Arachnid Build

[brendonv]

very nice build.

 

[Bill CNC]

Hey Grizz, ... Great Build!

I to am building an Arachnid from SpiderCarts. Are you building it just as the plans show, or will you be adding your own touch to it?

BTW, ... I bought my 20 spindle brackets from BMI and 5 are pretty bad. In fact, (1) is totally unusable for what we need them for as the wholes are .184 out of alignment. Most were only around .030 - .050 out, but when your making essentially hinges out of these, ... they need to be right.

It will be nice watching others build an Arachnid and should be informative. As for my Arachnid, ... I'm not sure how much of the original plans I will use when it all comes to an end as I am changing the whole back half and some of the front.

Anyhow, ... I will be watching you like a hawk!

Good Luck

 

[redsox985]

Those may be offset slightly for camber. I know mine are, a left and right bracket. You may need ones with no camber built in.

 

[Bill CNC]

Actually i belive they are supposed to have a .625" hole, 1." up from the flat. All of them were either dead on or one side was off slightly. The one, ... was a defect in my opinion. I think if I wanted to change the camber, I would just angle the tube it's get's welded to, .... wouldn't you?

I could be wrong, ... It wouldn't be the first time, nor the last.

 

[redsox985]

You can do either. Usually the holes are off because that's easier to do than to weld the spindles on at identical angles on both sides. You can just drill the holes offset the same amount and get identical angles.

 

[Silvergrizz]

Bill, I noticed the issue with the brackets when I was checking out the alignment, but I have not gotten the point where I am welding them up to the frame yet. I plan on using a 5/8 bar to line up the rear suspension and weld it all at once. As for the front suspension, I am going to build the arms, then use a 5/8 rod again to line it all up before I weld to the frame. For the front suspension I finally figured out that the "TL" bushings were Tractor linkage and not taper lock. I am using the 1" diameter X 2" long bushings, but they have a 3/4 inch inside diameter. So I picked up a bag of aircraft oilite flange bushings that are 5/8 inside diameter X 3/4 outside and 1" at the flange and 1" long. Pictures attached. I also picked a few lbs of UHMW from Lee Valley that I plan to turn into spacer bushings, once I have it all welded up and can see what spacing I need. Will be following your build with enthusiasm.

edit: spelling

 

[Silvergrizz]

Mainframe finished. Another blistering hot day, but it is supposed to rain for the next couple of Days, so I welded up the remaining main frame pieces and started cutting out front suspension parts. Only part of mainframe not welded is the steering post. I want to get the front suspension done to verify eveything lines up correctly. Here are couple of pics of todays progress. Most difficult part to date was cutting the compound angle for the two upper side rails on the main frame. Grinder came in real handy

 

[r97]

nice you got a way bigger project than me and your way ahed, of course im messing with my plans a ton and am only 13

 

[Silvergrizz]

nice you got a way bigger project than me and your way ahed, of course im messing with my plans a ton and am only 13

Thanks, I wanted something that would stand up to off road use, no tracks around here that I am aware of, except for one rental place. Messing with plans is how you get experience, the main thing is your having fun.. I am too, and I am on the plus side of 60

 

[r97]

i got a bunch of kids rental places and onme racing track an hour and a half away from me but neither is gonna let me bring my kart, im planing on riding it on abandond parking lots and feild and compacted dirt / gravel roads, of course if i want off road i can change the gear rateo and turn it into the tarantula with a tc and atv tires. as you know im building the scorpion. my plan right now is to have great aceleration/hillclimbing/rubber burning and max out at about 45mph, i calculated if iwanted to i could get acceleration of an average crt and reach about 70 to 0 mph without taking off the gov theres a reason why i bought a tc!

 

[Bill CNC]

Hello Grizz,

Have you put the front on hold for right now?

I am curious, did you have any issues (even small ones) with the main frame part of the build?

BTW, ... thanks for the post over at spidercarts to the designer!

 

[Silvergrizz]

Hello Grizz,

Have you put the front on hold for right now?

I am curious, did you have any issues (even small ones) with the main frame part of the build?

BTW, ... thanks for the post over at spidercarts to the designer!

