2019 - Yard Kart Therapy

[cleatusj]

I have bolted a flat piece of steel to a sprocket, that I needed a larger center hole in, then found center. I used a hole saw to drill the sprocket. You may need to replace the center drill bit with a smooth 1/4" shaft to keep the holesaw from walking and reach deep enough. Use plenty of oil or coolant.

 

[gegcorp2012]

@Neal Thanks for sharing the photo of your buggy build. I like the guards at the rear wheels and will be adding some on mine as well. Don't want to snag a rear tire on a tree !

@Cletusj Progress is slow, but without injury on the sprocket! (so far).... I will be using the grinder some more, with a jigsaw and a carbide cutter on a drill press to open the center to fit on the sprocket hub.

This post is kind of like making sausage... The finished product is more enjoyable than the process you go through to make the sausage.

More sprocket hacking...

My first test fit in the driver seat and I dont like how the frame is so tight on my shins. I will need to move my feet (and the seat) back or make the cart wider, but am planning to make the wheelbase longer for now.

Some doodling to see what a full cage may look like if I go from kart to a buggy. I have enough pipe to do the rear frame only for now.

Wheelbase estimation based on the trial fit in the driveway. The front wheel width is 42" so I'm planning a wheelbase of 62 to 67 inches based on my driveway trial fit (62") and the golden ratio of 1.6 * 42 = 67.

 

[gegcorp2012]

Some progress on mounting the swingarm mount to the bottom hoop.

For the 4th of July, I had to move the project from the comfort of front porch (the bathroom door on saw horses was the white background). I moved the kart project to the garage where I have at couple of other projects on hold.

After welding, I went back outside and put some concrete blocks underneath to model the ground clearance and start thinking about where to put the front shock tower mounts.

I welded the rear hoop for the top rail, but have not installed it yet because I need to add about 8 inches to it.

Also looking for a tall bucket seat to replace the tractor seat. It's hard to get the tubes the right length without all the parts !

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[gegcorp2012]

Week 3 update... the project honeymoon is over, but I have to stick with it until I get it rolling.

I got my set of inner tubes the other day and decided to put in 3 of the 4... the first 2 were "easiest" on the relativity scale, but the third one was a real pain. I bent the rim several times and popped several of the steel belts on the bead.

After that it was damage control time, so I straightened the rim as good as I could and trimmed the bead belt wires as good as I could to protect the new tube and aired it up.

Zoom in and see how the sidewall is slipped out at the 12:00 position. I will have to put it on the rear and hope it don't bounce too bad.

Next, I worked on the sprocket some more.

I removed the hub with the cutoff wheel the other day and was grinding it smooth, and a big circle popped out.

That opened up the inside so now I don't have to mess with grinding the center, so I moved on to drilling the (3) mounting bolts.

2 of the 3 are ok, but I have to wallow out the third one to get the bolt in.

On to the rear swing arm. I mocked up the 20" length and will work on that some more during the day when I can make some noise.

Next I set the motor on the swingarm to see how/where to put the shock mount, but my biggest problem seems to be with the Chinese TAV.

I assembled it using the provided spacers and cannot get the flat plate on the drive clutch to line up with the flat plate on the driven clutch. It's out by nearly 1/2".

Is this normal ? I watched several videos on TAV installation and most don't slow down enough to get a good look at the alignment, but the genuine Comet appears to be used with the flats lined up and the vertical edge of the belt (asymmetrical) rides against the flats and the angled side goes against the moving half of the pulley where the clutchy parts are.




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[landuse]

Looking good there! You could always just make a spacer for the driver to line up with the driven

 

[gegcorp2012]

@landuse Thanks... I was thinking about processing a return to upgrade to a genuine Comet TAV. They are pricey, but many say "you get what you pay for" .

@slicksonly seems to have his TAV install sorted out, so I picked up a 3/4 pipe nipple and started slicing until I have the flat plates lined up using a strait edge.

So the other day I had to go to the recycler and pick up a tractor tire, and while there, I see a newly gutted Taotao 125D ATV. It had a rear brake caliper that looked like it may work for my build, so I decided to go back with my truck (Just in case....)

Look what happened ! It followed me home!!

This load was $56 and I got the ATV to see if I can use the rear brake system (rotor, caliper, master cylinder, pedal) and I may use the rear shock as well.

Also for this build is floor pan sheet metal, plenty of gusset plate material, some rebar, and a set of bed frames bscause they are a good source of angle iron.

The last thing I need is another project, but I have Bonus Parts for the next build pile - the rest of the ATV... front suspension (No disc brakes on these?), some heavier built spindles and wheels/tires if they take an inflation. Also I picked up a 5 speed Foote manual tramsmission so I can make use of a 15HP Briggs riding mower engine that has been retired from grass cutting.



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[landuse]

Nice going!!!

The generic TC's are just as good as the genuine ones. I wouldn't worry about that

 

[gegcorp2012]

OK, so I was working on that swingarm again and made a couple of welds, then this happened:

Then I re-threaded and this happened....

The plastic plate that holds the wire feed motor has cracked in 3 places, and the wire sleeve to the handle is worn or dragging so the wire is curling when trying to push through the length of the handle.

...and the guide clamp that holds the end of the MIG gun and gas tube and wire feed has a broken ear on it....

So it appears my 25 year old MIG has bit the dust. I am checking on parts and starting to look around at new and used options.

This project needs a welder for most every next step, so my build is on hold until I get the welder repair/replacement sorted out.

Will keep ya posted, but that's all the building for at least a few weeks....



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[landuse]

Ah man!!! That sucks about the welder. I hope you can get it sorted out fast

 

[gegcorp2012]

Good news, although I am far from out of the woods with my old welder...

