If the files are controlled, call. We set the transfer after the NDA.
WHAT GETS SHIPPED
Three pillars of the heavy truck and off-highway practice.
STRUCTURE AND FATIGUE
Frames, cabs and mounts that survive the spectrum
Chassis structural design and FEA, cab structure NVH, and suspension and frame fatigue on rails, cross-members, mounts, subframes, booms and brackets. Weight comes out through topology, free-size and gauge optimization, and every reduction is reported with the stress and fatigue margin that remains. Single-component structural FEA turns around in one to two weeks from receipt of CAD and load cases.
LEGACY AND SUSTAINMENT
Parts with no drawings, rebuilt as models
Discontinued and undocumented hardware is scanned, reconstructed as parametric CAD, and released with GD&T and manufacturing drawings so a new source can quote it. Scan-to-CAD deviation on machined geometry typically lands inside 0.002 inch. Drawing tolerances are assigned separately, from function and process. Castings, worn parts and organic surfaces need engineering interpretation, and the report states where that interpretation was applied.
LOW-VOLUME PROGRAMS
Specialty vehicles that cannot carry car tooling
Mail trucks, military transport, mobility conversions and Class 8 derivatives run under one SOW and one program lead. Structural CAD, occupant protection and crash simulation, interior and exterior surface development, durability analysis, prototype build, fixture design and first-article metrology sit in the same scope. Small-scale specialty prototypes and short-run parts are built in the Auburn Hills shop, or with the partner who holds the process: CNC, additive, fixtures, and fabrication. Volume production tooling is coordinated through our partner network.
HOW A PROGRAM RUNS
Four steps from brief to release.
Define the duty
Mutual NDA before substantive disclosure, then a working session on loads, hours, payload, terrain, attachments, service intervals, target volume and the flow-down requirements your program carries. If you already have the load history, we use it. If you do not, we measure the machine. Gauges, CMM, white light, optical and laser scanning, laser trackers, teardown, and on-site or Auburn Hills inspection are metrology work, scoped and billed with the program. Unknowns become named measurement or analysis inputs, and the quote states the honest timeline rather than the optimistic one.
Build the model
Design and analysis run together on your CAD platform and inside your PLM vault, following your change process. The mechanical package covers structures, surfaces, interfaces, assemblies, fully toleranced drawings to ASME Y14.5, BOMs, and the geometry that simulation and supplier quotation need.
Verify and prototype
Fatigue, durability, NVH and thermal cases close against your load set, and functional prototypes and check fixtures are built in Auburn Hills. A fit problem found on the floor goes back to the engineer who modeled the part, and the correction runs through your change process before a revised print is issued.
Release for build
First-article inspection with balloon drawings, dimensional results and PPAP-format capability summaries on critical features. Prototype findings are incorporated, you own the native files, and the revision-controlled package goes to your vault or your chosen supplier with volume tooling coordinated through our partner network.
THE SCOPE LINE
Mechanical scope, stated before the SOW.
A truck frame and an excavator boom fail for reasons a passenger-car load case never sees, because the load spectrum is set by hours, payload, terrain and abuse events rather than by a fixed test mileage. ADAPT is the mechanical engineering practice for that work. The first thing we ask for is the duty cycle you actually run, and the fatigue and durability answer we give back is stated against your loads instead of a generic vehicle profile.
The mechanical scope on these programs covers chassis and frame structural design with FEA, cab structure NVH, suspension and frame fatigue including high-cycle cases, thermal and coupled thermal-structural work, and weight and cost reduction through topology, gauge and material studies. Analysis runs in ANSYS, Abaqus and LS-DYNA. Design runs in CATIA V5 and V6, Siemens NX, SolidWorks, Creo or Inventor, on your platform and inside your PLM vault, with GD&T to ASME Y14.5 and drawings in your title block format. Deliverables are engineering reports with methodology, results and margin summaries, plus a release package a supplier can build from without a phone call.
Older platforms are a large part of this work. When a part has no drawing, or the drawing no longer matches the tooled part, we scan it, rebuild parametric CAD, and hand back a documented model that sits inside 0.002 inch of the scan on most machined geometry, with drawing tolerances assigned separately from function and process. Whole vehicles and machinery can be torn down, scanned and archived with a bill of materials, either on our Auburn Hills floor or at your site, with laser trackers for long-range measurement on large assemblies.
Our scope is mechanical only. We are ITAR-aware and not currently registered. No electrical or telematics design, no emissions calibration, no hydraulic-system engineering, and no high-volume production. Volume tooling is coordinated through our partner network.
We started in 1998 doing structural work on vehicle programs, and heavy truck and equipment has been part of the book since. Send the brief with the duty cycle and the load cases you have. If the CAD is controlled, call first. That tells me in the first hour whether this is a two-week analysis or a full structural release program, and I would rather tell you which one it is up front.
Brian Smith, Director of Engineering
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions and answers
What does off-highway engineering include, and how is it different from heavy truck work?
Off-highway covers machines whose value is the work they perform in construction, mining, agriculture, forestry, industrial and military operations, so loads depend on the attachment and the duty cycle rather than on a highway drive profile, and dust, mud, water, temperature and vibration are all design inputs. Heavy truck work is dominated by high annual mileage, service life, uptime and payload economics. The mechanical scope overlaps heavily: structural design, fatigue and durability analysis, cab and operator structure, reverse engineering, prototypes and first-article inspection. What changes is the load spectrum we build the model against and how much weight field repairability carries in the design.
Can you reverse engineer a heavy truck or equipment part when there are no drawings?
Yes, and it is a standing part of this practice where you confirm the right to reproduce the part. We capture the hardware with CMM, white light, optical or blue laser scanning, document interfaces and wear, rebuild the geometry as parametric CAD in CATIA, NX or SolidWorks, then release fully toleranced drawings with GD&T so a new source can quote it. Scan-to-CAD deviation on most machined geometry lands inside 0.002 inch. Drawing tolerances are assigned separately, from function and process. Castings, worn parts and organic surfaces require engineering interpretation and we document exactly where we applied it. For assemblies too large for a scanner setup we use laser trackers, and we can work on your site.
Do you design electrical, hydraulic or emissions systems for commercial vehicles?
No. Our scope is mechanical only. We do not do electrical or telematics design, hydraulic-system engineering, engine or aftertreatment design, or emissions calibration. On a battery-electric Class 8 or off-highway program we handle mechanical packaging and load paths for the pack and its structure, structural and thermal-structural analysis, service access and prototype support, working to the envelopes, masses and thermal loads your electrical team provides, with interface ownership named in the SOW. We state this early because the wrong assumption about scope is expensive for both sides.
Can you support a low-volume specialty vehicle program through first article?
Yes, and it is one of the clearest fits for how we are set up. Mail trucks, military transport, mobility conversions and Class 8 derivatives run under one SOW with one program lead covering structural CAD, occupant protection and crash simulation, surface development, durability analysis, prototype build, fixture design and first-article metrology. Small-scale specialty prototypes and short-run parts are built in the Auburn Hills shop, or with the partner who holds the process: CNC, additive, fixtures, and fabrication. CAD is developed on your platform, and drawings use your title block format. Volume production tooling stays with the partner network.
TALK TO AN ENGINEER
Tell us what you are building.
Call an engineer, or send a brief if the files are not controlled. An engineer reads it within one business day. Not a sales coordinator. Not a routing form.