Steering

This was posted on the FB page today. Another way to skin the cat

Other options for the yoke are welding them out of three pieces of flat bar or using a section of suitable RHS or PFC cut to suit. Both can be done by hand without the need for using oxy-acetylene

Ahh okay. I ended up making mine but then I do have access to a lathe which makes things a little easier. But I think you could still do something similar with a drill or drill press, it would take just a little longer. You don't really need the accuracy that the lathe gives.



Here's a link to my build page showing how I made mine - https://cyclekarts.com.au/stream/item/199

Essentially I bent up some large flat bar to make the yokes. You might be able to do this cold but I used oxy-acetylene to heat it up to cherry red before bending it in the vice.

The pivots were turned in the lathe and bored out to the size of the pivot bolts I found. The pivot bolts are drilled to accept a split pin to hold them in place. There are washers that go between the pivots and yokes to reduce friction

The axles are 5/8" UNF bolts welded to the pivots, which are a fine thread (essential for setting the bearing tension) and a suitable size to fit the inside of the 6202.2 bearings, which in turn fit the postie bike wheels. Ideally the axles should be a RH and LH thread, so that the rotation of the wheel always acts to tighten the bolt, but I just used RH threaded bolts, as I think everyone else does. The photos show nylock bolts but someone else pointed out that they should really be castle nuts with a split pin to prevent them from coming loose.

One think that I missed with mine was the king pin inclination angle. If you look at the photos of the finished beam the king pins are vertical, they should lean slightly inwards at the top whilst still retaining the wheels in a vertical orientation. This inclination angle helps with steering centering, similar to caster angle.

HTH.

Thanks for the replies. All good info, although actually I was referring to the king pins or swivels for the stub axle but couldn't think of the right words :-) Any info there would be appreciated also.

Sorry. They were M8. Similar to these - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/204441670435

You can buy steel hollow bar / tube with a suitable ID and then tap them RH at one end LH at the other. I sourced my tube from a Hydraulic equipment suppliers. Just need to double check the ID as there are a few different sizes. They generally sell it by OD and wall thickness. Just take an M8 bolt with you and try it in the end.

Other option as mentioned above is to buy female ball joints and use round bar but the tube is a lot stronger and lighter.

Hugh, I bought some small spherical rose joints in a right hand and left hand thread, along with a suitable left hand tap and die. From memory I think they were M10 or maybe M12 thread. You can then use round bar and thread the ends to suit. I'll see if I can dig out the info. They are readily available via ebay or your local bearing shop.

I been looking on Amazon the ATV Steering box 420mm Rack & Pinion Steering not the plastic case one the metal ones and it is on my shopping list