OT - Go Carts, Home Made - Looking for project to build with kids |
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OT - Go Carts, Home Made - Looking for project to build with kids |
Carlitos Way |
Jul 27 2007, 01:13 PM
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#1
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I did it MY WAY Group: Members Posts: 1,337 Joined: 14-September 04 From: Simi Valley, CA Member No.: 2,757 Region Association: Southern California |
I'm thinking about building a go-cart with/for the kids. Thinking about an electric cart... but not opposed to a gas (lawnmower) powered cart.
Has anyone here built one from scratch? |
drewvw |
Jul 27 2007, 01:38 PM
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#2
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new england car guy Group: Members Posts: 1,631 Joined: 24-February 06 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 5,630 Region Association: North East States |
We had one growing up with a very simple welded tube frame. In this sort of "I" configuration (no pics):
-------- |ffff| |ffff| -------- f = floors (EDIT: diagram not coming out so well!) Single Seated, sheet metal floor riveted to the tubes, steering assembly built from lawn mower/hardware store parts and a a braking mechanism that fit over the centrifugal clutch. Put a 4.5 HP motor on that thing are terrorized the neighborhood for many years...good times. |
i love porsche |
Jul 27 2007, 02:11 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,547 Joined: 6-May 04 From: Nutley, NJ Member No.: 2,030 Region Association: North East States |
our school has the SAE mini baja car that we build every year. they are very safe tube frame cars that have lots of suspension travel and use a 10- hp briggs and stratton engine, usually mated to a CVT. they also use alot of parts from ATVs so parts are easy to find
id say find a school by you and see if they have the baja progam, if they do they are more than likely to have old cars laying around that im sure they'd be happy to get rid of Attached image(s) |
fitsbain |
Jul 27 2007, 03:05 PM
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#4
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Ask me if my car has rust!!! Group: Members Posts: 619 Joined: 25-February 06 From: Pittsburgh PA Member No.: 5,634 |
Your school may build them for competition but my school wins the competitions.
:-P |
shelby/914 |
Jul 27 2007, 03:17 PM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 804 Joined: 24-August 05 From: Foxfield, Co Member No.: 4,655 Region Association: Rocky Mountains |
Try northerntool.com, use to be Northern Hydraulics. They sell a complete kit or bits and pieces. Wish I had bought one for my daughter when she ask for one. We ended up with a horse instead. A new car would have been cheaper!!!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving-girl.gif) |
i love porsche |
Jul 27 2007, 03:41 PM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,547 Joined: 6-May 04 From: Nutley, NJ Member No.: 2,030 Region Association: North East States |
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zymurgist |
Jul 27 2007, 04:01 PM
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#7
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"Ace" Mechanic Group: Members Posts: 7,411 Joined: 9-June 05 From: Hagerstown, MD Member No.: 4,238 Region Association: None |
Engines? CVT's? It's all about the drivers, folks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving-girl.gif)
Soap Box Derby |
skline |
Jul 27 2007, 06:26 PM
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#8
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Born to Drive Group: Members Posts: 7,910 Joined: 26-December 02 From: Costa Mesa, CA Member No.: 17 Region Association: Southern California |
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Crazyhippy |
Jul 28 2007, 12:06 AM
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#9
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Insert witty comment here... Group: Members Posts: 1,659 Joined: 28-July 05 From: Home of the Coyotes, AZ Member No.: 4,493 Region Association: None |
SWEET!!!!
I would recomend going gas for the unlimited run time. Batteries have to be re-charged, and there is downtime. Gas tanks can be re-filled in 2 minutes. You want a simple flat cart w/ no suspension, or are you looking to get more elaborate? BJH |
smontanaro |
Jul 28 2007, 08:50 AM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,190 Joined: 3-June 05 From: Evanston, IL Member No.: 4,197 Region Association: Upper MidWest |
I would recomend going gas for the unlimited run time. Batteries have to be re-charged, and there is downtime. Gas tanks can be re-filled in 2 minutes. And pollute to high heaven. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) If you're considering electric, ask here: ev@listproc.sjsu.edu You could probably use a handful of the new DeWalt battery packs (containing LiFePO4 (I think) batteries from A123 Systems) to power the kart. Skip |
TINCAN914 |
Jul 28 2007, 09:23 AM
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#11
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Summer's Commin... Group: Members Posts: 2,440 Joined: 18-August 05 From: Colorado Springs, CO. Member No.: 4,611 Region Association: Rocky Mountains |
Probabely not the highest quality, but fair price.. China..
http://atvswholesale.com/go-kart-250cc-sahara-2seater.html |
sean_v8_914 |
Jul 28 2007, 10:40 AM
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#12
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Chingon 601 Group: Members Posts: 4,011 Joined: 1-February 05 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,541 |
I helped a guy build a buggy from scratch. it was all square tube 1x1, 1x2 & 1x1.5 we made a mock frame out of wood, then used the wood pcs as template for the steel cuts. it was fun. I MIGd it all together but never got to see teh finished car
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Brian_Boss |
Jul 28 2007, 11:00 AM
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#13
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Member Group: Members Posts: 324 Joined: 3-June 03 From: Dallas, TX Member No.: 781 |
I was in the business of setting up indoor kart racing facilities and we did a lot of electric karts. If you are at all trying to do this on the cheap, I would stick with gas. To have the kind of performance that will entertain a kid over 6 or 7 years old, you will need to spend over a grand on the motor, motor controller and batteries.
That said, I can provide more info or help if you do decide to go that way. |
Carlitos Way |
Jul 28 2007, 01:17 PM
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#14
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I did it MY WAY Group: Members Posts: 1,337 Joined: 14-September 04 From: Simi Valley, CA Member No.: 2,757 Region Association: Southern California |
Here's the deal...
We have a neighbor 3 doors down that has a little electric go-cart. But the kid is a bit of a jerk... and I'd love to put him in his place with the kids building their own go-cart... and beating him! The boys are 7 and 8. I want this to be a dad/sons project, with them doing as much of the construction as possible. Simplicity is far more important than performance. At their age, they will be just happy to have something they can drive and claim to have built themselves. I was thinking I could do something tubular, helping them weld or thread pipes together and using a wood board/floor of some sort. The pre-fab idea isn't so bad... I looked at the Northerntool kit and it looks good, but it is about $700 plus the engine... which almost takes it out of scope for this project. I dn't want to sink $1500 into a project that the kids might not carry to completion. Thanks for all the ideas... I'll check 'em out! |
i love porsche |
Jul 28 2007, 02:04 PM
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#15
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,547 Joined: 6-May 04 From: Nutley, NJ Member No.: 2,030 Region Association: North East States |
seriously consider an old baja car...since they are a bit larger, your kids will enjoy it for longer and you will enjoy it too
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John |
Jul 28 2007, 11:06 PM
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#16
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member? what's a member? Group: Members Posts: 3,393 Joined: 30-January 04 From: Evansville, IN (SIRPCA) Member No.: 1,615 Region Association: None |
I will be doing something similar when the kids get a little older. They are 3 and 1 now, but I found some on-line plans here and there.
The best one that I found so far looks to be a doable project. I will have to look at the drawings a bit more and will probably redraw them to figure out how it all goes together, but I think I made a PDF out of it... Let me see.... It's an old article... PM me and I'll e-mail it to you. It's 1.2 Meg and the board won't let me post it. Here is a collection of most of the pics from the article: Attached thumbnail(s) Attached image(s) |
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