Grade of aly for a hub?

[ROD]

You bin sniffin summat Nabs?
 
 After looking at a couple of hubs,I think Im going to go for a steel tube with a bearing in each end as a basis for the hub.As Morrag suggested a halfshaft from a car will be the correct grade of steel to make the axle of. I have a A40 half shaft which is 1" od,so that means the outside diameter of a 1" id  bearing will control the size of the tube I use. Ive looked at the Spit hub I have,and it may be ok to machine out the centre to fit over the o.d. of the tube,which Im guessing will need to be about 60mm od. . This will be the wheel mounting. I havent sussed out what to use for the sprocket /disc mount at the other end of the tube.
 
 So-o-o..this brings me to my next question. The tube..Should I use a solid piece of steel and get it bored out to suit,or should I try to get hold of a lump of thickwalled tube ? My thoughts are that a piece of tube will be hard to find in the size I need.

[morrag]

Rod, Personally I'd prefab. it from M/S tube and plate, making the sprocket double as a rear disc, for the power output your using you wont require any high spec material, just sufficient wall thickness around the bearing area. Set it up and finish the mating faces, good penetration welds, jobs a good 'un, Morrag

[hunter]

I did have some years ago two hubs,One Ali one steel.They were removed from a couple of sprint bikes.They were fitted with car wheels,I know i gave the Ali one to a mate,But i keep thinking i still have the steel one,Give me until the end of the week to look,i have to move some stuff to look,
But if i can find it, and it's of use to you it's yours for postage.Mind tis heavy,
I am not 100% sure i have it but i don't remember giving it away,






I remember

[ROD]

ok thanks.
  The idea I have come up with is to use 2 A40 hubs(like trailer hubs) back to back with a spacer in between,about 75mm long. I enquired at a welding forum if they thought the proposed mild steel tube would weld ok to the cast hubs. Ive welded stuff to hubs before,but never as structural. They reckon it wont be too succesfull. So Im now looking for some billet hubs(expensive) or using some other idea.

[Manky Monkey]

Is there some way of joining the hubs to the spacer tube that doesn't involve welding them? Can you bolt them through the wheel stud holes? Are the centre holes where the drive shaft normally fits keywayed? Could you make some sort of woodroffe keyed spacer tube? A large diameter sleeve that fits between the hubs with end plates that attach to the wheel studs? Dunno, but there must be a way of doing it.

[ROD]

Yes Andy,I have thought about bolting through the flanges etc. I think the best way is to do as Morrag suggested and make it completely from scratch. Basically a tube with a flange on each end,and a bearing in each end of the tube ,as I described in an earlier post.
 Ive done similar a few times for my karts,but this has to be a lot more accurate. I only have the use of a basic lathe,so it may be a problem getting the pcd holes concentric. I'll have to have a think....
 

[hunter]

What size plate are you going to use for the flanges,
Thickness and dia.And how many bolt holes to mount disk and sprocket.

[ROD]

I'm thinking 12mm or 15mm plate for the flanges. Wheel will be 4 bolts. Sprocket ,dont exactly know yet,as have to look at sprockets,but 6 maybe.Will have to make some sort of adapter for the 4 bolt fixing on a Nova disc........Sheesh! this is getting in far deeper than I wanted to go! I just cant apply my brain to all this at the mo' so Im gonna have a serious think about carrying on with this whole project. Thanks for the input guys,its been much appreciated..

[Olds]

Take a break for a while. Ideas as to how to proceed come a lot easier when not actually trying to build and designing on paper only wastes paper
Is there a reason that you are limiting yourself to a Nova disc? Trying to find a disc with the bolt pattern you want, might be easier.

[morrag]

Rod, Why not reconsider the drive line, and have another look at using a motorcycle shaft driven rear wheel, off a Honda, BMW, or similar. You could drop the very heavy Spit. diff, and, instead, shaft drive the rear wheel, with no chain involvement.
If you use a drum rear wheel that's also your handbrake sorted, and just brake the fronts off the foot pedal, as some other 3 Wheelers do, worth consideration don't you think? G'wan, g'wan.....g'wan,   Morrag

[nabsim]

You can get different ratios on the final drive for some BMWs I have them for sale now and then off sidecar outfits. Would be a lot of work sorted if you went for a para lever r similar as Morrag say Rod

[ROD]

Well,Im not trolling for sympathy one little bit ,but I really cant be doing with this project anymore,its just getting far more complicated  than what I intended,and I havent really got time to work it all out . I know its only a hobby,but sometimes during various stages of any build (and Ive been there very many times over the last 40 years)you need to put a lot of brainwork into it,and that wasnt what I intended at the outset of this project.My main stumbling block is knowing almost zero about m/cycles and what fits what and the various specs,models etc,let alone prices etc....(eg.....Nabs,I aint got a clue what a Paralever is!!)I thought I may start again,using a complete bike less the front end, stuffed up the rear of a chassis,at least the whole drive train would be in one unit then,but I havent got a clue how to even buy a bike and what to look for!  so Ive decided to sell it off .At least I'll get my garage space back then! I honestly do appreciate the efforts you guys have gone to with help with this rear hub etc.

[nabsim]

Sorry Rod, its just BMWs name for their single sided back end, think it is used for mono or twin shocks but definately mono shock. Para lever that is