Grand Daddy build

[mr.matt]

Good build, coming along quickly! Can you post what material was used and approximate prices of all money invested just to give future builders an idea of what the investment is to build your own? That is if you don't mind...

 

[Mballen13]

Good build, coming along quickly! Can you post what material was used and approximate prices of all money invested just to give future builders an idea of what the investment is to build your own? That is if you don't mind...

Material used was the same the plans call for from Spidercarts. 14g ga 1" and 14 ga 1 1/4".

From the top of my head here is what was invested:
Steel - ~$200
Motor - ~$100
Motor Hop-ups - ~$250
Torque Converter - ~$175
Seats - ~$60
Seat belts - ~$100
F/R wheels and tires - ~$75
Heim joints - ~$25
Axle/sprocket/brakes and other stuff - ~$300
Plans - $40
Shipping will be costly if you can't get parts locally. I am fortunate to be a couple hours from BMI and saved a bunch of money by heading up there. I would budget up to $200 for shipping depending on where you are located and how many different orders you make.

If you build exactly to plans the total cost is ~$1700 according to the publisher.

Obviously you will need a welder, chop saw, drill press, and angle grinder and other tools most would have in their garage. Price for these should be considered when budgeting for a build of this nature.

Obviously you build and use the parts you want so YMMV.

 

[Mballen13]

Unfortunately no progress was made on the kart today. Am traveling this week for work. Hopefully this coming long weekend will allow for some garage time.

Cheers!

 

[Kentguy13]

Just ran across your thread, Sounds like a great project. I'm excited to see more pictures. I have been wanting to build the Arachnid for some time, and have followed the other threads on that machine. I see you are from SW Ohio, I am in the Akron area.

I parted out an 80's EZ-GO gas golf cart a few years ago that I was hoping to use a few parts off of. I hope to start in the next few weeks. Happy Building!!

Ryan

 

[Mballen13]

Just ran across your thread, Sounds like a great project. I'm excited to see more pictures. I have been wanting to build the Arachnid for some time, and have followed the other threads on that machine. I see you are from SW Ohio, I am in the Akron area.

I parted out an 80's EZ-GO gas golf cart a few years ago that I was hoping to use a few parts off of. I hope to start in the next few weeks. Happy Building!!

Ryan

I am sure you already have, but please read the several thorough Arachnid build threads on this forum. They have been very helpful as the plans are far from perfect. I really feel the plans are best approached by thinking of them as only a guide and not a cookbook recipe.

I have family in Hudson...not too far from you and my father-in-law just recently retired from his physical therapy practice in Akron. Have a good friend that lives in Kent as well!

What find of motor does the golf cart have? Start a build thread, I will be interested to see how you go about building the Arachnid.

I have been stalled in building my project due to the busy holiday season, however I did manage to get into the garage for several hours today and will be back out there working on it tomorrow. I will take some pics and post them to this thread to show where I am.

Until then....

 

[Kentguy13]

I understand the busy holiday season. That is part of the reason I haven't started my build yet. As for the golf-cart.... the motor was toast, which is why it became parts. I only salvaged a few parts off it, but the rack and pinion steering was one . I have a few build threads on here of my other projects, I will be cutting my big rigid frame cart up and using all the parts from it for my new arachnid frame. I have a Briggs 18hp twin with a comet 40 as the power plant, should be a fun project. I'll be sure to start a build and pass the link.

Ryan

 

[Mballen13]

Semi rolling chassis. Still need to mount swing arm shock mounts. Hope to do this today. Sorry for the crappy phone pic. Will take better pics later.

 

[Mballen13]

I understand the busy holiday season. That is part of the reason I haven't started my build yet. As for the golf-cart.... the motor was toast, which is why it became parts. I only salvaged a few parts off it, but the rack and pinion steering was one . I have a few build threads on here of my other projects, I will be cutting my big rigid frame cart up and using all the parts from it for my new arachnid frame. I have a Briggs 18hp twin with a comet 40 as the power plant, should be a fun project. I'll be sure to start a build and pass the link.

Ryan

What are the dimensions of the rack and pinion. I bought one that was different than the plans called for and had to redesign the steering block and a-arms. As of now the pillow blocks are shy of the spindles and I need to lengthen the arms of the rack and pinion. Not sure exactly how I am going to address this. Will think on it and let everyone know what I decide to do.

