Mini monster truck rebuild

[Possom Point]

Got some good work done recently, I was able to cut the spindle arms down about 3/4” redrilled the holes and put them back on.
Next issue was the large tie rod was roughly 1.5” to long, the left side was straight and the right side was waaaaaaay out in right field. After some time and figuring, I decided to shave the rod down on my lathe and re-thread the 3/8-24 pitch. Had to buy a Die but it worked out perfect. Once I did this I reassembled the tie rods and made my adjustments to get the front tires straight as possible.
I then made a coupling for the original steering wheel shaft that will basically have bolt ms for set screws to hold it together.

 

[Possom Point]

Some more progress

 

[Possom Point]

Did a func test run of the gearbox forward and reverse directions and it went well. The belt isn’t slipping enough so it’s engaging the driven so I’ll need to adjust that.

 

[Possom Point]

Video:

April 4, 2026

Forward/Reverse gearbox testing on the F.W. And associates go kart monster truck.

youtube.com

 

[Grizzlymi]

Sweet! Now you just need to convert to 4WD!

 

[Possom Point]

Little bit of an update, got the shifter handle, throttle and brake cables hooked up, as well as the front and rear bumper. I went for a test drive and EVERYTHING needs adjusting BUT!!!!! It runs and drives, hopefully these things will be minor, (fingers crossed) . However the band brakes do not stop this thing. I have 2 cable clamps on the brake cable because the cable kept pulling through the clamping screw, which was super tight and lock-tighter (blue) and did not hold down the cable. Still have a long way to go though.

 

[Possom Point]

Long overdue update, project was side lined for a few jobs that came in along with the weather.
did some electrical work so far, I have the front lights ran up to the switch box and got all that back together, had to trim the switch panel window about an 1/8” on both sides for the wires to be able to fit better and mounted the box to the inner body. I installed the battery and made Red and Black battery wires, still have much to do on this little beast.

 

[Hellion]

...however I ran into a snag, the Manco spindles I’m using hit the wheels

There are spindles that have a Z bend built into them, probably for the same clearance issues, or maybe for rims with a huge positive offset or something like that.

For example and future reference:

U-Weld Spindle Kit - Single Spindle | 660028

www.bmikarts.com

Ultramax Right Spindle (Dirt)

www.bmikarts.com

Maybe these are commonplace?

 

[Possom Point]

Was lucky recently and was thankfully able to get this body. This is a fiberglass body. I was fina able to find one that was somewhat local, this gentleman saved me soooooooo much time instead of rebuilding the plastic broken body I have. I am so happy to be able to get this!!!!!!

 

[Grizzlymi]

Great news and great score!

 

[Possom Point]

Ordered 2 18ga mild steel exhaust tubing kits and got a couple thicker tubes bent at work I’m going to make a roll bar for this truck body to make it look more appealing and hook up some rectangle lights on it. My plan is to chop the long 90’s as the front bar and then use the 45’s for the sides/legs Had a bunch of stuff going on lately plus this insane heat hasnt made me motivated to work out in the shop.

 

[Grizzlymi]

The heat sucked balls early this week, power shortages and now this wildfire smoke here in the Detroit area. It's like standing by a campfire and the smoke starts to blow in your face, but when you move, the smoke is still the same. Insane feeling! lol

 

[Grizzlymi]

Love the idea of a roll bar. Fall Guy vibs.