500W DOUBLE REDUCTION REVERSING DRIVE GEAR BOX

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.

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