MadManAndrew
Fun-Club Chairman
Greetings go karters,
I'm new here, but not necessarily new to the world of go karts or custom fabrication, or radio control, for that matter. I've been an avid home fabricator for all of my adult life, and I'm here to share with and enlist all of you avid go karts help in my next project: a radio controlled "go kart". I put go kart in quotation marks because my goal was never to build an actual go kart, but just to build a really big RC car. I've taken to calling it a go kart because to build it in the scale I want to build it, go karts parts are the perfect size and are readily available, hence this project becoming the "RC Go Kart".
I've already got quite a few parts:
I found this really cool 1953 Ford F-100 scale fiberglass body so I'm aiming for my frame to fit under that. It supposedly measures 67L x 28 ½W x 17 T.
Elsewise, my future plans include:
I'm unsure yet of a couple minor details but I think that kind of sets the path. I'm unsure yet of what type of brake system will work best for my application (integration into a radio control system). I'm also unsure of what final drive ratio to aim for since my kart is unmanned but it will also have atypically large tires. I would like to have acceleration and top speed but if I had to sacrifice one it would be speed. The vehicle will be ran in relatively small spaces so acceleration is most important.
I had made a very detailed CAD design of the kart from top to bottom but that was when I was planning to do a buggy style vehicle with rear swing arm. Upon decision to ditch the tube body buggy aesthetics for the fiberglass body and ditch the swing arm in favor of a little more simplicity (I really don't think it will need it), that design is pretty much useless. I don't plan to do a new CAD rendering of the new design since it's really too simple to need it, but I did throw together a rough sketch just to help guide my through getting all my dimensions right. Here's that:
I've been on this forum pretty much everyday for the past couple of weeks researching ideas and concepts as they pertain to my project and I forsee that continuing so I will be sure to keep this thread updated with my progress! Right now I'm waiting for the front hubs I ordered to come in early next week so I can see how far they offset the wheel mounting surface before I start welding up the front end. I would hate to use my best judgment and then end up with the front end noticeably narrower (or worse, wider!) than the rear.
Please let me know what you guy think!
I'm new here, but not necessarily new to the world of go karts or custom fabrication, or radio control, for that matter. I've been an avid home fabricator for all of my adult life, and I'm here to share with and enlist all of you avid go karts help in my next project: a radio controlled "go kart". I put go kart in quotation marks because my goal was never to build an actual go kart, but just to build a really big RC car. I've taken to calling it a go kart because to build it in the scale I want to build it, go karts parts are the perfect size and are readily available, hence this project becoming the "RC Go Kart".
I've already got quite a few parts:
- 1" Live Axle - 36" Long
- Set of 3-Hole Live Axle Mounts
- Set of 4 on 4 Live Axle Hubs
- 3/4 x 4-1/2" Heavy-Duty Front Spindles
- Set of 4 on 4 Ball-Bearing Front Hubs OTW right now
- 3/4 x 2-1/2" Compression Springs (for front spindles)
- Enough 3/4" SCH40 pipe to supply water to the city
I found this really cool 1953 Ford F-100 scale fiberglass body so I'm aiming for my frame to fit under that. It supposedly measures 67L x 28 ½W x 17 T.
Elsewise, my future plans include:
- Golf Cart Wheels + Tires (Kind of goes toward a Monster Truck theme but mainly I can get a good used set for <$50.
- Either a Power Horse 6.5HP or a Lifan 6.5HP (Want electric start; Power Horse is considerably cheaper and of equal reputation)
- CVT "Torque Converter"
- I'll spare you guys the radio controls aspects unless you're interested
I'm unsure yet of a couple minor details but I think that kind of sets the path. I'm unsure yet of what type of brake system will work best for my application (integration into a radio control system). I'm also unsure of what final drive ratio to aim for since my kart is unmanned but it will also have atypically large tires. I would like to have acceleration and top speed but if I had to sacrifice one it would be speed. The vehicle will be ran in relatively small spaces so acceleration is most important.
I had made a very detailed CAD design of the kart from top to bottom but that was when I was planning to do a buggy style vehicle with rear swing arm. Upon decision to ditch the tube body buggy aesthetics for the fiberglass body and ditch the swing arm in favor of a little more simplicity (I really don't think it will need it), that design is pretty much useless. I don't plan to do a new CAD rendering of the new design since it's really too simple to need it, but I did throw together a rough sketch just to help guide my through getting all my dimensions right. Here's that:
I've been on this forum pretty much everyday for the past couple of weeks researching ideas and concepts as they pertain to my project and I forsee that continuing so I will be sure to keep this thread updated with my progress! Right now I'm waiting for the front hubs I ordered to come in early next week so I can see how far they offset the wheel mounting surface before I start welding up the front end. I would hate to use my best judgment and then end up with the front end noticeably narrower (or worse, wider!) than the rear.
Please let me know what you guy think!