Soap box derby's ( billy carts, go-carts etc )

[SystemParanoia]

Does anyone on here build and race them?

are there any races held in the uk?

anyone got any decent pics of some? ( specifically steering smech's and suspension if fitted )

[SystemParanoia]

yeah, got it into my head to build one.

i know ill end up killing myself, but should be good for a laugh i guess

[SystemParanoia]

excellent!

Edited by SystemParanoia on Monday 23 March 08:20

[SystemParanoia]

• bump*

just wondering if anyone has any advice for building.

Metal or wood?

should i go out a buy a mig welder and learn how to weld ( could be a usefull skill for fixing cars come MOT time )

or just knock up something rickety out of wood and pray it hold together?

anyone found any build blogs of metal carts?

still stuck on steering, although i have seen mention of using co kart stub axles

[SystemParanoia]

Thanks for the fishtailing info.. VERY useful!

although, the pic is not mine, its just a pic of one using the same chassis as i was thinking of using.. a sack truck.

i was thinking to go with x4 truck tyres all round.

im not too eagar on having tyres tooooo wide, as i think that might slow the cart down too much ( rolling resistance etc? )

the red bull thing would be great to enter, and i just might, but test runs will be done on the street. near me there are some brilliantly fantastic hills to do.

straight ones, steeps ones and technical ones.
hopfully might be able to get a mini race series going with some suicidal mates.

and its a perfect excuse to brush up those ( non-existant ) fabbing skills to use on other future projects


i like the wheels, and all round drum brakes on this one...






im guessing these are go-kart tyres?



and this looks.. umm complicated?


my intended chassis

Edited by SystemParanoia on Monday 23 March 15:02

[SystemParanoia]

Maxf said:

This has got PH event written all over it!

lol, would be quite a sight seeing a convoy of TVR's with these things strapped to their roof's

[SystemParanoia]

308mate said:

This used to be my local track/club.

Location wont be relevent but some of the info or pictures might.


http://www.perthsoapboxclub.org/index.htm

ooo they look FAST!

gonna fire off an email to em, see if i can get em to part with the build plans for em!

edit: 308.. you don't happen to still have those build plans do you? maybe in PDF?

Edited by SystemParanoia on Monday 23 March 15:17

[SystemParanoia]

thats a good price for wheels... i forgot about barrow wheels lol.. better than tiny sack truck wheels

[SystemParanoia]

[SystemParanoia]

steering..

is something like this steering setup hard to replicate?

http://custom-gokart.blogspot.com/2008/05/front-en...

Edited by SystemParanoia on Tuesday 31st March 18:57

[SystemParanoia]

beejay said:

Smallest tyre contact patch you can manage, so thin bike tyres pumped up way beyond max pressure

only problem with that option, is that im not planning on regualry running on prepped race track surfaces.

and cornering grip and braking ablilty are quite important to me also.

do this on the public highway means, glass, sharp stones, speed bumps, potholes, sharp corners, road that end in T junctions or major traffic light controlled junctions

thats why if you look at the Undergroud vids, most of them have wider rubber, rather than skinnys, so that they can corner, even though it means sacrificing some speed.


i guess ill just have to have a selection of wheels and see what suits me best

[SystemParanoia]

but how do they hold up in a crash ?

because i WILL crash!

[SystemParanoia]

£8.61 ea doenst seem like a bad deal

has a steel ballbearing too.. great. the plastic ones have brushings instead of bearings

[SystemParanoia]

308mate said:

SystemParanoia said:

£8.61 ea doenst seem like a bad deal

has a steel ballbearing too.. great. the plastic ones have brushings instead of bearings

That will be hard as nails though - surely built for longevity, not grip?

Its also quite a flat profile. Im not so sure....

well this is a slightly higher cost of £13 per wheel



Thing is, yes its a flat profile... but isnt that what i would want for grip... the cart isnt going to lean into the corners.. so rounded rubber will never come into contact with the ground, and so just be wasted.. ?

[SystemParanoia]

Lil' Joe said:

definately use bigger than a 100cc go carts.

those tyres im looking at are 300mm so fairly large