Power Wheel go kart

[bryanaranda]

I saw bigair49's post of the power wheel mod he did and it was sick. http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8338 I wan to do that with my son's jeep. Here is what I have to work with. I have already tried to fab some front steering and it kind of works. I think my problem is that the steering arm is not centered and that is why it will only turn one way. But I digress. I want to do the exact sam thing as bigair49. I have never done anything like this before and just got a welder. I pick up things very quick and am very handy. Here are some picks of what I am going to start with. I made a role cage out of PVC just for looks but it does not matter because the stupid steering does not work. ANy feedback would be great. Thanks

 

[r97]

make sure you get good at welding before you make your kart, grinding welds isn't fun. looks like your gonna need to make a new steel frame, I'm sure you can get the basic idea of the frame from big air, then use the plastic shell to take custom measurements from the plastic body then design a rough sketch with measurements from there, also having your parts while your designing will prob be helpful.
p.s. cool bouldering wall (short and steep climbing wall for those of us who don't climb) you do any climbing? or is that just for your kids to fool around on, Ive been rock climbing for about 3yrs now!

 

[bryanaranda]

Thanks for the advise. I do climb and the wall is about 18 feet long and starts of at 8 feet high and goes to about 10 feet then there is a roof that leads up the the storage area. I make my own holds to.
Where could I get some ideas for building A-arms and getting super cheep front shocks?

 

[sideways]

Thanks for the advise. I do climb and the wall is about 18 feet long and starts of at 8 feet high and goes to about 10 feet then there is a roof that leads up the the storage area. I make my own holds to.
Where could I get some ideas for building A-arms and getting super cheep front shocks?

Look on ebay for a set off a 50cc Chinese quad bike, if you can find a whole bike for cheap with a blown engine or clutch (the 2 stroke pocket quad ones break clutches like there is no tomorrow) then you could use the axle, steering and suspension from it, it's probably about the same width as your jeep.

What kind of engine are you using?

Thanks

Hayden

 

[r97]

heres some shocks http://www.electricscooterparts.com/shocks.html, the best place for you to get ideas on the a-ams is from big airs thread, i may look around on it.

 

[bryanaranda]

WOW!!! Thank you all for the quick response and advice. I have no clue what I m going to be using for an engine yet. I will look on ebay for that. r97, that is a great website for shocks. Thank you so much. I was stressing thinking I was going to have to spend a put load on shock when they were not even going to matter that much. I am going to start on the frame this week. I will measure the body and go from there Using bigair's pictures. Keep the advice coming guys I need all the help I can get. I have seen some websites for tie rods and stuff for steering but what would be the cheapest site I could go to to buy them or are there stores where I could buy stuff like that? Thanks A bunch guys.

 

[r97]

this site is what pretty much everyone here uses, http://www.bmikarts.com/. if there is a northern tool near you they sell kart parts but i think they are expensive and don't really have a huge selection.

 

[bryanaranda]

OK. I began welding the frame together today. AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!. It might mot be the squarest frame but I think I am doing a pretty good job for my first time ever doing anything like this. I will post pics tomorrow when I am done grinding all my crap welds down.

 

[r97]

are you grinding them down or away? please post pics of your welds, just cause i understand this is your first time with the welder, and we don't want stuff braking!

 

[bryanaranda]

are you grinding them down or away? please post pics of your welds, just cause i understand this is your first time with the welder, and we don't want stuff braking!

I will post some as soon as I am done with them. tomorrow night at the latest. Thank you for your continuing help.

 

[bigair49]

Lets see some pics..

 

[bryanaranda]

Here is the frame.

I tried to follow bigair as best I could. My all my cuts had to be made with a 4" hand grinder so none of them are exactly the same witch made it very very hard to make it stright and true. ANy advise for making equal cuts with a grinder?

 

[r97]

cool, looks like the welds should be ok, that is if you have penetration (a blueish discoloration around weld site (heat signature)) looks good. for good cuts you need a chop saw, or miter saw or band saw, with an abbrasive blade. cutting with an angle grinder is a pain!

 

[bryanaranda]

would putting a metal blade on my Dewalt chop saw mess it up?

 

[r97]

shouldn't. you can buy a cheap hf chop saw if you want http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/cutoff-saws.html i have one and i like it, prob not as nice as the de-walt though

 

[bigair49]

Looking good so far! What is the distance at the rear between the rails? your 1x1 will flex under load I would add some gussets here and there .. The best way to make good cuts with a grinder is practice I use a nice zip cut disc (about a 1/16th thick) for 99% of my projects but a cut off miter saw or band saw is the best way IMHO..keep up the good work and take a bunch of pics

 

[r97]

just basically use big-airs thread as a guide and you should be all set

 

[mike75925]

you can take the piece that is correct, clamp it to the piece you need to cut, which is kind of unstable, or you can clamp both pieces to a work bench or saw horse. i would use at least 2 clamps for any length of piece, provided 2 will fit. if fitting a metal cutting blade to your wood saw, go really slow. it will save the motor's brushes and the blade. let the saw do the work.

 

[bryanaranda]

OK. My sons Razor E100 electric scooter does not work so I gutted it and am going to use the motor and everything else to power the jeep. The only problem I have is the scooter only started when you gave it a couple of pushes then it started going. How can I override that so it goes right when the gas lever is pushed? And how do I make it reverse?

 

[bryanaranda]

All right. I got a good amount done today considering the time I had. I was able to mount the back axle. I just used a 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 tube, drilled a hole and pud a brass bushing in it to act like a barring. I used the wheel from the scooter witch had the gear and brake thing all in one, made it so a 1/2 threaded rod fit through and used to locking nuts to tighten it so the axle would spin with it. I will probably put a set screw in there to to keep the gear from spinning without the axle. I finished my a-arms. Yes they look like crap. And after I tacked them into place I realized they were to far back. The steering column I think would be steep. I have a question. I want to keep the jeep a two seater but the problem is the steering shaft would end up coming out to the right of the a-arm if you are looking at the jeep. How can i make the steering column go to the center of the a-arms but keep the steering wheel on the drivers side? Is that even possible?