Newest 2 Seat Buggy Build

[phelpsracing1]

BAD NEWS!!! Went riding down at the river today on the sand bar.  The car handled GREAT!!! Got it wound out and all the way to 6th gear.  Drove around for about an hour up and down, back and forth down the river. Suspension was pretty much tuned in, hardly felt any bumps and super smooth in the straightaways. Excellent power all through the gears. Tons of people were there watching and then it happenned.... the chain came off the sprocket doing about 75mph. Knocked a hole in the case right in front of the countersprocket. Riding was finished.   

[Voodoochikin04]

wow that sucks.. people dont run chain gaurds?    that should be fixable huh? weld a piece over the hole?

[plkracer]

Did the master link break, or was the chain too loose?

[David M]

Love that avatar David M!

I chose it because the women at work think that's what im there for. That's the luck i would have with chain coming off.

[phelpsracing1]

Yea Im gonna try to weld a patch over the hole.  Got to clean the oil off the case and around the hole, that will be the hardest part.  The original guard didnt fit over the new chain location. I was going to fab one up later. The chain never broke, but I checked it before I started riding and it was tight. I really dont know what made it come off. Anyone have this happen before or any ideas?

[plkracer]

You could have stretched your chain. Mine stretched a lot when I first started runnign it hard, then it stopped stretching. Are you sure that you have no flex? I would place my bet that the chain now fits loose, or your sprockets aren't lined up right.

[plkracer]

I've been looking at your pictures pretty close, and it looks like your sprocket may be too small and the chain may not be seating in the sprocket fully. Your countershaft is huge, and with the sprocket being that small, the plates on the chain may be hitting the countershaft before the rollers fully seat in the teeth. You might want to check that and make sure the plates are not hitting the CS.

[Gundog]

Great looking buggy. It is a shame about the chain some lessons are learned the hard way I am sure your posting that may save someone else from the same problem. Thanks for posting all the pictures. I plan to build a buggy and I will pay special attention to my chain after seeing this. I hope you can get it fixed soon.
Mike

[phelpsracing1]

OK got it fixed! Welded up the hole...started this morning and just got through. A spinning chain can really do some damage. It also cut up some radiator hoses and mangled up a few wires in the harness.  Yes, let that be a lesson to everybody building a buggy...run a chain guard!! 

[phelpsracing1]

I have been trying to replay it in my mind on what happened. I was in 4th coming up on a small jump with a sloped landing so I let off the gas and when I went over the hill and hit the slope I got back into the gas. That's when it happened.  I am assuming on decel the chain got just enough slack that when I got back on the gas it jumped a tooth and spun off.  I thought the chain tension was set but maybe loosened as I rode.

What kind of tension does anybody else run? I had about a 1/2" on approx 18" sprocket centers.

[plkracer]

Since nothing really moves around, I've been running it to where it was just slightly loose, not motorcycle loose. I can move it up about 3/8-1/2 inch from where it normally rests. It's not taunt though.

[Carlriddle]

Looks like you found the pieces that broke out??  If so that was good.

Off to the work bench to build a chain gaurd, since I cant seem to keep my chain tight.

[phelpsracing1]

The top half of the case was still there but was cracked in several places.  The lower half was completely gone.  I found bits and pieces along the ground but they were all too small to fit back together. I cut a 2"x2" piece of 6061 T6 Aluminum and used a grinder to make it fit the contour of the existing hole. TIG welded the patch to the case.

[phelpsracing1]

Here are some of the painted frame

[Voodoochikin04]

where did you get your sprocket and what kind of hub did you use to mount it?