Last year I did something most thought was a little nuts…. I took 4 new “off the shelf” wheels and cut them apart! It was necessary to make 1 set of wheels that would clear my front brakes and also provide a usable front tire width ALL while not adding to the overall track width of the front end of the kart.
That was a mouthful!
Why tell you this? The disguarded 4 pieces from that project now form a perfect set of new front wheels for our Vintage kart!!!! I LOVE IT when a plan comes together!!!!
Now, on the F-125, I simply treated them as a 2 piece wheel. Must use silicone and an O-Ring to keep a leak proof seal…. a bit of a hassle! Its also a pain because even after evacuating all the air pressure from the tire, when you take the wheel off the hub it separates! This also requires Beading the tire ON the hub you will run on the kart, no biggie because we balance that entire assembly as its run anyway….. but if you need to gain access to a front corner the hub has to be removed with the wheel or you start all over again!
So, with this set I’m going to try that crazy Aluminum Welding (Brazing) rod that is advertised everywhere. I still will not bead up a tire without it being bolted to a hub, but, I’m hoping it will give me the option of removing the air and not having to reseal the wheel again like the F-125 set-up. I was going to go the route of lazer welding, as you may remember, I posted a video of the local shop that utilize this. But, it would be expensive AND it also is NOT a penetrating weld… like this brazing rod…. so what the heck I’m gonna give it a try!
For this to be successful it must completely fill the seam and be air tight.
If it works this really changes our options for getting a proper sized (custom) wheel for the big front brakes needed on the heavier/faster laydown 125 or 250. No wheel manufacture offers a 1 piece wheel with the needed 1.625″ backspace in a width wide enough for us to use as front’s. DWT offered to make our wheel if we bought 24 of them at a time! Naw, we’ll do it ourselves!!!!
If it works, I’ll do the F-125 wheels as well!!
If it works, I’ll post the video for you to check it out!!
Also bought new rear wheels so I’ll box this stuff up and send them off to Jim for Powder Coating. If you are wondering how the heat of brazing will effect the wheel strength, they will get “normalized” in the baking process of Coating @450 deg….. twice, because they will get a base color and a top coat!
Hope to show all of it off when its finished.
Hang in there Y’all!
RPM
