After 5 years of designing motor mounts I’ve boiled it down to perhaps the simplest and most effective design possible for a fixed angle motor mount.
Our newest Matrix 3 mounts utilise a single insert taper-lock system thats built upon our pro motor mount design that debuted the concept (pictured below) and proved its effectiveness.
We combined this system with the DNA from the beefier and lighter single piece motor mounts on the Radium board, reducing the number of parts from 8 down to just 2 for these new mounts.
This new system features an insert wedge with tapered walls that slide against equally tapered walls on the motor mount. A single bolt tightens the wedge into the tapered seat, causing it to slide inwards toward the truck hangar. This exerts pressure on the hangar over a large surface area, which prevents things from coming loose over time after aluminium compresses as is the case with grub screw clamps.
This system also locks to the hangar from all 4 sides, unlike mounts that bolt to the screw thread thats present in matrix trucks, which pulls the mount into the hangar causing contact on only 2 faces.
The taper-lock system also gives the bolt a mechanical advantage to push the wedge into the hangar, meaning most of the force thats pushing back is pressing sideways into the bolt instead of along its length, reducing the chance of loosening under cyclic vibration. But to be certain, we use both a spring washer and nyloc nut. This ensures the mounts can not come loose, even with no Loctite.
Reducing the number of parts, complexity and reliance on expensive 7075 alloy has also allowed us to reduce the cost of these mounts by about 50% compared to the pro mounts that came before it, which is a cost saving that we pass onto you guys.
Another huge thing about these mounts is the time to install them. With only 1 bolt and no Loctite, it literally takes 30 seconds to install each mount onto the truck permanently, which is something I really wanted to achieve after realising how much time on a custom build is spent just installing mounts.
These also have 4x M6 idler mounting holes so you can get the best tension for different pulley setups as I found idlers to often be either too close to the wheel pulley or not provide enough tension on previous designs.
In addition there are 2x M4 accessory holes that can be used for mounting stuff like 3D printed board stand guards or a motor cage if there is enough demand for those.
So yeah thats basically it. There’s more info in regards to specs on the website. And the price is currently $168AUD / 113USD for two mounts. For vendors we can do a better price. These mounts and trucks should be a great low-cost setup for a production board.
Happy to answer any and all questions and can’t wait to see what you guys build!