 

[Mballen13]

No updates yet. Work and holidays have prevented me from having garage time.

Will be back in the garage in January. Happy holidays!

 

[joe123]

hi there im new to this but i was just wondering if i would be able to get the arachnid plans for 3 i have never built a go kart be 4 but i have all the tools very good a mig welding i have all the metal and components to build the arachnid if you could help it would be much appreciated thank you [/B]

 

[Doc Sprocket]

hi there im new to this but i was just wondering if i would be able to get the arachnid plans for 3 i have never built a go kart be 4 but i have all the tools very good a mig welding i have all the metal and components to build the arachnid if you could help it would be much appreciated thank you [/B]

Joe- please start your own thread. Jacking someone else's could be considered rude. Thanks.

 

[joe123]

sorry

sorry im new to this dont know how to start my own thread yet i fault yuo jst commented on over peoples im really sorry ?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

No problem. Just put yourself in the appropriate section, like "Go Karts" or whatever, and click on "New Thread".

 

[usuallyalex]

Hi, I finished the granddaddy, let me know if you have any questions. Just a word of warning that I buckled in Harbor Freight and bought the 420cc engine as it had the electric start and charging coil - neat, but it's so much larger that led to a painful and expensive rework of most of the rear end to use a TAV40 and gearbox/jackshaft. I believe you can also hack the oil filler/and Comet 30 to make it fit if you do buy a bigger engine - but there's a lot to cut away.

Other than that, and it may be the additional weight for me, but the stopping power of the single rear rotor is pretty poor so far. I've not worn the pads in fully yet so it may get better - but I'm seriously considering some kind of front brake system.

Your welding also looks much better than mine

Good luck!

Alex

 

[Mballen13]

Not much progress lately on the kart. I mocked up the shocks and the swing arm and determined that the cheap mechanical shocks I bought from BMI are not going to be enough. They bottom out with just me sitting on it.

I purchased used shocks from an 08 Kawasaki Brute Force from a popular auction site as replacements. I should have them next week and I will report back on whether they are going to work.

Also, the Yerf Dog rack and pinion I bought will need the tie rods lengthened as they came up short. Purchased 12mm x 1.25 tie rods and matching heim joints to extend. I will let everyone know how my fix works out.

I currently only have a band brake for the rear axle and know that will need to be addressed as well. It will be good enough for initial mock up to see what other issues I run into. Will be going with a rear hydraulic disk set-up prior to final assembly.

Hopefully next week will bring some progress to this kart!

Matthew

 

[landuse]

Pics????

 

[Mballen13]

Landuse,

It is in the same condition as when I posted pics last. I "un-did" my mistakes and will re-mock once I have received parts. I will also post some pics of the shocks when I receive them.

Thanks!

 

[Kentguy13]

Don't fall victim of forgetting to post the progress... haha.. I just re-read your thread from start to finish. You did mention you were going to finish this project, I know we'd all love to see it done! I hope you're still working on it.

 

[Mballen13]

Sorry for the long absence. Life has gotten in the way! I have not worked on the go kart since I last posted. Now that summer is in full swing it is time to get back on this project. I will post more on progress this week. Hopefully will have a test drive either this weekend or next.

Stay tuned...more to come (including pics)!

 

[Mballen13]

New Pics with updates

Little update with pics!

First pic shows the larger tires I ended up with rather than the little ones i began with. Wasn't much clearance between ground and sprocket. You can also see the atv shocks I used on the rear rather than the cheap mechanical shocks I started out with.

Second picture shows that I don't have any dang clearance for the torque converter. I will have to fabricate motor mounts.

Third picture shows the use of both crappy mechanical "shocks" on each front corner to provide the needed weight handling. You can also see the change I made to the rack and pinion by taking off the pillow ball mount it came with and adding a length of threaded rod and heim joint.

Fourth picture is a close up example of my crappy welding. It holds but they ain't pretty, but I am not too proud to post for you guys to laugh at! I am using a lincoln 120v flux core welder.

More to come. I need to buy hardware, fabricate motor mounts, figure out how I am going to run brake and throttle lines, fabricate roll cage, fabricate dash, mount steering column...geesh when you put it like that I have a ways to go!

Thanks!
Matthew