Here are the first couple of components of the powerwheels racing series build.

The donor Vehicle is a 1990 jeep powerwheels with metal frame and upgraded twin motor/gearbox wheels and has been converted to 12 volt.



The rear transaxle is from an old craftsman riding lawnmower. 3 speed w/ reverse. Its belt drive and belt slip clutched. So converting it to DC will be a snap. Its limited slip differental, so it should corner well under power. Need a new rubber shifter cover so everything doesnt get greasy. Oh and the transaxle even has a mechanical brake!



Front steering is from "some mower". Wheels need cleaned up, but came with the steering bars and the rims rotate freely.



Once the donor DC motor is found, The belt hub on the transaxle can be sized up or down to the motor. I am thinking a hub half that size to get some speed out of it.

AWESOME! Now make a rockin' TC Maker theme design for that puppy!

I'd like to see us enter a vehicle or several in a Power Racing race... we should start planning now!

I am going to work on the frame for the powerwheels racer this Sat (7/16). Little back story, a bunch of us are heading to Detroit Makers Faire this month. One of the events is a power wheels racing series sponsored by i3Detroit. Dave and I decided to enter a racer and started procuring parts. Budget is $500 Max. I think we have a contender with the trans-axle If we can get enough speed out of it. I think we can if we can keep the weight down and the RPM up.

If anyone wants to lend a hand PM me. (full disclosure, it will be hot and we need a full rolling chassis by Sunday to keep the build schedule moving, so no welding demos)

Also will be making a steel run to Discount Steel in the early AM Sat to pick up steel. May take the boat cuz I can stack 24' stock in it, where I can't in my trucks 5' bed. So if you want to come along PM me and we can cut yours down for easier transport with my chop saw.

Yo, SwinkyD, where'd you get the Power Wheels Jeep?

Dunno if it has enough tork, but I have an electric lawn mower I can donate to the cause.

Hmm, It could! Has to be DC under 36V. Looking for a high RPM motor in either 12 or 24 volt and that might fit the bill.

Can you give me some specs on it so I can research it? A lot can be fine tuned to the drive assemblies with the right size belt hubs.

36v is the max in the rules, but I would like to keep the weight down to 1 or 2 12v batteries to keep the chassis light.

This wonderful thing called craigslist
The people I got it from had modded it for their son. upgraded motor/gearbox and such. My goal is to preserve those mods and original frame/wheels. I am going to make a new frame so I just use the body without destroying the original chassis mod. The gears in it are actually kinda sought after in the power wheel community from my understanding.

Damn,

That's awesome, you don't mess around when you're collecting parts, so treadmill motors are out due to voltage what else works, golf carts perhaps, wheel chair / cart things? I to have a 12V lawnmower, but I need it awhile longer.

Pete

Ha, only have 12 days to build a rock star power wheels. So a man on a mission

Sliding over to ax-man at lunch today to look for brackets and some springs to fabricate a belt tightener (clutch).

Couple things I am still looking for:
- variable speed control for DC motor that can handle some serious juice. (12-24 volt 50 amp+ kind of thing)
- DC motor 12-24V hi speed, love something in the 2hp range.

The transaxle can take +10hp, I plan to use a smaller belt hub on the axle or larger motor hub to bring the rpms up.