centrifugal vs. TC

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jbruch694

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so ive come up with the $ to get my other kart running, and ive decided to go with a centrifugal clutch rather than a TC cause its an on-road one with bald, racing tires, and it doesnt need much torque. plus, the TC's are way too expensive now. so i'm looking at the harbor freight 13 HP motor with a 20% off coupon, so like $240.

for sh!ts and giggles, i think im going to use a solid axle with no diff/1 wheel drive, cause its more fun to drive that way for the most part. the tires are 11" in diameter.

so what i was wondering, was, if I paired this motor up to one of those 1" bore clutches on northerntool, would this be able to engage quickly enough / with enough torque to effectively run the solid axle, or would that require more torque than possible and heat up the clutch too much?

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200415726_200415726

^ this is the clutch in question. its expensive, but it looks good. does this sound like a good idea?
 
anderkart

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Sounds like you already know a t/c would give you better acceleration but (If you could even find one for sale) you'd need the more expensive 40-series to fit that engines 1" output shaft.

I prefer using centrifugal clutches on my on-road karts. That Hilliard clutch you linked would be the lowest price model I'd consider for a 11hp engine. If you used a 60 tooth axle sprocket your top speed would be somewhere around 27mph @3600 rpm. That clutch would probably hold up just fine as long as you (or your kart) weren't super heavy and you dont do a lot of low-speed/stop and go type riding where the clutch was constantly slipping.

But for about $35 bucks more you could buy the 1" bore Noram Star clutch model I use on both my karts: http://www.out2win.com/catalog/noram.html#star
I consider these to be higher quality and feel It would survive more abuse. Lots of racers successfully use this model clutch with up to 40hp engines. Another thing i like about the Star clutch is its available with a 13 tooth /#35 drive gear that would end up giving you way more gearing options.

About your engine: I'd check and see if your Harbor freight store stocks (or can special order) the 13hp model instead of that 11hp. Its the same physical size/weight and they used to only cost a little more than their 11hp model...

I understand being on a tight budget and all, but if you can swing these 2 upgrades I think you'd notice the difference and be happier in the long run.
 
redsox985

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What do you mean by solid axle with 1wd? Would one wheel be one bearings rolling on the axle?
 
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jbruch694

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Sorry I mistyped, I should have said "no differential and no one wheel drive" cause obviously it's more fun with a solid axle. I've had a 1 wheel drive centrifugal setup before and it worked great, but now I'm wanting 2wd cause drifting is fun. I'm just asking if the clutch would be able to handle the torque to spin both wheels, to drift and such.
 
Bluethunder3320

Bluethunder3320

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geared right, absolutely.

for that money on a clutch, a TC isnt far off, though, and a by far better option.
 
redsox985

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What do you plan on using for tires, how big? What about your gear ratio? How fast would you like to go? Just so you know, I found a TC with 1" bore for $40, but it's not good over 8HP. Just keep your eyes open on CL and ask if anyone will part out a TC.
 
anderkart

anderkart

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jbruch694 said:
I'm just asking if the clutch would be able to handle the torque to spin both wheels, to drift and such.
Click to expand...


You'd definitely have better drifting ability with a TC but another cool feature about the clutch I recommend is you can purchase different springs to alter its engagement rpm for under $10:
http://www.targetdistributing.net/noram_racing_star.php D
The Springs you choose would depending on what mods you did to your engine and what max rpm it would run, but increasing the lock up RPM of your clutch would let your kart launch harder and drift better.

I dont know if you can easily alter the Hillard's engagement RPM or not.

Both my karts with Star clutches will spin the tires from a standing start on dirt but not on pavement. Although once I'm up to 10mph or so I can drift a bit on pavement even with my lower powered 10hp kart.

With a TC or centrifugal clutch, selecting lower gearing would improve your drifting ability but you'd end up with the side effect of decreased top speed.
 
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jbruch694

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alright, ill call it a live axle from now on.

it wouldnt need to go too fast, the last time i had it running i could get it to like 30 or 35 off the powerhorse 6 hp motor i have, with 11" tires, and a 5:1 ratio. it had plenty of torque, and you could spin the wheel but it was 1 wheel drive which was undesirable. so i scrapped the whole drive system (bearings too cause they were shot) and im just starting over. the tires are essentially bald f1 tires.

i believe the clutch i was looking at (northerntool) engages at 2,300 rpm, which is fine. higher would be cool too though, i do like being able to change the springs. I think i will go with the centrifugal one for now, and do a TC later if i can find one and get money.

i could take the governor off the clone im planning on buying and get it up to 5K rpm (absolute tops) which could remediate my top-speed issue a bit.
 
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