2013 - pvc buggy

[scott_shot]

Phenomenal idea and plan, i suppose in theorey you can with some clever engineering it culd be fairly strong, and although t may not last forever, it should be easy enough to replace sections Good luck buddy cant wait to see the result

 

[Nodroz]

This looks awesome! Nice job dude!

 

[freqster]

Made some progress tonight. I managed to finish the frame.

I also uploaded a couple of videos on to Youtube. I made the intro video some time ago and the PVC bending video tonight.

http://youtu.be/7Sp4wYeH86o

http://youtu.be/ZMtdGZz0aaw

 

[landuse]

Looking good.

 

[OzFab]

It's so easy when you know how...

Even in super fast forward, you can see the pipe "relax" into the board; nice work

 

[captain67]

something to consider

Have you thought about filling the pvc with foam?

 

[freqster]

Have you thought about filling the pvc with foam?

As a matter of fact I have thought of that. I was wondering if it would add any strength. I did learn that you can't just use the spray foam in the can. Ive read on some off road sites that it just makes a sticky mess in the pipes. Maybe there is some other kind that would work well? Thoughts?

 

[fowler]

U can buy the expando foam stuff in a can
But in its bare form

It's just a part A and part B bucket
Mix the two together and it's a goo like liquids

U will have issues with alot of air locks

It won't add any real strength but it will proberbly float
U would fill the whole thing with resin to make it strong
But then it would be very heavy

 

[captain67]

I think foam would increase strength a bit. Some home builders around here do not use osb sheeting on the outside of their houses. They sheet with foam and insulate with spray foam. Not how I wanted to build my house, but the spray foam did lock up the sheet foam pretty good. I would use the high density, low expanding foam in a can. Just drill a hole to fit the tube. Experiment with spacing and fill rates on a scrap piece. I think the strength to weight trade off would be in your favor. The strength to cost trade off is yours to work out.

 

[freqster]

I don't think I would see any strength increase in the frame with foam. I think the real strength will be when I put the "skin" on the buggy. I wish I knew how to fiberglass. I would like to wrap the frame in fleece and coat it with the resin/fiberglass. That would probably be expensive!

 

[OzFab]

... not to mention messy (for a beginner) & time consuming... Then there's all the sanding to make it look pretty...

 

[captain67]

Up here in MI, we have to winterize our boats. A lot of times we use shrink wrap. It's a thick flexible plastic that shrinks with heat. We have made some pretty durable ice shanties out of that stuff. It sure would make an ultra light shell, although not indestructible.

 

[freqster]

Time for an update...

I needed a few more bicycle rims for my buggy, and I found a guy on Craigslist selling 15 bikes for $100. So I went and got them. It worked out pretty well. I got several 48 spoke rims which are a little stronger then the original ones I had. I also got 6 good tires and tubes. I would have spent more then $100 on tires and tubes when it was finished, so I am already saving money. I will be able to use the cables on the bikes too for breaks, throttle, ect. He also had two radio flyer childerens tricycles in the group that I bought. I will be saving the red one for my son for his first tricycle! I tried to take a picture of all the bikes, but I would have had to open the garage door to stand back far enough and I was lazy so I just took what I could.

I am still waiting on the funds for my first welder, so I decided to tear apart the Chinese quad and get it ready. I took the time to clean everything up a bit on the engine and label all the electrical connections.

I finally figured out a way to adapt my bicycle wheels to a 3/4" axle. I found an instructable from a guy that did almost exactly what I was thinking: http://www.instructables.com/id/26-wheel-upgrades-for-pedicabs/

 

[freqster]

Up here in MI, we have to winterize our boats. A lot of times we use shrink wrap. It's a thick flexible plastic that shrinks with heat. We have made some pretty durable ice shanties out of that stuff. It sure would make an ultra light shell, although not indestructible.

This is very interesting. I was thinking that you could shrink wrap one layer, put a ridged panel in place, then shrink warp another layer over that. But I am sure the shrink wrap you are talking about is expensive right?

 

[shakey0818]

I on e made a handicap ramp and the handels were made from pvc and i filled them with cement.I dont think it would hold upo with any flex but its worth a shot to investigate it.

 

[landuse]

I am a bit worried still with you using bicycle wheels for your buggy. They cannot take a lot of side loads, and could buckle quite easily. Are you sure you can't at least get motorbike/pitbike wheels

 

[OzFab]

I'd agree with you but, 48 spoke wheels are made to be punished; if anything's gonna hold up, they will

 

[fowler]

Well if any bike wheels will hold up then they will

But they still aren't ideal

It's not the spokes it's the bearings

From experience in making a much lighter similar type of vehicials

Bike bearing don't like side loads
They are made to lean into the corners

In the end we milled the hubs out to hold needle bearings
But then the hubs start warping after a few hours of service

On a differant note
You got 6 tyres from 15 bikes
Wow

 

[jamyers]

This is very interesting. I was thinking that you could shrink wrap one layer, put a ridged panel in place, then shrink warp another layer over that. But I am sure the shrink wrap you are talking about is expensive right?

Anybody got a cheap source for this shrink wrap?

 

[captain67]

Anybody got a cheap source for this shrink wrap?

How much are you looking for? The cost is about 10 cents per square foot. The problem is it comes in very large rolls. They will start taking it off of boats here in the next month and there are usually some decent stuff that gets thrown out. It is not uncommon to reuse shrink wrap once or twice, but some people toss it every season.