|
Once i`d got all the relevant parts sorted out I needed to start construction. Well I decided to take the bull by the horns & do the complicated bits 1st. The rear suspension looked interesting in the plans. So after ordering a "party pack" of steel I began. Cutting..all by hand. Until I came up with this....
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
I know it don't look a lot. I had to shape the ends of the "trailing arms" to make a nice fit onto the round axle tube. I anticipated that this tube was going to take lots of stress from the back axle so I needed a nice close fit for maximum weld strength. It starts to look a bit better once welded and cleaned up. Day 1 of construction over. But at least I'd made a start!!
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Day 2. The basic trailing arm needs beefing up. We don't want no twisting of the trailing arm fetching the chain off do we? After lots of hand sawing and measuring angles I had this basic brace made.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Once the brace was welded to the trailing arm, and a few more bars welded in, the trailing arm start`s to look the business. Although the arm took 3 days to make it was very important to get every angle and dimension spot on. I don't want the buggy to drive like a crab or the rear suspension to break as it hits the first bump!!! | |||||||||||||||||||
 |
So, with the trailing arm framework complete I needed the running gear. Looking at the plans, it showed to get the rear axle machined out of solid bar. It needs a keyway in it to drive the hubs e.t.c. I found it more convenient to purchase an axle from a local "racing kart" spares shop, along with the support bearings, bearing carriers & rear hubs.
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
While I was at the kart shop the tyres where delivered.
|
 |
Once it was all bolted together and painted the rear trailing arm was complete... Almost!! |  |
 |
||||||||||||||||
| Update: |
Since the buggy has been completed I have had quite a lot of E-mails asking about the rear hub/bearing setup e.t.c. so here is a few closeup shots of the completed thing. Hope this helps guys!
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
Here`s a shot of the left rear hub and brake disc.Note the keyway in the axle. The hubs are cast alloy and where also bought from the Kart spares shop. (see links)
|
 |
The hub is split. with 2 bolts that tighten down to secure the hub to the axle.There is also a key in the keyway to transmit drive to the hub | |||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
| Here is a closeup of the rear axle and bearing. The axle sits in the hollow axle tube. The bearing carrier comes in 2 halfs. One half is welded to the hollow tube. Then the bearing sits in and the other half carrier is bolted on over the bearing with the 3 bolts. The bearing has a rotating inner coller with 2 grub screws to lock onto the axle. Note the sprocket carrier and how it is keyed to the axle. This is split in the same way as the hubs, with a bolt to secure to the axle. (Don`t forget - click on most images to enlarge) | ||||||||||||||||||||