Rummy's Monster Truck Go Kart

[NickRummy]

Just acquired this thing a few weeks ago.

The guy I got it from had a "body lift" on it that's where you see the 2x4 in the front and there is a gap between the inner floor plastic and body. Motor runs pretty good, steering is pretty tight so I think maybe there is a bushing shot? The is absolutely no weight up front so it doesn't turn to well if you're on slipper surfaces.

Mods in progress

• Toggle kill switch in front of seat
• add electric start (has new starter but no wiring or battery)
• mount battery in front of truck (needs more weight up front)
• Fab up a basic roll cage
• Fab up winch plate and add winch (already have a 2000lb winch for it)
• Add a set of headlights
• Research if there is anything that can be done to this motor to add power

Mods to happen in the future

• Convert over to quad tires and wheels
• Add a motor/trans with multiple forward speeds and reverse

It has a 6.5hp Tecumseh that runs pretty good.

In the center of the wheel it says FW Motorsports.

Pretty basic steering setup. Steering is a little harsh. I'm thinking there are rod ends that are sticking or something.

Here are a couple videos of how it runs now. It's definitely a riot to drive!

First Run

Snow Bashing

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

That thing would be amazing with a 250 or so quad engine!

 

[NickRummy]

That thing would be amazing with a 250 or so quad engine!

I've already tracked down a Suzuki 160cc motor and transmission from a quad so it has reverse. I just don't know much about these things so I'm not even sure what kind of power difference that would have compared to the 6.5hp motor that's in it?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

is it a 2 or 4 stroke? either way it will be pushing at the very least 12hp and with the transmission it could push that thing 50mph and climb a mountain.

Have you considered cutting out the light decals and putting in some real headlights? that would be pretty sweet.

 

[NickRummy]

Hmmm I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him

I'm undecided on the lights at this point. I'd like to get some round off road style lights but it's all going to depend on how much room the winch takes up on the front end. Cutting out the lights would definitely be a sweet idea as long as I can find some lights to look decent and I could adjust them to point down some.

I'm not a fan of how the 2 bars come out from the main chassis and stick out in the front and back then go up to the body mounts. I'm pretty sure I'll be cutting those off and redoing the body mounts. I think it might look better with some basic tube bumpers.

 

[mike75925]

should be a four stroke, the two stroke atvs are racers which they rarely put reverse on. it will probably be an lt160. they are capable on their original chassis. the 125's didn't have factory electric start. the one of those i had, someone made the rear bumper the muffler. i just couldn't find a body cheap enough. there was a guy who had his all tricked out. 10-15hp raptor, radio, like 6 speakers, neon tubes, kc's. he powder coated the frame. all in all, a show truck

 

[SpyGuy]

Cool little ride. I'd think about going for the lights on it, too .... would look sweet.

Double tube bumpers, definitely, perhaps with a grille guard on the front. Winch? That would help weigh the front end down some when you punch it

Since you're considering fabbing a roll cage, suggestion? Just go whole hog and redo the basic framework to strengthen it and add in the features you were missing/didn't like on this design: i.e., winch mount, better body mounting system, basic body lift, battery tray, etc. Plus, a redesign probably couldn't hurt, since you're planning on dropping another engine into it - this frame as is may not be able to take the extra power. Safety first and always ....

Cool truck ... can't wait to see the rebuild!

 

[mike75925]

if you are gonna go through all that, the previous post, you may as well add suspension too!

 

[NickRummy]

Well what I have to keep in mind is that I have a 3 month old son so my free time is virtually non existent right now.

Ultimately I'd love to have suspension and all that but that's just way to involved at this point.

I pulled the body off last night and started removing the inner floor pan. It looks to be a large heat formed piece of ABS or something. You have to remove the steering column in order to get it out but there are a couple pins in the column down near the end that have to come out in order for it to be removed but I have NO idea how they come out. Looks like they are just pressed in, maybe if the steering column is heated up they can be pulled out?

Once I get the floor pan removed I'm going to draw the chassis in AutoCAD. It's a basic chassis so that won't take long. Then I'll layout the upper cage tube work. I'll just match the mounting points that are on the chassis now but change them around a bit so I don't have the two big bars handing down getting the way of the departure and approach angles.

What would you guys recommend for tubing for the cage work? 1" diameter seems suitable right? Around 16ga? How are people bending these if they don't have a tube bender? I have a friend who has a bending machine but it pushes the inside of the tube in on radius to make the bend and it doesn't look that nice. I'd like the tube to stay consistent through the bend if possible.

