1, but I’m pretty Impressed with the results.

Custom welded batteries, hand made case, milled motor/ wheel mounts, the works. I had a lot of fun solving every problem that comes from doing it yourself. It’s not perfect, but I got almost exactly what I wanted.

And it looks cool.

refresh page to view instagram post :(

Read More

Odds and ends of what I’ve been up to.