I was able to Trace to a Socket Static mesh this morning in a test. Then animate with a timeline in the same way I do my Skeleton Joints. So that is promising.
Now I have to test the physics sim on those attachments and see if that works or not…
If it will sim and respect the position and rotation locks, and not pin down/interfere with my vehicle, I think I might be good to go!..
It sounds like doing socket/attachments is better than creating a ton of skeleton joints anyways.
So I might reduce my skeleton alot, and only have maybe 5-10 bones in total, then do most everything as Sockets.
So I can break off doors/trunk/hood/bumpers/side panels/ect.
Then hopefully setup Morph Targets on those attachments, so I can detect collision and damage over time, besides physics sim/detachment.