Operation: SLO-KART

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logan_hurst

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Mission: Power a homemade 28"-tire go kart with a Predator 212cc engine.

Big. Underpowered. Slow. Should be fun to build. Less fun to ride. . . oh well!

The idea behind it was to have a go kart unlike anyone else's, not to win races.





 

logan_hurst

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The front axle will be on a pivot while the rear axle is solid. Shocks and independent front suspension (as well as a swing arm rear) will be added if I ever find an engine with enough guts to move this beast at a high rate of speed . . .





Idea: Turn a transaxle up to get the input shaft in a horizontal plane? Then centrifugal clutch to a sprocket on the input shaft? I don't know yet.

 

Bluethunder3320

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you are putting some great work into this. i cant wait to see it done!

whats the plan on steering and a seat? i think if you clean up that transaxle it will work fine. you do need to figure out the ratios inside the gearbox in order to find out what size sprocket to get, though.
 

Bluethunder3320

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my sears had this pivoting front end.

i welded it solid though.

i heard if youre mudding, and the axle tilts, one of the rears will lift out of the mud and spin out the differential.
 

redsox985

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Looking back at it, I'm kind of worried about the welds holding on the stub axles.
 

logan_hurst

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Looking back at it, I'm kind of worried about the welds holding on the stub axles.

Since this is only my second project, I'm worried about EVERY weld . . . :worried2:

The front axle isn't really suspension, but it's what I wanted to go with temporarily until I design an IFS I can be confident in. No, I don't want to use a four wheeler's a-arms. I want to build.

Also, about spinning out - most of the weight will be on the back axle, so the pivoting front axle is supposed to help keep the back tires on the ground. At this point, I'm not sure about the transaxle. I might try this baby out with a centrifugal clutch and 20:1 gearing. My tractor has 86.4:1 and is a pulling beast (for 6.5 ponies). Maybe I will upgrade to a CVT or put the transaxle in for more gears and reverse . . . I'm still considering.

Well, I need to order some parts while my wife isn't looking . . .

Can't wait until next Saturday . . . :bannana:
 

redsox985

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In regards to the spindles, I just feel like the welds holding those big bolts to the kingpin tubes are a bit too small. Who knows, they may hold, I'd just hate to see them hold til you get just far enough away from a welder when they go.
 

logan_hurst

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I went to pull-a-part today. Scavenged their Jeep Cherokees. Three calipers. One master cylinder. Two rotors. I bought a rotor from an auto parts store the other night . . .

It's official. Hydraulic brakes. It will add about 40-50 lbs if I add a rotor at both front tires and one on the rear axle . . . But my swingarm will have to be re-made to support a caliper at one wheel. This project keeps getting bigger and heavier. It's going to need more power. I can fix that later.
 

redsox985

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Not, to rain on your parade, but one vehicle caliper and disc will be PLENTY of stopping power for just about any kart. That jeep probably weighed 4000 or so pounds, giving each caliper 1000 lbs to stop. It'll easily stop a kart.
 

ryf

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the only limitation on braking is how much braking pressure you can get on a given amount of surface area :) I have a small issue with my Master cylinders bore being too big so i cant get as much pressure as I would like without having alot of leverage. hope this tidbit helps. you want/need a pretty small bore to work a single caliper so don't over do it. goodluck!

what I am recommending here is a master cylinder off a MUCH smaller car since you will also lack the vacuum brake booster :)
 

logan_hurst

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the only limitation on braking is how much braking pressure you can get on a given amount of surface area :) I have a small issue with my Master cylinders bore being too big so i cant get as much pressure as I would like without having alot of leverage. hope this tidbit helps. you want/need a pretty small bore to work a single caliper so don't over do it. goodluck!

what I am recommending here is a master cylinder off a MUCH smaller car since you will also lack the vacuum brake booster :)

How about a long brake pedal? Eh? And, now that I've been thinking about it, I guess I will stick with just ONE rotor and caliper. I'm sure it'll lock up the back axle easily. I will probably run a splitter (backwards) on the master cylinder to run both lines into one for working the single caliper. With the pedal setup I'm planning, it shouldn't take much to lock that axle up. My fear is that I will have no gentle braking. No brakes or locked up. I guess that won't matter too much since my kart won't be very fast. From four brakes being responsible for stopping 4000 lbs at 70 MPH . . . to one rotor and caliper setup being responsible for stopping 400-500 lbs at 15 MPH. I HOPE I don't need a vacuum booster for that!

I need a splitter, two short metal lines, one long metal line, a flexible hose, and quite a bit of welding for the caliper mount. This kart is going to look so weird.
 

Doc Sprocket

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You're unnecessarily trying to over-engineer the brakes. Seriously. One good brake setup from a motorcycle would provide more stopping power than you'd need. As for the Jeep parts, no need for the freaky-deaky plumbing. Run a line from the front reservoir to the caliper. Leave the other side dry and plug it. If the reservoirs aren't "seperate" enough, you may have to remove the residual valve from the rear side of the master cylinder before plumbing the outlets together. This is based on the assumption that the Jeep had rear drum brakes. If it had rear discs, ignore that bit. No vac booster required. As for sensitivity, it's a matter of leverage. Changing the amount of leverage your pedal has on the master cylinder will alter the sensitivity. If brakes are too sensitive, increase the physical distance between the pedal's pivot, and the plunger point on the pedal. This will also shorten the distance between the plunger and the pedal pad. To make braking more sensitive, reverse this.

Comparison point- My kart weighs about 450 with me on it (about 300lbs, kart only). My master cylinder is the clutch master cylinder from a Toyota pickup truck. The caliper is from a '70's Mercedes. At a (current) maximum speed of 45MPH, I can easily lay a pair of black stripes on the pavement when I hit that pedal. Pedal effort is easy, without being retardedly sensitive.
 
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