Converting a Go-Kart into a Deathtrap
(matto.io)111 points by mattogodoy 4 days ago
111 points by mattogodoy 4 days ago
Maybe this will help someone to not over-engineer a kart: in Vietnam you can rent karts bolted onto hoverboards. They have pedals for forward/backward that just tilt the hoverboard in the right direction. Very low-cost solution. Steering is normal with the front wheels.
You can get these in the UK as well based on the squeals of joy I heard from two lads racing up and down our road a few days back - looked like great fun!
It’s a great project overall but MDF is a very poor choice for the base. It will get destroyed as soon as it gets wet. At minimum they should have used exterior grade plywood, and painted it
Advantech OSB will outlast conventional plywood by a mile in the rain. I exposed it, flat (the worst way possible) as subfloor, to rains for 1+ year while building my house with only maybe 1mm of fiber degrading on the surface a few places. Many modern OSBs use hydrophobic glues impermeable to water.
If it were going to be exposed to the elements, I would pick a pine and waterseal it or a marine ply and waterseal it.
It would fail eventually anyway, but either of those two options, depending on price, would be good and cheap enough to last.
Here's a project I've been working on lately. Hope you like it!
Fun for the dad, but odds are good the original version would have been even more fun for the kid, and longer lasting. If you've never seen what a young kid can do with a suitably sized Kettcar (kettlecar) or Berg pedal go kart, you have missed out on some amazing vehicle dynamics. The designers got the weight distribution and steering dynamics exactly right. The things are a blast.
Ad video of a Berg GoKart:
What a great project. Congratulations. I grew up getting to drive mini-bikes, lawn mowers, tractors, the old truck, etc. Now that I’m older and live in bug cities, I know so many younger people who say they just don’t like or feel comfortable driving. They never got to drive smaller wheeled things as they grew up. When my never-been-behind-the-wheel, and nervous, NYC niece and nephew hit 14-15, I took them to a large open space in our Mini Cooper and told them to pound it. Floor it, crank the wheel, etc - to give them the feeling of having fun driving while getting a good feel of it. And seeing their smiles was awesome.
> large open space
Sad noises of living in a densely populated area. I can't wait to retire and move out of here
This is amazing!
I have a bud who uses a custom built electric go-kart for filming stunt scenes — specifically those low camera moves of one car passing another.
He had to build his own controllers to allow smooth acceleration as visible jerks ruin the take
His tops out at 100+ mph but I thing they usually film at 70-80mph.
But yeah — those things are death traps
Nice project, but am I the only one who thinks it's a bit cynical to first advertise it as a "death trap" and then show kids riding it? Which means you either admit that the title is complete and utter clickbait, or you demonstrate an alarming lack of concern for the well-being of children.
The two aren't really mutually exclusive...
I'm going to say, as a child of the '70s, that with proper parental supervision children can survive their parent's "alarming lack of concern for the well-being of children".
"It has to be powered by an electric motor, because we no longer live in 1940."
Interesting juvenile take. Had we started on electric vehicles we would be rolling out ICE vehicles right now as all the rage.
Nice project!
Did you know that instead of buying new motor controllers, you can re-use the hoverboard motor controller? Awesome people have made open source firmware you can flash to it: https://github.com/EFeru/hoverboard-firmware-hack-FOC. With this firmware you can make the motors go way faster, up to 40km/h with a 12S battery.
We are also building a kart with hoverboard motors, with a custom welded steel frame. Vibrations are a real issue with the standard solid rubber wheels, hopefully I can find the same air tires you used!
Our website is in Dutch, but you can watch the videos: https://projects.raphson.nl/projects/kart/