Hi,
I am building a big go kart with a friend (see picture below).
The goal of the project is to make a nice looking pickup car with a wooden interior and exterior.
The plan is to make place for two people to sit inside and to make a cargo bed in the back to carry stuff.
We want it to be a good-looking and handy vehicle.
We bought an engine and metal profiles and we welded a frame together.
We attached the engine to the frame and and connected it, trough a clutch, with a chain, to a gear that we welded onto an axle, that we stuck trough two bearing blocks. We do not have any kind of steering construction on the front yet. We also still have to make pedals and a brake system.
At first, we welded wheelbarrow wheels to the rear axle, but the wheels were to way too small for the car, they looked toyish.
Now we want to use real car wheels for this project because they look the right size for our frame.
Now, we are a bit stuck on the project because of three reasons:
1) We both have to go to school and we don't have a lot of time.
2) We don't really know where to get free/cheap car wheels, tires and bearings. Do any of you know a good way to get them?
3) We don't know how to make a cheap steering mechanism with car tires.
We certainly need some kind of bearings for the front, I thought about something like this: https://amzn.to/3nCaMMT for both sides.
We could attach one side of that bearing (from the amazon link) to the wheel and the other side to something that can turn, like a spindle. Then we could make a normal go kart steering mechanism using those spindles.
However, we are a bit unsure if this will work and if it will be a firm construction.
Do any of you have experience on making a cheap and simple steering mechanism with car wheels?
Do you think our idea with the wheel bearings will work?
Do you have any other general advice/tips/warnings for our project?
We are kind of stuck now, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
(Pictures are attached)
I am building a big go kart with a friend (see picture below).
The goal of the project is to make a nice looking pickup car with a wooden interior and exterior.
The plan is to make place for two people to sit inside and to make a cargo bed in the back to carry stuff.
We want it to be a good-looking and handy vehicle.
We bought an engine and metal profiles and we welded a frame together.
We attached the engine to the frame and and connected it, trough a clutch, with a chain, to a gear that we welded onto an axle, that we stuck trough two bearing blocks. We do not have any kind of steering construction on the front yet. We also still have to make pedals and a brake system.
At first, we welded wheelbarrow wheels to the rear axle, but the wheels were to way too small for the car, they looked toyish.
Now we want to use real car wheels for this project because they look the right size for our frame.
Now, we are a bit stuck on the project because of three reasons:
1) We both have to go to school and we don't have a lot of time.
2) We don't really know where to get free/cheap car wheels, tires and bearings. Do any of you know a good way to get them?
3) We don't know how to make a cheap steering mechanism with car tires.
We certainly need some kind of bearings for the front, I thought about something like this: https://amzn.to/3nCaMMT for both sides.
We could attach one side of that bearing (from the amazon link) to the wheel and the other side to something that can turn, like a spindle. Then we could make a normal go kart steering mechanism using those spindles.
However, we are a bit unsure if this will work and if it will be a firm construction.
Do any of you have experience on making a cheap and simple steering mechanism with car wheels?
Do you think our idea with the wheel bearings will work?
Do you have any other general advice/tips/warnings for our project?
We are kind of stuck now, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
(Pictures are attached)