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Project Shmuck!!!


jaymegriffiths

Well-Known Member
Article Contributor
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
1,241
City
Regina,Saskatchewan
Vehicle Year
1988
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Manual
Alright, couldn't find a good place to put this non-RBV buildup so if it gets moved, all for the better.

So my motor-mech class is building go cart/buggy's and the little bro "donated" his R/T 100 for the powertrain. It will be a front and back suspension, both swing arm type, (dont know the official name for that :icon_twisted:) seat 1, and have a full roll cage. It will roll on 14" donuts we got at the scrap yard for 30 bucks and has a leather friggin seat. cool. Buildup Pic's will be posted ASAP.
 
Sounds like fun - my dad once got a racing cart in exchange for some repair work he did and it had dual 5hp two-cycle engines on it and disc brakes. But that was like 25 years ago - LOL Surprised I actually remember back that far. Can't wait to see the pics . . .
 
2009majesticsrangertemps001.jpg



The B/A leather seat we scored outta who knows what on 30 dollar day at the junk yard. Very comfortable...

2009majesticsrangertemps002-1.jpg



we've been workin on it for about a week, so 5 hours worth. Slow but better done right the first time then have to redo it later.
frame made from thick wall 1-1/4 tubing and flat unknown thickness plate for all mounts. the portion shown is front suspension and back will hopefully start tomorrow. More pics tomorrow.
 
If anyone who stumbles accross this thread has any Idea's for Our build, Or some helpful advice, Maybe we can incorporate your tips/tricks into the project. Oh and for those curious its called Project shmuck because one of the members of our group didn't know what a shmuck was. didn't even know it was an insult. apperantly it means penis in egyption. Haha, the things you learn in motor mech. :)

*edit: more pics tonight
 
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So we are using the shocks off the R/T 100 we gutted, and also found a cool steering wheel in my dads garage.

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My partner in crime tacking the brackets for the shock to mount the axle. This was yesterday.

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Welding the shock mounts to the frame. Today

2009majesticsrangertemps011.jpg


shocks mounted to axle, right before mounted to frame.

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I think By now I'm just takin Pictures to avoid working. hehe :icon_rofl:

2009majesticsrangertemps010.jpg


2009majesticsrangertemps011.jpg


2009majesticsrangertemps012.jpg



2009majesticsrangertemps013.jpg


So YA. thats it 4 Now but more tomorrow. We have a set of donut tires of I beleive caveliers but we may go smaller... we'll see
 
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wow. i just realized i never updated this. camera pooched so its all words. rear suspension is a tri shock swing-arm type, chain drive, roll cage is done, engine mounted breaks mounted but not functional yet, need linkage and pedal, steering shaft rigged but not connected, still need to rig the tie rods and shaft to the steering shaft and knuckle. clutch and shifter done but throttle is not what it should be but almost there. pretty rednecked but itll be fun. will be done next week!!!!
 
update: sorry for the long pause with no pics. its been up and running so no picture taking was done. due to recent breaks and places ready for improvements i snapped some photos
front steering setup
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back setup, still in the shop

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rednecked shifter setup
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after some beating

gocart001.jpg

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steering is being redone because its difficult to steer and the turning radius sucks. so we're doin pillow blocks, possibly chain or cable. havent figured it out yet...
 
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Looks good. I have alot of respect for someone who can build something of their own from scratch.

Thanks, it was a tonne of work! theres somethin like 200 man hours in it and it aint done! it could be way better but we were on a time limit and it was our first time. plus total cost was below 300. so its just as fun as a quad but way cheaper!
 
Looking good, I just have a suggestion or three... :D

It looks like you need some triangulation in the front and rear suspension to prevent bending of your swing arms or failure of your welds when they are put under lateral loads (like when you're turning), bracing this will tighten up your steering by taking the give out of your current configuration. You can follow the same principals as when designing a 3/4 link type suspension. You're not using misalignable links (you're using a rigid swingarm), but the idea's work the same for making your swing arm rigid.

gocart1.jpg


Fig. A are two of my suggestions for triangulation for lateral bracing, the GREEN option would be the most symmetrical and offer more strength from lateral loading in either direction, but the BLUE option is more material efficient, give you sufficient bracing, and would likely stand up to anything you'd be throwing at this cart. Alternately you could take the brace from the BLUE example, mirror it and make an X-type brace which would be stronger than either the BLUE or GREEN suggestions but that would likely be overkill for the application. Triangulation will take the strain off the welds and put it on the material. Without it you'll likely see fatigue/cracking at your welds over time, or an outright failure if you, say, take a corner to hard.

Fig. B illustrates what might happen to your front swing arm under lateral loads(denoted by the red arrow) without any triangulation in place. Without said triangulation you are creating a lever between your lateral beam and longitudinal links which could easily over strain your welds and possibly your swing arm pivot points, and might bend the links outright depending on the quality of your welds and amount of latteral loading you'll be seeing.

My second suggestion would be to provide some triangulation to the rear swing arm. I can't edit a photo but I suggest you start the brace just aft of your pivot and run it to near the bracket holding the middle shock. Then do the same thing on the other side. This will help with chain alignment and stiffen up the whole assembly.

My third suggestion is in regards to your roll cage. I would put another cross brace between the horizontal parallel tubes at the point when they start downward towards the front of the cage. I would also add some triangulation to the front of the cage, there's several places to do it, I'm sure you can figure it out. Also, I can't tell from the pics, but if there should be some triangulation at the rear of the cage as well.

You want to stay away from squares and boxes for anything you anticipate to see any load, this especially means suspension components and roll cages. Triangles prevent a cage from folding over and from the looks of your current cage, folding is exactly what it would do if someone managed to tip it. A box might hold up fine to a uniform load normal to its sides, like dropping a square flat, but drop a square on a corner and there will be nothing stopping it from deforming as you're applying levered load directly to its joints (corners) and all but bypassing the compression/tensile strength of the material. A triangle wont put levered loads on a joint and will rely on the materials compressive/tensile strength to distribute and absorb the shock/load.

triangulation.png


A little lateral bracing on that steering column couldn't hurt either. Looks like it might have a bit of side to side play at the wheel as it stands now.

Anyway, hope this helps, and good luck. Looks like fun.:icon_welder::headbang:
 
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steering is a huge failure very poorly braced, but besides that the 230 mig we used made everything VERY sturdy! its incredibly well welded i didn't do it but my classmate/ buddy did. hes quite good. haha but im gonna look into lateral braces, as for now brakes are kinda high priority, as is steering redesign and relocation of throttle to the floor. but my buddy who has been helpin me is very busy work and his 67 GMC HO 350 bored 359 450 horse super loud badass machine. it aint a ford but its as close as GMC will ever come!
 

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