Hi, Its us......

[Pete]

Burgerman said
What does it do with crossings and curb cuts like the one in my image though where there is a huge dip between pavement and many times resurfaced road edge? Because I didnt try the X5 there! It looks so long that it would "bridge" the gap and leave the drive wheels about 10 inches off the ground if the casters didnt lift.

Just going by the photo you posted. In my opinion the X5 would handle that cut out without any problem, the design of the X5 is quite different from either the Q6000 or TDX, inasmuch as it doesn't require the front and rear castors to be spring-loaded, forcing them down. The X5 is almost exactly the reverse idea, as the front casters lift up, they forced the drive wheels downwards. This is because the drive wheels and the front casters are at either end of the front pivot arms, with the chair frame itself attaching to the arms a bit further back from halfway. As the arm moves upwards when the front casters go up a ramp, it forces the drive wheels downward. Although I haven't measured it, the front casters can pivot upwards around 10-12 inches.

JoeC said
completely remove the parking brake assembly and saw off the housing where the brake is supposed to go. This would allow you to save at least four inches in chair width. In our case it was because the tires were going to be an extra two inches wider and the chair still needed to fit through doors. I assume that a similar method could be used for the X5.

You could do that, but then you would have to cut the chair frame at the back and narrow it 4 inches, you then have the problem of the front and back battery box which fits in neatly between the frame at the back and the front, which means 4 inches would have to be removed from these battery boxes as well, which would mean you would have to use smaller capacity batteries in the boxes.

If anyone is willing to buy themselves an X5 and take to it with a hacksaw. I'd be quite interested to see what they come up with.

[Burgerman]

The only way would be to remove brakes, move motors in and replace the sections of frame rail with flat steel sections just where the tyres need to go. Easy to do actually with a saw and a tig welder! Say 3 inch x 1/2 inch flat bar. Then you would save 1.5 inch per side. Thats down from my actual measured 28.5 to 25 inches. The same 2 inch plastic plugs would plug up the ends of the round tube that are used on the f55. Te flat bar would just tig along the back of the frame rail for say 5 inches both sides.

Thats actujally 1/4 inch (6mm) narrower than my modified fat tyred powerchair is.Makes you wonder why the manufacturers dont wake up to the possibility. That, with the seat lowered a couple of inches only leaves the length to worry about. Making a chair that is altogether more compact and could be used by far more people with no downsides.

Other than no brake. But there are ither alternatives for that.

Now that done and the length adressed we would then have a real contender that was good indoors too.
(mines 40 dead with a very deep footplate so could be shorter still) Cant remember how long the x5 is but they look pretty long. Pete, measure yours from rearward facing caster wheels to tip of the footplate?

[Burgerman]

Next problem is the rear casters are very wide apart. They hit things... Be better to have 1 in the centre and lose some off road stability. And moved inwards by a couple of inches. So relocate the power module, move the battery inboard towards the motor by as much as space allows (not much by the look of things) and that removes the rear "corners" caused by the casters. Reducing caster trail by an inch shortens it by another inch.The sear and footplates can probably be moved back an inch too, with a good look at things.

I could easily make an X5 a true indoor/outdoor chair although not quite as short as my own. But I dont like mid drive chairs personally.

If you did narrow and shorten it and lower the seat then there is no need for an x5 for outdoors and something else for indoors as most people have to do now. Their market would be huge. One chair fits all. I know those guys read this site because I met some of them at a mobility show recently! Lets see if they get it!

[Pete]

The only way would be to remove brakes, move motors in and replace the sections of frame rail with flat steel sections just where the tyres need to go. Easy to do actually with a saw and a tig welder! Say 3 inch x 1/2 inch flat bar. Then you would save 1.5 inch per side...

That, with the seat lowered a couple of inches only leaves the length to worry about.

The problem with doing that, is that, unlike the Q6000 and TDX in which the drive wheels do not move up and down, but instead rely on the front and rear castor arms to compress so that the drive wheels will undulate over uneven surfaces. The drive wheels of the X5 move up and down quite a distance. So if you cut the frame and moved the wheels in they will no longer be able to move in an upward direction without hitting the underside of the seat. The only way to mitigate this is to have the seat high enough so the wheels don't hit, unfortunately this will give you quite a high seat to floor distance.

If you study the picture I posted you will see that the pivot pins that anchor the front arms to the chair frame are partially obscured by the front of the drive wheels, this would make moving the wheels inward difficult. You could get around that problem by lengthening the chair frame so the pivot point is a bit further forward, however, this will add to the length of the chair, which is the opposite to what you're trying to achieve.

[Pete]

Cant remember how long the x5 is but they look pretty long. Pete, measure yours from rearward facing caster wheels to tip of the footplate?

The next time I'm using it, if I remember to do it, I'll measure the length and post it.