:toetap05: Yes I have, until you and the others figure this out. Glad I had not started to weld up the front suspension yet. I am going to cut all the steel for the rear suspension and get that finished up so I can figure out the motor mount and jackshaft layout. My thoughts are to fashion a moveable plate to hold the engine and jackshaft as one unit, then I can adjust the plate to get the chain tension correct.

Regarding the mainframe build, it was straight forward. If you don't have your seat rails yet, don't drill the holes as per the plan. Ones I ordered from Jegs (as specified) were 1/4 off on the spacing.

Hardest part was the two upper side rails that you need to mark and cut last (compund angle at that). I cut it slightly oversize and fit it exactly with a little help from my trusty grinder. You can see in my pictures I used the base of an old shipping container. I drew lines at right angles to each other to line up with the frame section. I clamped it down and tack welded everything to make sure it stayed true and line up. If I were to do it again, I would use a thicker piece of hardboard at least 1" to make sure it was flat.

Well, I am hoping he picks up on it and decides to come over and provide a little tech support.

There was another guy up in Alaska that did an Arachnid last year that I invited on board to post pictures and video of his build, hoping he decides to visit as well.

 

[Silvergrizz]

Hello Grizz,

I am curious, did you have any issues (even small ones) with the main frame part of the build?

I almost forgot on the steering post, don't weld on the shock mount if you picked up the upper steering arm as suggested. Those shock mounts are supposed to be 1" inside , more like 7/8". Steering mount won't fit.

Also measured up my rack & pinion unit, it appears to be 8" right on. Picture attached.

 

[Bill CNC]

Hmmm, ... mine is 8.250" screwed all the way in.

Since you have your pieces cut, could you please mock fit them together with the spindle mounts and see if your rack ends are inline with the A-arm pivot point?

 

[Silvergrizz]

Since you have your pieces cut, could you please mock fit them together with the spindle mounts and see if your rack ends are inline with the A-arm pivot point?

I just checked and I get 7 5/8 center to center on the pivot points on the A-arm versus 8' on the rack, so the rack is over 3/8 of an inch. I your case, you must be over 5/8 is that correct? I don't understand why they have to line up, but the simplest solution would be to modify SB05-30 and SB5-45 by increasing length 50 5 3/8 or 5 5/8 in your case and then would we need to reduce AA08-90 and AA4.5-90 by an equal amount to keep track width the same. I have to read more on this "bump steer" to make a decision on this one.

 

[Bill CNC]

I just checked and I get 7 5/8 center to center on the pivot points on the A-arm versus 8' on the rack, so the rack is over 3/8 of an inch. I your case, you must be over 5/8 is that correct? I don't understand why they have to line up, but the simplest solution would be to modify SB05-30 and SB5-45 by increasing length 50 5 3/8 or 5 5/8 in your case and then would we need to reduce AA08-90 and AA4.5-90 by an equal amount to keep track width the same. I have to read more on this "bump steer" to make a decision on this one.

Grizz, ... when it was all said and done, ... I was .813" off. That also left me room to screw the ball ends in or out for adjustments. I just made SB5-45 6.0" and I am all good to go. I'll post more tonight.

 

[Bill CNC]

Grizz,

I don't think you need to change the AA parts for .375", I would think you can adjust for that in the Heim Joints.

 

[Silvergrizz]

Grizz,

I don't think you need to change the AA parts for .375", I would think you can adjust for that in the Heim Joints.

Ok, still waiting for those to arrive :toetap05: few odds and ends I forgot to order, but now realize I need to proceed. Will recut parts required for the 6" suspension system. Keep up the fantastic work.

grizz

 

[Bill CNC]

Grizz,

Everything is good to go. With the guidance of Theo and The Machine, the front end mechanics work and theirs no bumpsteer!

Thanks Guy's

Bill

 

[Silvergrizz]

Grizz,

Everything is good to go. With the guidance of Theo and The Machine, the front end mechanics work and theirs no bumpsteer!

Thanks Guy's

Bill

Awesome work Bill, Theo and the Machine. You guys have saved me a ton of frustration had I been any farther ahead on this build.

Rest of parts for front suspension completion will be here by next Friday hopefully.

And Bill, thanks for posting the video, I've been looking for an excuse to buy one.

Grizz