Powerwheel refurb

my picture lacking step by step instruction to saving $300 and making your child happy

I'm writing this while i'm in Iraq, hence the lack of personal pictures

Step 1 Dilemma

getting something special for a 2yr olds birthday and having no money from the struggling economy... every time i take my son for a ride he automatically climbs into my seat and tries to steer the car. so i figured what better then getting him his own car. but power wheels are EXPENSIVE..over $300 for a bunch of plastic, 2 dc motors, a battery and 2 switches...there has to be a better way

 freecycle.org to the rescue 

some local posting requests got me 2 old junky power wheels for free, just had to go pick them up
time to see what i have available

Comments

[damon.frank]

Awesome mod. Also great for recycling. If you wanted to do a little more wiring you can wire in the reverse forward switch from one of the Ryobi tools for bidirectional driving. Great mod looking to do this myself.

[Turnpike7a]

originally i did do that, to replace the original fwd/reverse "switch" but had a difficult time finding a good location to install it where it would be accessable, out of the weather, big enough to use but tough enough for a toddler...after some minor deliberation i just nixed it and went fwd only...he's 3 and loves it...

[smeyer08]

Cool mod, thanks for the info and fresh ideas!!