The kart drive gear box is an effective
piece of engineering and delivers a high efficiency reversible
and back-driveable mechanical transmission for the vehicle. Each
of the wheel carrying final drive axles is powered and braked
independently - this provides effective differential behaviour
on cornering and hence no-scrub cornering of the kart.
Several innovative engineering
approaches are used to make the box buildable by DIY'ers without
specialist machining equipment and include adhesive bonding of
gears and chain sprockets to shafts, simple un-stepped shafts
and location bonding of bearing housings for accurate shaft
positioning and alignment.
Throughout the gearbox inexpensive
needle roller bearings are used to support the shafts. This
contributes to the gearbox efficiency by reducing friction.
The roller chain and spur gear
double reduction stage transmission allows the builder to select
their reduction ratio to customise the transmission to their
application. For the 500W mini-kart the 2nd stage gearing of
24T/48T will give a top speed of about 12 mph for lighter riders
on good drive surfaces. For heavier riders and/or poorer drive
surfaces the 18T/54T gearing will reduce the torque load on the
motors.
Follow the links for printable pdf sheets showing
the overview with list of parts and all the part shapes and
sizes. The assembly procedure sheet
describes how to put the drive box together.
Remember to check out our
Safety Guidance - always use your kart responsibly. |