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Step 12Outtakes
For anyone designing their own buggy--one major tip:
The first bearing I planned on using was a lazy susan bearing. My assumption was that it was only a thrust(axial) load on between the front axle and the body. I built that version and took it out rolling on the streets near my house. What I didn't realize was that when I push on the steering column to steer, I add a significant radial component, and lazy susan bearings are not built for that. All the balls fell out of my bearing and the steering locked up, making the cart head (to my dismay) down a hill (I live in the mountains, so this is a non-trivial problem). A lot of designs for braking mechanisms went through my head, but I settled on the most practical and grabbed onto the rear wheels as hard as I could. My hands were instantly pulled between the wheel and pavement, where they made excellent brakes. A bit of blood loss later, I was shlepping the cart back home, my lesson painfully learned. The picture was after I washed off--there was a fair amount of blood.
Another thing worth thinking about is that you want to keep your steering column as short as possible. The longer it gets, the more stress it puts in the bearing, and you don't really get any benefit.
The first bearing I planned on using was a lazy susan bearing. My assumption was that it was only a thrust(axial) load on between the front axle and the body. I built that version and took it out rolling on the streets near my house. What I didn't realize was that when I push on the steering column to steer, I add a significant radial component, and lazy susan bearings are not built for that. All the balls fell out of my bearing and the steering locked up, making the cart head (to my dismay) down a hill (I live in the mountains, so this is a non-trivial problem). A lot of designs for braking mechanisms went through my head, but I settled on the most practical and grabbed onto the rear wheels as hard as I could. My hands were instantly pulled between the wheel and pavement, where they made excellent brakes. A bit of blood loss later, I was shlepping the cart back home, my lesson painfully learned. The picture was after I washed off--there was a fair amount of blood.
Another thing worth thinking about is that you want to keep your steering column as short as possible. The longer it gets, the more stress it puts in the bearing, and you don't really get any benefit.
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