3D printed car components for time and cost savings 3D printing has enabled Tucci Hot Rods to produce customized car components that are used to modify and build custom vehicles for their clients - all to exceptionally high design standards and in much less time than was previously possible.

Efficient production and more flexibility in design

"3D printing has allowed us to quickly make a high-quality part that can be used as a functional piece. It has also allowed us to test the waters for possible manufactured products. Due to the nature of this work, prototype iterations wouldn't be possible in the same way when working traditionally." — Dom Tucci, Tucci Hot Rods

Challenge and solution

Challenge Before 3D printing, Tucci Hot Rods would either fabricate custom aluminum or plastic parts using laser cutting and CNC milling techniques, or create custom pieces by hand. Both processes are expensive and time consuming. Also, there is no way of ensuring that a newly-created piece would 100% fulfill its purpose. Iterations may mean starting from scratch; wasting time and money.	Solution 3D printing has allowed the Tucci team to speed up and refine the entire production process, from design and testing, through to production and post-processing. Tenfold savings have been made in producing test part iterations, which in turn, has encouraged greater creativity and raised production standards of custom aftermarket car components.

Multiple iterations 3D printing has it made it ten times more affordable to produce numerous test iterations of a custom part compared to traditional model making methods	Cost savings Tucci Hot Rods estimate they save about $500 per part using 3D printing methods instead of using machine-made, aftermarket solutions.	Time savings Productivity and speed have increased three-fold because the Ultimaker 3D printer eliminates the time and effort required to create prototypes and test materials.	Flexibility In the car modification business, 3D printing creates flexibility which in turn, enables the design teams to be more creative and produce a higher-quality product.