Since I planning on buying a 2wd Chevy at the end of summer and I want to lower it and bag it. That requires me to do a whole custom rear suspension for it and some modifications to the front suspension. What I wanted to know is if anyone had any suggestions on a good CAD program, which i could use to get a rough idea of idea of what I need to fab for it. I want to find one now so I have some time to get familier with it and learn how to use it. I don't really need any high tech one just something that I can design the parts with and get a basic idea of what I need to make.

Thanks
Jeff

 

I've used Cad programs daily since the late 80's. There's a magazine out called Cadalyst which tested some budget 3D Cad programs a while back. The article is here: Budget Cad

Have fun!

 

When I was doing CAD/CAM about 15 years ago, we used Ashlar Vellup. I still have an old version but the updated version is here. http://www.ashlar.com/sections/produ.../graphite.html

It's a real cool program for 3D design.

Autocad is also nice but it's not as easy to use as Vellum.

Edwin

 

8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month 12 months a year SOLIDWORKS.
It's a treat to take a walk back in the shop once a day.

20 years of 3d stuff

 

quadrant pad, pencil and some good scales. otherwise youll still be "learning the program" a year from now.

just my .02, been doing solid modeling for 20 years.

 

Checkster,
I never thought of just drawing it myself,when i first thought of what i was gonna do the first thing to pop in my head was, use a CAD program. I might just go about drawing it my self it is probly cheaper then $150-$300.

Thanks for the sugg. on programs,i might end up getting a demo program and just mess around with that some.

Thanks
Jeff

 

I use Autocad at work. The ME's (I'm just a stupid EE) use Pro-E. Probably too much of a learning curve and $$$$.
Check these guys out: emachineshop.com
You can download their CAD program for free and play with it. If you want, you can then send them your CAD package and they will find a place to get the part fabbed for you.

*disclaimer: I have never used them, just tried out the CAD s/w

~Rob

 

Pro/E about 1/2 the time, AutoCAD the rest...

Pro/E sux0r for wiring and electrical work.

 

Rob,
I will try and download their program,but I am not looking for a place to get the parts fabbed. I just looking for someway to get the dimensions and the basic look of the part, I found a place that i can order all my steel tubing that I can get it shipped to me up to 8-10ft lengths. I will just fab everything together if it comes to a point that i don't feel safe welding the parts then I just get my dad to do it,hes been welding since he was my age and has been a Industrial/Commercial welder for 8 years.

Jeff

 

The Cad programs people are talking about are a lot more than $150-300/seat. More in the neighborhood of $5K and up. They've typically got a fairly long learning curve. I use AutoCad and MicroStation pretty much exclusively right now. (Try running them at the same time! ) Having a workstation like this helps.



You can download trial versions of some of the cheaper ones and play around. Start with simple stuff until you get going.

 

The mechanical boys here use Unigraphics, SDRC, and IDEAS, but I think they're up there as far as per seat cost goes. Don't know if they have any trialware available.

 

I use AutoCAD, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop on a daily basis...they all have their pro's and con's.

berner is right about pricing...I think for a seat of Inventor...which includes the other two programs I mentioned is over $10,000.

That dual monitor setup is sweet!! There are a couple of engineers here that have that...but most of us...like me, are stuck with a single monitor.

Those dual monitor setups are real nice when your playing games at work on them!!

 

been doing cad for 4 years now...used to have microstation, now im strictly an Autocad user, but most of my work is dodne using cad-pipe which draws pipe and HVAC ductwork in 3d

 

Berner: looks like you do some in depth work. What is it that you do?

I work for a mobile home company so my work is childs play compared to what you do. Scary thing to me is, that when i graduated from tech school i was prolly on that level, but after 4 years of not using all the doo dads that AutoCAD has, i have forgot a lot of it.

Those screen shots appear to be the layout of a building or set of buildings.. How far off base am I?

 

A real great 3d program that's really intuitive and that I've started using in architectural and structural design is Sketchup. You can get 8 hrs of trial time on it to see if it works for you at sketchup.com. The total package to buy is around $400 unless you're a student, in which case you can get it for $49 per year.

Ken