DIY Tire Rack Build

[Mr Paul]

I have recently moved into a house and I am going to build my own tire rack so I can get my off-season wheels/tires off of the garage floor. I know there are companies out there that sell them, or I could make them out of wood, but I am a mechanical engineer and definitely prefer to DIY than to buy a ready-made product. I also have access to a full a machine shop at work so I decided to make my own.

I often times use a product to design frames/machines that is more or less an industrial erector set. It is an aluminum extrusion that comes in many different sizes and will allow me to make exactly what I want. There is no welding that is required which will make it easier to change if I so choose. It is also a nice looking product, in a mechanical/modern kind of way. This is going to be the starting point for the tire rack.

I use Solidworks (a 3D CAD system) all day at work, so I have designed three different racks, of which I will have to choose one.

These will all mount to the studs in my garage, I don't have the wall shown in the renderings.

The first one that I modeled is pretty similar to the rack that Tire Rack sells.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/01-01-000-Render1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/01-01-000-Render2.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/01-01-000-Render3.jpg

The second one I came up with displays the wheels better (lets face it, I'd like to see my ZHP wheels staring at me when I walk into the garage), it also protrudes out less from the wall so it takes up less horizontal real estate. This setup will also let me bolt something in the middle, making this rack a bit of decoration. I'm thinking about a European license plate.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/02-01-000-Render1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/02-01-000-Render2.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/02-01-000-Render3.jpg

The final idea is a similar take on the last one, but wont need any lug bolts to hold the wheel/tire to the rack.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/03-01-000-Render1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/03-01-000-Render2.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/03-01-000-Render3.jpg

So those are my ideas so far. I'll have to narrow it down and figure out which one I like best.

[gr330zhp]

Soooo coool! I would go with design number 2 or 3, most likely 2 though because it looks very clean

[danewilson77]

I like three....

[UdubBadger]

#1 is still the most functional and space saving

[Mr Paul]

A vote for 1, 2, and 3. Keep 'em coming.

[danewilson77]

I would be interested in one...when you build. Admire the ideaizzle....and skillage.

[Mr Paul]

I would be interested in one...when you build. Admire the ideaizzle....and skillage.

Dane, if you are really interested I could design you one for your specs. If you have space limitations or any ideas I could quickly and easily modify the model so that you could get exactly what you wanted/needed.

[M0nk3y]

Vote 1.

I'm a fan of KISS.

[Hornung418]

Vote 1.

I'm a fan of KISS.
+1 to #1

Were these modeled in SketchUp?

[Mr Paul]

+1 to #1

Were these modeled in SketchUp?

Nope, I use Solidworks, I then did a quick render in Photoview 360.

[M0nk3y]

Ohhh Solidworks, how I love you so much. I have to use Inventor here, but essentially the same thing

/derail :)

[Mr Paul]

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Solidworks. I used Pro-E in school and hated it.

[M3TA5IN]

Dane, if you are really interested I could design you one for your specs. If you have space limitations or any ideas I could quickly and easily modify the model so that you could get exactly what you wanted/needed.

I would also be interested in a 2 or 3 design :)

[Mr Paul]

I would also be interested in a 2 or 3 design :)

Sounds good. If there is truly some interest in these I will build one of each design and work out any potential issues that I might not have thought of. That way you guys aren't the guinea pigs.

[danewilson77]

I would love to be a guinea pig...hehe

[Hermes]

I vote this:

http://www.salinasdiscounttires.com/wpimages/wp061bba8a.png

#3 looks really cool but #1 seems like the most practical

[Mr Paul]

Update:

Today I ran an analysis called FEA (Finite Element Analysis) on the first rack that I posted to check and see if it was strong enough to hold 250 lb worth of wheels/tires. For you non-engineers, this is where you break up the different parts into hundreds or thousands of tiny 3D elements. These elements are all connected to one another at points called nodes. Then 10's of thousands of deflection equations are solved simultaneously to output a deformation at each of these nodes. From there you can figure out many other things, stress, strain, factor of safety, etc. to help decide if the parts are strong enough for the given loading. It is really a fantastic piece of software.

Anyway, I wanted to check the deflection on the rack, and I'm happy to say that deflection at it's greatest is barely over 1/8 of an inch. Given the span and the lightness of material, I am quite pleased. Below you'll see an extremely exaggerated deformation, it has been scaled up about 40 times, so that you can see where the greatest deflection is taking place.

I'll be doing this analysis on the other 2 racks to ensure they are robust enough to support the weight of the wheel/tire combinations.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/01-02-000FEA1.jpg

[JohnnyGraphic]

I'm like #2. Functional and beautiful.

[johnrando]

I like them all, and I'd buy one at the right price too. #2 is my fav, not sure how #3 stands up.

[Mr Paul]

I have completed another FEA, this time on rack design #2. Again it looks like we are well within the weight of wheels/tires as deflection is very low at .0175" max. Things are looking good.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s41/psrankin/Tire%20Rack%20Renderings/02-01-000-FEA.jpg

[danewilson77]

Awesome

HTC Thunderbolt+TT