No Weldding Frame

[vandancouver]

nice, good find man!
now you got a 120 you can do alittle something..broadens the range a little

bed frame is the most excellent idea ive heard..

 

[frederic]

I have two concerns with your design that you posted on page one.

1. Tubing will crush if bolted down tightly, and of course you want it as tight as possible so it stays together. You can solve this by cutting smaller tubing that the ID is a hair larger than the diameter of the bolts you will be using, length cut to the ID of the larger tube. Square tubing for the chassis would make this easier.

2. In most places, you have one bolt per joint. If the bolt loosens, the part can swivel so you'd want to make or buy brackets that will go "over" each joint and have at least two bolts per tubing where they joint. For example, if you are joining two tubes together in a "T" fashion, you'd want to make a "T" bracket to go over them. Two bolts in the cross piece of the "T" and two bolts on the one leg of the "T".

Of course you could buy a used welder on the cheap, even a larger 120V machine, and learn to weld. Wire-welders are often reasonably priced and are fairly easy to learn. If you choose this option there are many here who can give you advice and offer guidance if you wish.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Ok Open it is..
Now it's more like it(possitive thinking)

Bedframe ha? I have extra in the garage. Aint it abit heavy? My motor is only a 350watts and 24V controller.

As for a welder, I found one. One of my cousin has a little one. 120v that's a plus. He said it only weld cast iron, if i remember right.

Well, some bed frames use angle iron, and angle iron is perfect for bolting. Its not all that heavy, and would be cheap and easy. I love angle iron, its one of my favorite materials to work with.

If thats not what you want to do, heres a crazy idea, not cheap but definitely unique and light, fiberglass!

 

[EagleTalons]

How would fiberglass work Kap'n..?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

****, messed that one up, i was thinking carbon fiber, not fiber glass...check this out though, this is where i got the idea (just messed up metarials).
http://www.ferrarilimo.co.uk/

 

[freakboy]

how would fiber glass not work.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Not saying it wouldnt, just saying i meant to say carbon fiber and not fiber glass.

 

[freakboy]

id go fiber glass cheaper and pretty good.

 

[GoDaddy]

Well, I got an "A" in an industrial class with my stick welding 20s years ago. Let see if I still have the touch. I still dont have time to go get the welder yet. Probably won't go get it until I have the parts. I also need the face shield which he says he doesn't have. I was think since welding is available to me now, i'm dropping the bolts and nuts. I would still think bolts and nuts is a good idea for a ghetto go kart for people with insufficient funds.

 

[TOO FAST]

A always thought for a small kid kart a guy could use that black
abs plastic sewer pipe that glues together - you could always put
a few screws in the joints for additional piece of mind. This would
be light, strong and flexible but of course there are limits

 

[porsche930dude]

If your going for cheap your best bet is to keep an eye out for one on craigslist. You can pick up a frame for 40-80 $ When your boy gets bigger at least you can put a gas engine on it or sell it for as much as you have into it. If you go to lowes to get your metal your going to spend atleast that much on cheezy metal and drill bits and nuts and bolts and stuff and it wont be worth a dime when all is said and done. just my .02

 

[GoDaddy]

More idea just pop up. I came across PVC go kart. PVC is pretty light. That interest me now.

Anyone know what the average watts car starter is?

 

[Pellethuntr2]

PVC that's awesome what a teribley dangerous idea!!!

 

[porsche930dude]

i think your better off modifying an old power wheels. They run all day on a car battery

 

[GoDaddy]

What?! You can use the car battery for those? I read at some where about power wheels or scooter, you are not suppose to use car battery, it's dangerous.

i think your better off modifying an old power wheels. They run all day on a car battery

 

[frederic]

Many of the powertoys have a 12V battery. 12V is 12V. I wouldn't use a car battery because it probably weighs more than the ride-on toy, but there are plenty of rechargable 12V batteries sized in between.

Save the car batteries for stick welding. Two in series makes a decent arc for mild steel. In fact, this is how I learned to weld.

 

[porsche930dude]

I stuck a car battery on a powerwheels and it drove my 150lbs all over the place up steep hills and everything no problem. the electrics and motor didnt even get hot. Oh and bed frame is absolutely great but its a nightmare to drill through because its hardened steel for some reason. I always avoid drilling it at all costs. Ususally if i want a hole ill grind a slot in it and weld a washer over it thats how bad it is lol

 

[jorge0136]

I am looking to build a similar machine and am just starting to get my ideas together. Electric drive solves many of the issues faced here. http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4702 This is the thread with most of the discussion so far. Take a look at Fredric's finished kart, very clean.

 

[London-Town]

bed frames.

bolted together bed frame is what im thinking of using for one of my projects ,

let us know how it goes

 

[KieranM]

If you do decide to go ahead with nuts and bolts I would recommend that you use some form of thread lock as well as the nylon lock nuts.

That being said I would still prefer to weld it.

Best of look anyway.