Arachnid Build, ... or is it! (Highly Modified)

[Bill CNC]

Ray,

Well, who knows what I am building, ... seems I just throw the stuff in the air and what lands by me I use, ... well I might stack the deck a little.

What I do know, is that I am very, ... no, EXTREMELY LUCKY that this is just literally falling into place.

Thank you for the kind words.

P.S. If you like the build so much, ... you can always rate this thread with 5 stars. (Shameless plug)

 

[Bill CNC]

Considering that I am only using the basic platform of the front end of the Arachnid, along with different auto maker parts ... I think a new name for this kart is in order.

From here on out, ... it's new name is now;

Frankinkart

 

[Bill CNC]

For the photos where the threads don't grab as much as desired, couldn't you flip over the castle nuts, thread them on as far as possible, then drill and pop in a cotter pin so that they would hold securely.

Not really, ... I only have .425" sticking out. I might have to machine .312" or so from the seating surface to get a few more threads exposed. The only other alternatives would be a couple of jam nuts machined down to .250" each.

But machining the area were the nut seats, ... I can easily take out .250" with out compromising the strength of the part, ... I wont be even 1/4 of the weight of the Geo.

 

[Wobbly]

Nice work Bill, this is shaping up to be amazing. Can't wait to see a rolling chassis

 

[Bill CNC]

Ok, ... I took yesterday off as my tooth was killing me so bad, ... I was eye-balling a pair of channel locks. But today, during breaks at work, ... I have been machining like a mad dog. That's the good news.

The bad,

Besides my bearings being shipped to my neighbors, but I got them, ... I went to fit both the CV/Halfshafts in the differential to take measurements and the one that got lost and suddenly reappeared, ... well, the end that goes to the differential was machined wrong. The splines were not cut perpendicular to the shaft. I had to return it. Apparently O'riellys does not carry them anymore and those were the last (2) they had in stock. probably why one came from Tennessee and the other from Texas.

Have no fear, ... It only slowed me down slightly. I ordered another from www.RockAuto.com. Should be here by mid next week.

I will post pictures tonight of the things I had done to the Hubs. Lets just say that I can use the stock Castle Nuts now.

Boy, ... it seems that every post I am posting lately, ... comes with good news and bad news. Almost to the point that you guys should be waiting for the other shoe to drop when I post.

Hopefully I will start to be able to post nothing but happy times, ...

 

[Bill CNC]

Here are the pictures I promised.

First off I turned down the hubs where the axle bolt seats. From this area, ... I removed .220" safely. It still leaves me .375" meat left on those hubs.

The reason I could only get a few threads to stick out the other end was due to the shaft growing in diameter of .040" above the splines were they end. I need to relieve the inside of the hub to allow the hub to slide smoothly into position.

I removed the 3 jaw head on the lath and put a 4 jaw on just so I can dial this thing on center for the next cut. I used a boring bar and opened the opening by .040"

 

[Bill CNC]

Now she sits down nicley!

Now were cooking with gas!

 

[Bill CNC]

Ok, ... Since I had it with me, ... I also chucked up the differential and pretty much just scraped the surface. It didn't remove any metal but it polished it up quite well. I also noticed that when I had the differential on the lathe, ... the outer ring was FAR from round. Since it will be rotating, ... it needs to be at least round. I will probably balance it before the final assembly.

Before

After

 

[theo]

Good job Bill, nice to have a lath.

 

[Bill CNC]

Oh, ... I almost forgot, ... I have the bearings. Here they are with a 6" steel rule next to them.

 

[Bill CNC]

I installed the bearing on the differential and it looks like I lucked out there (knock on wood). No modifications to the bearings will be needed. They fit like they grew their.

 

[theo]

Bill I'm really interested in seeing how the diff set up works, your not going to weld up the spider gears are you?

 

[Bill CNC]

Theo,

After some thought on the forces applied here and some discussion with my mechanic friend that gave me the unit I decided I was only going to weld the two little gears on the top and the bottom to the center shaft and those two gears to the housing as shown in the picture. I need the two gears that the CV/Halfshafts plug into to be free to move (floating). If I weld those up, and they are not perfect, ... It will tear apart.

 

[Bill CNC]

Today I power washed and then soaked the wheel assembly parts in simple green for a few hours. Next was hitting it with a nylon brush. They look good. On Monday, I will press out the old sets of bearings and press in some new ones.

Another thing I did was pull into Sketchup, my drive-line platform. This is it guys. This is exactly what I have and their is no slop, ... well minus the holes in the plates. I just need to cut them on the mill.

I don't want to put the other bearing on as yeah gotta smack em on pretty good. But it measures out perfectly so I know it will fit.

The mounting plates, shown as drawn, are just 1/4" 12"x12" plates. I want to weld on a few ribs just to strengthen it up.

The distance between the plates inner surfaces is 184mm / 7.244".

 

[Silvergrizz]

Nice work Bill, I don't have a clue how that is all going to work. Looking at those gears, it seems one axle would force the other to turn backward. Obviously not the case. I can see I'm going to have to spend time with my friendly neighborhood mechanic to get an understanding of how this works and why if I plan to build an IRS down the road.

 

[fowler]

wont welding those gears up make it a live axil

 

[r97]

i believe he is "locking" the diff, maybe im wrong but that sounds right to me!

 

[fowler]

yes he is, but to by somewhat limited experience isnt that defying the piont of a diff

 

[r97]

yea, it is sort of waisting a diff, but he doesn't want a diff, he wants a hub for splined shafts, and a sprocket, which is what he is getting.

 

[fowler]

fair enought but wouldnt a limited slip diff be a good thing on a kart