Stecker Machine is proud to be a leader in the CNC machining industry, and we occasionally — and humbly — like to toot our own horn. Today’s topic is a tough one: selecting just four CNC automotive parts to talk about. It almost feels like being asked to choose a favorite child!
While we truly put our souls into every project, some seem more memorable than others. Maybe it’s the challenge that was overcome, the tight timeline, or simply the parts and process needed to create them.
Today, let’s dive into our four most interesting custom CNC machined parts for the automotive industry chosen by our own Stecker Machine CNC operators.
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A vehicle’s transmission clutch housing is a critical part of a powertrain system, protecting the clutch components. Producing these highly complex custom CNC parts for a vehicle manufacturer would be a challenge, especially considering the extreme tolerances and high volumes.
The planning and production process required focus on a combination of turning and milling. To meet our customer’s goals, we invested heavily in automation — a new robotic cell with two independent mirrored halves to increase capacity and reduce changeover times. It included two twin-spindle lathes, two horizontal machining centers, three robots, a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), and two washers/dryers.
A key to our success is doing whatever it takes to satisfy our customer’s needs and collaborating with trusted partners. On this project, we partnered with State Machine Tool, and our engineers, operators, and machinists worked closely together with their team to ensure the manufacturing process met our quality control standards.
LEARN MORE → Vehicle Clutch Housing Case Study
What happens if a vehicle’s planetary gear system fails due to poor workmanship? For starters, you’ll likely need a new transmission.
When called upon to produce planetary carriers, we knew the importance of maintaining extremely tight tolerances to prevent misalignment and gear failure. According to our customer’s specifications, we used ductile iron, a type of metal that is much stronger and more durable than many other types of metals. The project was also our first foray into spline cutting to machine teeth into external splines to ensure they align with the rotating gears.
Producing these planetary carriers was a complicated process, requiring lathe turning, horizontal machining, gear shaping, assembly, balancing, and laser engraving. Once again, we invested in new machine tooling and equipment to make these custom CNC parts, purchasing our first Gleason GP300ES Gear Shaper. We’re now equipped to take on additional complex gear assembly projects.
An electric vehicle (EV) startup was ready to ramp up the production of its Fun Utility Vehicle (FUV) with a gearbox case and cover that required a high level of machining to achieve high-volume production.
Our Tier 1 supplier, Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, reached out to Stecker (a partner for decades) for the 3-component machining of sand-cast aluminum A356 T6. These are complex pieces with tight tolerances and an even tighter timeframe — four months — which Stecker met to produce the first 50 sets.
Not only is this project impressive because it’s for electric vehicles, but it also allowed the teams to work together to ensure quality, creating a more consistent and capable gearbox case and cover.
READ THE CASE STUDY → Driving Success for an Electric Vehicle Gearbox Case and Cover
Powerful engines are impressive. A Hemi engine capable of up to 2,000 horsepower is beyond impressive, requiring the most powerful supercharger available for a Hemi.
However, CNC machining this critical automotive part is no picnic.
The number one challenge is the ability to hold very tight diameters and positional tolerances. The print requirements meant Stecker’s engineers had to work with tooling suppliers to design specialty cut tooling.
And, like any project, costs had to be kept in check, so added operations needed to be minimized. That meant more upfront work to uncover ways to relieve stress in the castings to prevent extra steps.
Our team gets pretty excited when a new challenge comes our way, and such was the case with these four CNC automotive parts. Their get-it-done attitude is one reason auto industry leaders rely on Stecker Machine. Another reason? We come through for customers who find themselves in a bind and do what it takes to deliver the results they need when they need them.
Learn more in our resource featuring four mini case studies. Simply click the link below to download it now!