new here. wheel questions.....

[apekillman]

hi, new to the forum. very nice site. thank you everyone that contributes to make it so great.

I've recently had the chance to buy a 2 seater manco kart. perhaps a dingo? it ran when i bought it but blew smoke. i tried to do some carb TLC with no good luck. so i bought the infamous harbor freight predator engine. seems to be working fine. anyway, i want to change a few things around. it had big lawn tractor wheels on the back and the guy swapped them for ones a little smaller. and it had some solid hard rubber tires up front that were really bad. i bought some cheap harbor freight ones for the interim. what i want to do is get some decent wheels and tires both up front and in the rear. i was thinking about 4 inch up front and 6 inch in the rear. one question i have about that set up is would i have to worry about the gear ratio? right now its running a 12 (from a jack shaft(?)) to a 72 tooth on the axle. also, I'm worried about clearance for the chain wheel once i was to get smaller wheels. also, when i am turning at speed, the front mostly just plows forward while the tires just get pushed sideways. i realize that those HF tires are super cheaply made, but would this also happen with better quality wheels / tires? do i need to check the ackermann and all that stuff? thanks foray and all advice on this matter! gonna try to post a few pics of said kart right now.....

 

[apekillman]

also, i want to install a better brake set up. maybe a disc? any ideas? tips for this?

i will be mostly tooling around on pavement and the occasional yard. no real "off roading".

 

[OzFab]

Welcome to the forum

Wheels/Tyres: Yeah, those front wheels are junk, don't use them any longer than you have to...

Fitting smaller tyres to the rear will affect the drive ratio; you'll have better acceleration but, a lower top speed; you also need to keep an eye on the ground clearance of the axle sprocket & the kart in general...

Steering: The front wheels are being plowed through the dirt because the kart has a live axle, meaning both rear wheels are being driven at the same speed, pushing the kart in a straight line; if the steering is "sub par" (as yours is), that will continue to be the case...

The first thing I noticed is your front wheels are straight (which they shouldn't be) but, the pitman arm (the small plate that attaches the tierods to the steering shaft) is not at 90°

I would suggest you read this thread, followed by this one...

Brakes: Disc brakes are definitely better, hydraulic disc are the ultimate but, which to choose depends on how deep your pockets are & your level of fabricating experience...

 

[Denny]

You may also need to correct the ackerman angle on the spindles to get it to do any kind of turning.

Denny

 

[KartFab]

Let some pressure out of the front tires. If you fill them up with too much air, all you have is a little spot in the middle of the tire for traction. With a little air (like 3-4 psi) you will let all of the tread rest on the ground and be able to grip and turn better.

In addition to what everybody else has said, if you crank the steering wheel all the way to the left or right you will get that plowing effect. Try not turning so hard.

 

[OzFab]

That's what the two links in my previous post are for, Denny

 

[Half-breeder]

Apekillman... your kart is the same dimensions as the 2nd link post that Fabroman posted(I know cause it's my post/kart). If you are wanting the dimensions of the plate I had made for that dimensioned frame, let me know so you wont be spending the 2 weeks trial n erroring to get a good Ackermann alignment.

 

[MikL99]

Your Dingo is going to be heavier than my Manco Express. I bought the harbor freight wheels also thinking they would hold me off till i bought new wheels. They lasted about 3 or 4 drives. When my son was driving it looked like the wheels were going to snap off. They had a bow in them. The wheel bearings were about to rip out. So its no so much the tread that you have to worry about. Its the wheels. They are junk.

Everyone on here told me so as well. I guess you just have to see it to believe it.

 

[apekillman]

Oh, I believe it. This is the second set of HF wheels I put on. The first ones I was riding, the right one popped going down the road.

 

[apekillman]

Thank you everyone for the responses.

fabroman - should I worry about burning out the clutch or belts if I change the back wheels size? The wheels are straight. I messed with stuff before I really started to read and understand about ackermann. I'm gonna figure that stuff out this winter after I buy new wheels.

 

[apekillman]

Half-breeder, I read that thread of yours and watched the videos. Nice job on that!

 

[Hybridyne]

Look into the Northerntool.com differential axel that would cure some of your steering problem by letting your rear wheels spin independently.

 

[OzFab]

fabroman - should I worry about burning out the clutch or belts if I change the back wheels size?

If you reduce the diameter, not at all; you only need to worry when you go bigger...

Look into the Northerntool.com differential axel that would cure some of your steering problem by letting your rear wheels spin independently.

True but, using a diff is the same as having a single wheel drive in just about every way...

 

[apekillman]

Thanks for the info, fabroman. If i do 4" wheels on the front and 6" wheels on the back, what would be a good rear chain wheel size to go down to?

Also, what is the proper name / type of the rear wheels that are currently on my kart (not sure if you can tell by the pics I posted)? I realize they need to be attached to the axle, unlike the front wheels.

 

[OzFab]

Umm, what?

The size of the rim is irrelavent, we need to know what size tyres you intend to use...

 

[apekillman]

Umm, what?

The size of the rim is irrelavent, we need to know what size tyres you intend to use...

exactly!!!! I don't know what im talking about since im new to the karting world. don't pay any attention to that.

with that said, I was thinking 410/350-4 in the front. and 410/350-6 in the rear.

I just really like the big old rims / tires in the back. especially since I wont be doing much, if any real off-roading.

I really like the old vintage look to a kart. but I don't want to buy a whole different vintage frame and build it up from there. so I want to do the best with what I already have.