My First Build - Modifications

[OzFab]

Woohoo, one problem solved

 

[souperman000]

Alrighty, I have to have this ready by the 18th for some fun in the desert.

I had an idea for the sprocket. i see that the axle shifted a litle to the left, so I though that instead of trying to get the sprocket hub unstuck (for now), I will just move thte axle over. I ordered locking collars to keep everything where it is suppoed to be. I need to drop the axle to install the collars.

Taking off the wheels, one came of easy but the other is giving me some trouble. The wheel hub shifted off of the key way. The key moved out by itself and the keyway for the hub is now on the opposite side of teh axle key way...Its not coming off. At least I finally had a chance to try out my new pullers from HF D) but they aren't budging. I stopped for fear of damaging the threads and the points on the end of my puller are putting little pivots in the end of the axle.

Any ideas?

One hub came off easy but the other is giving me trouble.

 

[souperman000]

I was thinking about either grinding or filing to point of teh end of my pullers. Just to make them less pointy and destructive.

 

[souperman000]

Well, I got the axle back together ready to go on the kart (more about that later).

As I was sliding the rotor back into the caliper, the pad came out. I know it is just in there with epoxy, what glue could I used to keep it in there? Would JB weld work?

It is the pad on the opposite side of the bolt/lever assembly.

EDIT - Its a mechanical caliper.

 

[OzFab]

JB weld will probably work but, I'd then be more worried about how I would get it out next time I need to change it.

A good silastic should work; it'll hold it in place, it's flexible & easy to remove for replacement as opposed to JB weld which is hard & rigid

 

[souperman000]

An update from after the weekend.

I got back from the desert on Sunday and the kart worked pretty much perfectly! Going down sandy dirt roads with two people on it full throttle for at least half a mile straight the kart did everything we asked it to do. We even got it sideways in the sandy corners .

After riding it like crazy, the chain got a bit dirty and we had some problems with it falling off (tension problems), but it was a blast the whole day.

On Friday night I had to put the whole axle back together, fixed a broken link on the chain and tightened everything up. Loaded it into the car and left the next morning.

I am do glad the kart worked beyond my expectations in the dirt and sand (even with no suspension!)

I will continue to work on it and make the improvements I set out to do at the beginning, but I'm glad I got it ready for my goal of taking it to the desert. Thanks everybody for the help.

Oh - and I used one set of Harbor Freight wheels the whole weekend. The new ones they have (zinc and black colored) are more durable than the white ones, and only a dollar or two more. The tires were fine, but at the end of the day, I could tell that the bearings were ready to go.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to post 'em up.

 

[OzFab]

Woohoo Glad everything worked for you, good work

 

[souperman000]

I took apart my clutch tonight to clean it.

Is the spring shot? It always came out straight before.

 

[machinist@large]

I took apart my clutch tonight to clean it.

Is the spring shot? It always came out straight before.

It's at least getting tired; I'll let one of our more knowledgeable people make the final call.

 

[OzFab]

It's at least getting tired

Tired but, a long way from death.

Springs are set using extreme heat. Constant heating & cooling will weaken the spring slowly which means
1. when you take it off, it won't be straight any more & will slowly get worse over time &
2. your engagement speed will gradually get lower.

When you get to the point where your clutch won't disengage &/or you take it off & it stays the same shape as it was while fitted, then it may be time to think about changing it

 

[souperman000]

I was wondering if anyone could ID my kart for me. I know it is very similar to the Redfox model of Manco but I don't know for sure.

The reason I ask is this: My brakes are not very reliable, and I think going from a bike cable to a solid rod will work better. I was hoping for a model number to hopefully get the correct size rod to attach to a mechanical caliper (originally it was a band brake I think).

Either that, or does any one else have ideas for stronger brakes. I'm not going hydraulic and I hope a change in connection from caliper to pedal will do the trick.

Some pre-build bare frame pics.

 

[souperman000]

I think the clutch is shot, I cleaned it up and put the chain back on, same problems. To the internet I go...

Also, for the brake set up I think many of the problems can be related to cable stretch. I am going to get an actual brake cable and try to use a clevis to connect to the caliper arm and just a loop or barrel through the hole on the pedal.

any comments?

 

[OzFab]

Oh man, now I have to go searching through your build thread again :toetap05:

Ok, found it.

How hard would it be to reposition the disc & caliper on the outside of the frame & use a rod to actuate the caliper? Does the caliper have a bi-directional lever?

 

[souperman000]

Yes t does but there is not enough space on the outside of the frame. A combination of a wide wheel and short axle.

 

[souperman000]

Well maybe its not bi directional but here are some more detailed pics of my brake setup

 

[souperman000]

Something like this cable - http://www.mfgsupply.com/gomini/gominicontrols/gominibrakecables/4-264.html

And a clevis on the caliper arm.
like - http://www.mfgsupply.com/gomini/gominicontrols/gominicontrolsfittings/az2366.html

 

[OzFab]

If that cable is thicker than yours, get it:

1. Your cable is a bit small (thin)
2. What's holding the cable outer at the caliper end? In the pic it appears to be floating
3. A clevis at either end is a good idea
4. Is that meant to be a spring on the pedal? Can you use a shorter spring & move the mounting point closer to the pedal? A spring stretched that far won't have much "spring" left...
5. If you run the cable to the lower hole on tha actuator arm (where the spring is) you won't need to press the pedal as hard to get a reaction; it's called leverage

 

[souperman000]

2. You mean the conduit? It is zip tied to the frame.
4. pic 3 is the pedal at rest, pic 4 is the pedal extended. The spring is actually super springy. The pedal snaps right back. But yes, I could move the mounting point.
5. I understand what you are saying and will implement it, but just FYI at the moment the spring is in the upper hole and the cable is in the lower one.

 

[OzFab]

2. You mean the conduit? It is zip tied to the frame.

Well, there's your problem (or part of). Without a solid anchor, the cable will tend to move

 

[souperman000]

Just got back from a long trip and my box of parts was waiting for me. Got a new clutch‚ a brake cable some keyway and some clevises.

I always run into problems with the barrels on the end of cables. Are they there as an anchor? Whatever the reason the barrel is too big to fit in the clevis so I came up with a mockup of the attachment to the pedal if I were to cut the barrel off.

The pics:
- the parts
- the mockup of clevis to cable attachment for the caliper end
- the barrel
- pedal mockups
- my new toolbox I got from a friend a couple months ago now cleaned up and loaded!