This also has some really strange wheel mounting setup. Kind of like a lawn tractor. I'm guessing it's just a solid spindle for the front and for the rear it's a spindle with a square key in it? Is there an easy way to convert that over to the more standard 4 bolt wheel. I have a friend with tons of quad wheels and I'm wanting to swap to something that will widen the track width some.

I need to look into what kind of battery to get and how to hook up this electric start. I was looking at universal battery mounting plates at the car shop yesterday so that looks to be pretty easy. I'll incorporate that into the steel work when the cage is done. The only thing I see wrong with mounting the battery up front is that there will have to be long wires ran to the back of the truck for the starter. I need to look into how that all needs wired up too.

Sorry for the long novel and all the questions. This is turning into a place to type out my checklist to keep me reminded about things haha!

 

[mike75925]

small lawn tractor battery should be fine. about a roll cage, i am of the opinion that all you need is a roll bar and seatbelt. if you roll that thing the body is shot. if you roll without a seatbelt your body may be shot. the roll cage isn't going to provide much more safety, and it will add more weight.

 

[NickRummy]

I agree with you about a roll bar and seat belt being required for safety. A roll cage would look so sweet though

 

[mike75925]

on a truck? got any pics of what you mean? or are you refering to the roll bar with all of the KC lights on it?

 

[NickRummy]

Yes. Something similar to this.

 

[mike75925]

you see how the cage comes even with the windshield? if that thing rolls, the windshield is gone. a rollbar is higher, and on some trucks if flipped on it's back, it will be resting on either the hood or tailgate/bed and rollbar.

 

[NickRummy]

Oh yeh, I definitely know what you mean. I've fabbed quite a few roll cages in my time. (on a smaller scale). There are a couple ways to design and build a cage.

First way is an internal roll cage. This isn't meant to protect the vehicles body from damage. It's only meant to protect the person in it. Basically like they use in race cars or on a real monster truck.

Second way is an external cage (also called exo cage) which is fabbed around the outside of the body. This is meant to do both but is obviously a bit trickier since it has to be built on the outside. You really only see this on trail trucks

I'm honestly not extremely concerned about the body. I know it's going to get cracked and beaten up. It's fiberglass so it should take a little punishment. The roll cage I build would be above the window. I've even thought about getting rid of the window itself. I'm not really a huge fan of how it looks.

 

[mike75925]

you could make it taller by say 2" and put in some plexi. yep exo skeletons, they started making them for stunt crotch rockets. thats why i asked for a pic of what you meant. ok, not worried about the body. i was, i looked for 6months off and on for a body for mine. not many out there, and new they are 500, plus 500 shipping. that's why i am worried

 

[NickRummy]

Making it taller to protect it might not be too bad but could look goofy? It could DEFINITELY Use a plexy window though. It was a chilly ride last time out in the snow!

Ahh bodies aren't cheap eh? I guess that puts things in perspective. If I did only a roll bar back behind the driver I think that would still crunch the window. It would have to be really tall. Say the truck is upside down on the ground, the ground would hit the hood and the roll bar. The window would be in that path unless the roll bar was tall enough to hit before the window would. That would look REALLY goofy.

Looking at the pictures the roll age or bar would have to be quite a bit higher anyway to protect someones head in a roll over......

 

[mike75925]

i bet it was cold. i had a ford tempo body i tried to fit on mine. i was going to have to lengthen it. mine was a whole different chassis too. but i like your inner fenders better. my seat was adjustable up/down and forward backward. that will solve that issue hopefully. nine slider slots in the frame where the seat goes. what do you think of running the exhaust up through the bed like a semi's? i thought it would look cool.

 

[NickRummy]

I'm not a fan of the seat in this thing AT ALL. Very uncomfortable, no back support and absolutely no cushion. It's not adjustable either. Of course there's not much more room for adjustment since the engine is close. I plan on getting a nicer seat if possible.

I really want to figure out how to get that steering shaft out so I can take that inner fender panel off. I don't want to have to cut it up to get it out. That'll make putting it back trickier. Having that panel out off will make it way easier to work on this thing for the time being.

I've been reading and reading about motors. Apparently this motor has an aftermarket cam in it but there's no way for me to tell. I just have to believe what the guy told me who I got it from. The exhaust and tuning have been my main priorities right now. Stacks for the exhaust would be SWEET. My buddy really wants me to do them (he's a big diesel guy). Probably wouldn't be all that hard but I was afraid making custom exhausts for these things would hurt performance? I bet I could have an exhaust shop whip up a set cheap.

 

[mike75925]

i wouldn't say cheap. you will probably want to use pipe no bigger than 3/4" and you will need heat shields. i always loved lakesides, but not for offroad. haha. this was mine, also some pics of the steering where it goes into the frame