Power Kite Forum - Alloy Buggy project

Alloy Buggy project

John Holgate - 4-9-2012 at 08:52 PM

A while back I made up an alloy trailer for the buggy. It hasn't had an awful lot of use of late so I thought maybe I could convert it into a buggy. I had some spare alloy so I cut it to what seemed the right proportions and took it to a local alloy fabricator to weld it up for me. After I told him what it was for, he beefed up the downtube with some extra bracing.

The underneath and the axle is still the way it was from the trailer incarnation...

made some footpegs and coated them with an old bicycle tire..

Put some 5mm Gal plate on top of the alloy to stop the fork bolt wearing the alloy out and faced it with some PE from the bearing shop to eliminate any slack...

I've only downhilled it so far, but the end result feels solid and maneuverable..

I'll keep an eye on the axle 'hangers' to see whether or not they may bend and I'll have to keep an eye on the PE to see if it starts to compress under load and introduce any slack into the fork. It's a bit heavier than I wanted at 24kg but at least I can still get it over a fence - which is more than I can do with the Vmax. Hopefully, I'll give it a run somewhere on the weekend.

AviN - 5-9-2012 at 01:54 PM

R--E--A--L--Y nice project :o
Hope it rides as nice as it looks ;-)

WELDNGOD - 5-9-2012 at 05:13 PM

John,what grade of alloy is that? I am very concerned about the angle you have the rear axles on....That bend is an EXTREMELY likely place to crack,and you won't get any notice. It really NEEDS a piece of triangular plate on top AND bottom of it to rigidify it.I'm thinkin' in a few powerslides and it will be bent to hell. I'm not tryin to bust your balls ,just concerned about your safety. Please don't take it the wrong way. I'm not called the "weldngod" for nothin' Bro !

:bigok:

WELDNGOD - 5-9-2012 at 05:14 PM

That goose neck looks pretty "bombproof" BTW . :thumbup:

John Holgate - 5-9-2012 at 05:35 PM

Quote:

I am very concerned about the angle you have the rear axles on....That bend is an EXTREMELY likely place to crack,and you won't get any notice. It really NEEDS a piece of triangular plate on top AND bottom of it to rigidify it.I'm thinkin' in a few powerslides and it will be bent to hell.

Yes, I intend to keep a close eye on those brackets - they are 5mm Gal steel brackets which feel very beefy to me - (very subjective with absolutely no engineering background!) If they show any sign of bending (or break!) then I'll have the boys weld on some 10mm alloy plate for the axle bolt with the triangular plates top and bottom. BTW, I assumed that Gal steel can't be welded to Alloy ??

As for the grade of alloy - sorry, I have absolutely no idea apart from the box section is 60 x 40 x 3mm.

All safety concerns and advice are appreciated!

Scudley - 5-9-2012 at 07:32 PM

you can't weld steel to aluminum, never mind galvanized. Do not ever try to weld galvanized unless you professional type ventilation, Zn fumes can make you very sick.
S

John Holgate - 5-9-2012 at 08:04 PM

Quote:

Do not ever try to weld galvanized unless you professional type ventilation, Zn fumes can make you very sick. S

Cheers. Did not know that. I haven't welded anything since secondary school which was over 30 years ago - I'll leave it to those who know what they're doing.

WELDNGOD - 5-9-2012 at 08:24 PM

didn't realize they were steel John. Carry on brother!

John Holgate - 1-10-2012 at 03:43 AM

Did 40km in the 'Vermin' kite buggy over the weekend with no significant problems to report :thumbup:

Clive deliberately miss spelled the name as Vermin and it kinda stuck...

shehatesmyhobbies - 1-10-2012 at 10:29 AM

I gotta know where you got or what you made the hand camera mount with grips out of? That is very cool. The buggy looks to be pretty solid, Wishing you many good rides with it!

John Holgate - 1-10-2012 at 02:27 PM

Quote:

I gotta know where you got or what you made the hand camera mount with grips out of?

It was a Pelican King flashlight handle. When the flashlight was stuffed, I kept the handle = figured it might be useful for something. Screwed a gopro flat mounting plate to it and it works pretty well.

The flashlight, on the other hand, chewed through 8 D cells very quickly and blew bulbs at an alarming rate. Definitely NOT recommended!

King pelican light.jpg - 17kB

popeyethewelder - 1-10-2012 at 10:43 PM

Very nice job John, well thought out, and I love the over the top yoke shot, been using that angle myself during my last few videos

BeamerBob - 2-10-2012 at 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WELDNGOD
"rigidify"...... :bigok:

Ima stealin that one! :smug::P