I'm currently working on a downhill kart for the kids. Thought I'd share the progress. When I first made the chassis, I soon realized it was waaaaay too big:
I had to make it narrower:
Front:
Back:
My plan was to keep the steering bits in front of the front axle to keep it out of the way:
Although the angles of the steering was technically correct, it was not a good solution mechanically. The ball links hit their limits, and in general it felt just wrong, so I gave up, and moved the steering rack behind the front axle instead:
I've actually made a rack-and-pinion steering with a bicycle gear (11 teeth) a bit of bicyle chain welded to a section of square pipe, and as a bearing I've used a ball bearing drawer slide. I had to modify it slightly to make it go both ways from center, but that wasn't difficult.
The finished steering:
Then I decided I needed a roll bar, but since I had no round pipe I used square pipe for that too. I did cut some wedges in it though, to make it look nicer:
I also made pedals, and although there will be no engine (at least not yet) I decided to make two pedals just to be future-proof. I will connect the pedals so that both of them will operate the brakes on both rear wheels:
Next up is to make the brakes. It will be wheel brakes, with a braking shoe operating directly on the rubber of the tyre. Will of course be hard on the rubber, but it's the easiest solution. At least for now.
As you can see the seat is actually a modified plastic garden chair, and it is lengthwise adjustable to accomodate both children and adults (why shouldn't adults have fun too... :-))
Comments and critique welcome...
Regards
-Øyvind
I had to make it narrower:
Front:
Back:
My plan was to keep the steering bits in front of the front axle to keep it out of the way:
Although the angles of the steering was technically correct, it was not a good solution mechanically. The ball links hit their limits, and in general it felt just wrong, so I gave up, and moved the steering rack behind the front axle instead:
I've actually made a rack-and-pinion steering with a bicycle gear (11 teeth) a bit of bicyle chain welded to a section of square pipe, and as a bearing I've used a ball bearing drawer slide. I had to modify it slightly to make it go both ways from center, but that wasn't difficult.
The finished steering:
Then I decided I needed a roll bar, but since I had no round pipe I used square pipe for that too. I did cut some wedges in it though, to make it look nicer:
I also made pedals, and although there will be no engine (at least not yet) I decided to make two pedals just to be future-proof. I will connect the pedals so that both of them will operate the brakes on both rear wheels:
Next up is to make the brakes. It will be wheel brakes, with a braking shoe operating directly on the rubber of the tyre. Will of course be hard on the rubber, but it's the easiest solution. At least for now.
As you can see the seat is actually a modified plastic garden chair, and it is lengthwise adjustable to accomodate both children and adults (why shouldn't adults have fun too... :-))
Comments and critique welcome...
Regards
-Øyvind