I was able to make a franken-solder type of repair on the various cracks on the wire feed plate, the tensioner and the retention clamp.

The wire feed motor plate had 5 spider cracks, each going through a retention screw and a couple around the motor hole opening.

Long story sort, I found a piece of tough plastic to use as donor material, and turned my soldering iron low enough to melt the plastic without burning it, then used the tip to zigzag across the cracks and stitch it back together. I added a glop of donor plastic here and there, then smoothed it all out.

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[JTSpeedDemon]

Nice! Hopefully it'll hold for a long time!

 

[gegcorp2012]

Got the top frame hoop tacked together and decided to completely remove it for a few minutes so I can put more rake into the frame.

I used the height of the rear shock as the rear target, and set the top hoop to land on the front control arm mounts as before, but with more tilt so the upper frame hoop has a bathtub shape instead of an Indy car shape.

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[JTSpeedDemon]

Do you plan to widen the rear track? With a live axle, big tires, and significantly wider front track than the rear, it will probably handle like a jumbo jet.
My thoughts.

 

[gegcorp2012]

Hi JT,

I would like it to handle good, of course. I am looking forward to get it running because I have planned a nice track around the yard including a place to potentially get airborne, some slick areas when wet, and I hope to try some drifting on grass. When I first learned to drive a kart, I had the perfect driveway for powerslides, fishtails and donuts, but dont have that kind of surface at my home now.

Yes, I plan to widen the rear by adding (2) 6" spacers between each rear wheel and the axle to make it the same width as the front. I have some doubts about how the spacers may work, but that would allow me to keep the smaller tires all the way around, and that should give me be the best handling and acceleration performance.

I also have the monoshock rear from the Warrior 350 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking of using that rear because it is wider, but has the larger tires and everything is heavier, making me want a motor I don't have...

Today I started looking at IRS options and have a lot of research to do, but think that the Taotao 125 ATV parts I picked up earlier this week could be used... rear carrier, axle and front end that could be adapted into IRS control arms and a center section. I would need to add some 1" u-joints and a couple of pilow blocks... just thinking out loud on the IRS because I could get the extra width I need without spacers between the wheels.

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[mrdeadman1]

on my torque conveter the rear sprocket is on the engine side of the plate not between the plate and pulley

 

[gegcorp2012]

@mrdeadman1 My TAV plate has no space on the engine side for the sprocket...Does your have those strengthening ribs on the motor side ?

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[gegcorp2012]

Here are some plans for the rear suspension for my Yard Kart build.

I guess Stage 1 would be the monoshock ATV rear with 6 inches added to each side between the hub and wheel.

This photo from a couple of weeks ago shows a 1-1/2 or 2" pipe coupling which nearly fits on the ATV live axle hub to keep the wheel centered. Also shown on the axle is a 1" pillow block and a large sprocket with a 1" hole... these fit on the axle but are not snug because the axle is a tad bit smaller than 1".

I will have to try a length of pipe to see how it fits on the wheel or hub as well so I can tell which one would be best to use. I will need to have (3) longer M10 bolts to hold the wheels on.

To be honest, I am not thrilled with that plan, so I have been thinking this week about a Stage 2 suspension that would be similar to what is on a 4wd ATV.

I found that Lakewood sells a set of Grizzly CV axles for $65... (yah, for 2 of them) so I got interested in the idea of swapping in that type of rear suspension, but I do not have access to all the other Grizzly parts, like control arms, the hubs and the center section, which appears to be a differential in the photo below...

So to keep it DIY, here are pictures of the two 110 class ATV axles that I have so you can see what I have to work with.

I plan to use as many of the 110 ATV axle parts as I can... the center section has the sprocket and brake rotor, and the ends of the axle have the wheel hubs. I want to use all that.

While researching IRS options, I found a thread by @Russell ATV where he went through several of his builds on a thread called "Some old builds" . The last few on that thread really got my imagination going on how to make an IRS using u-joints and axle parts.. but o details on how he did the hubs.

Then I got to thinking about using a non-automotive hub like one from a trailer. These are cheap and could be made stationary so the axle turns instead...

Here is a drawing showing one of the dimensions of a 4 on 4" trailer hub.

This is a photo showing how I would cut the ATV axle so I would have a stub axle for the wheel bearings in the trailer hub and the center section for the chain driven spool.

This is a couple of drawings I made to show how the parts may come together. I still have to locate the u joints for 1" round or 3/4" square fitment.

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[landuse]

@mrdeadman1 My TAV plate has no space on the engine side for the sprocket...Does your have those strengthening ribs on the motor side ?

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I have seen people shave those fins back a little if they knock against the engine or get in the way somehow

 

[gegcorp2012]

New parts....lots of welding to do before the pedals and brake master cylinder and steering can be installed.

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[gegcorp2012]

OK, so I may have a work-around for my wire feed issue. I tried some bigger wire (030 flux core) for my welder and cleaned the rollers really good and was able to do some welding on the rear end.

The arm is ~16" long. The rear axle carrier is 2-3/8 OD so I made some shop drawings of a few designs for mounting the 2" tubing to the 2-3/8" carrier, and started the new monoshock swingarm with some angle iron scraps and a length of 1x2 tubing.

Here's a look from the inside to show how I made the cuts to handle the attachment to the 2-3/8 carrier. The brake MC top is about that diameter.

Then drill, drill, drill, drill.....

I added a couple pieces of thick wall square tubing between the body hoops to help carry the load to the upper hoop where the top shock mount is. It took hours of grinding and drilling on the brackets, but we got rain today, so I was able to work on it a few extra hours today.

Side views....

Motor plate and bottom shock mount is next.

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