Building a car with wheel bearings
In case anyone has been wondering what I've been tinkering with lately, here it is...
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w407/critterwerks/20160515_115052_zps0z4wfx40.jpg
With the body off...the screws are 2mm screws with .4mm pitch thread. I used them throughout because they are domestically available and so are the taps. The washers and spaces are what the body sits on...
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w407/critterwerks/20160515_115213_zps0klbytb7.jpg
With the wheels off...the aluminum 'cones' are the spacers behind the wheels. I tried a couple variations on those....copper rubbing (too tricky to get 'square') and delrin (it compressed and rubbed against the bearing)...
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w407/critterwerks/20160515_115410_zpsiglkm82u.jpg
The delrin wheels with the bearings pressed in from the back. The bearings are 2mm (id) x 5mm (od) flanged bearings. Apparently they are used in some of the Mini quad-rotors that guys are flying...so they are also available domestically...
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w407/critterwerks/20160515_115521_zpsc5enbopy.jpg
And, the wheels from the front. I turned the wheels out of delrin...it is a great material, very similar to original hot wheels wheels, only machinable...
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w407/critterwerks/20160515_115534_zpsys2xrnth.jpg
You might be seeing this car, or a similar one, in the Bare Muscle race...I'm not sure just yet. The bearings are the limiting factor right now...they are rather cheaply made. Some bearings will spin VERY well, but I haven't got them completely sorted out yet.
The potential here is really cool...the materials are all really cheap and readily avaible. But, for now, the development continues. At this car's best, this car was abut a half fender off my fastest similar weight car...but I need to get it consistent.
See you in lane 2!
Chris
Discussion
Holy damn, well...you've created a new class of racing, congrats! Might be a shallow pool for a while until the rest of us catch up. Thanks for sharing your secret sauce. Should be very cool to see others try it out.
And so you basically took R/C helicopter bearings and put them into the wheels, is that what I'm reading right?
And did you make (print) the wheels yourself or what is the source for those?...didn't see that exactly in your guide.
Ueah, that is the source of the bearings. There is nothing 3D printed on this one...everything is machined
I just re-read your question, Brian. The wheels are made from 1/2" Delrin rod. Delrin is a machinable plastic that is a really nice material to work with.
If I get these all sorted out, I can do a full build-up thread on them. They are definitely still in the development stage. I have had some positive results with this car, but with it's current bearings, it is pretty slow (of course, they were only $.50 a piece!)
I'll keep everyone informed on the progress as I go :)
I cant wait to see this car in action!!! Or race against it. Fantastic work and attention to detail here.
Oh, another potential with this is to make the wheels and have them threaded into axle tubes. They would be a little bigger tubes...one size up, 1/16" id tubes...but they would be easy to fit into a stock chassis.
Once I find a source for a good, consistent bearing, I'll be playing around with these more. And, if I can get them to the point where they are as fast, or hopefully faster, than ftes, I'll make them available for sale. But, right now, I am still tinkering, finding the right combo.