Low Rider Anyone?

Didn’t know where for sure to put this, so it is here. I need another project like another hole… anyway.

I found pictures and videos of a low rider type of thing, and it seems I have all the parts for it.

So, in honor of @Thunderdivine and his shrunken John Deere, I will start this thread just in case I happen to get to start this project.

The inspiration:



I don’t intend to build a shrunken low rider but I do intend to steal a lot of ideas from that one.

This machine will be the donor I think. It has a good 12.5 HP Briggs flat head and a frame I intend to use, along with the sheet metal.




I have a live axle from some Honda ATV. It has 4 on 4 hubs and I have low tractor tires and wheels that fit the hubs. The axle has an enclosed drum brake and internal bearings.



One of the tractor tires (18” OD) is on the left in that pic as is the Peerless 700 transmission.



I ordered these bearings to double up on the strength of the machine. They are 30mm ID and should slip over the axles and bolt onto the side frame plates of the tractor frame.

I think this will work!

And I thought I was bad for collecting projects! Lol

Brianator wrote:

And I thought I was bad for collecting projects! Lol

It can be addicting.

I’ve been toying with a similar idea. I found a dirt cheap weed eater in a square body AYP frame and I was toying with the idea of buying it, slamming it, pulley swap and building the motor (by which I mean an internal governor delete and a custom header and intake lol)

But I have no money no welder and no time so I’ll keep dreaming I guess. Can’t wait to see where this goes!

Thanks! I hope you get to do that project some day. I can’t ever finish anything it seems, but I have fun trying.

I have most of the stuff to do this, I just need to do about 12 thousand other things first.

Using my extremely refined drawing skills and software, I have doodled out a possible frame mod. The seat mounting area may have to be lowered also. Just playing.

I just remembered to put the link to the inspiration thread:

https://www.atltf.com/t3149-td-s-john-deere-210-r-help-i-shrunk-my-john-deere-210

It warmed up here nicely today, so I ventured out into the tundra to see things. Swamps everywhere, melting ice and snow and mud. Grrr… but I did get some things done. I cleared the snow from the garage doors and now the ice can melt quicker. Then I went to look for parts and ideas for the low rider.

My transmission IS a 700, 5 speed. I need help with this one. My Scientific Low Rider Calculator came into play, but I need some good solid experience with transmissions.

How fast can the input shaft be spun and not kill the trans? I think I read it shouldn’t be over 2000 RPM? That will help me with the next part.

I discovered that there are at least 8 different ratio possibilities for the 5 gears. Now I have to go out and count turns so I know for sure what I have. It appears that I will need a 14 tooth output sprocket at least. Maybe 16 or 18. I will probably have to fab that, since I can’t seem to find anything but the standard 8 tooth one that I have.

Some pics:





That’s my axle posing with one of the new pillow block supports. This should make a bomb proof rear axle.



The little transmission.

After a bunch of measuring and head scratching, it appears that this rig will supply the main frame part and the rear fenders. It looks to be exactly right for what I want to do.





And this one will supply the hood and grill.



More measuring and noodling disclosed that the front end (from just behind the steering gear) of an LT1500 can be cut off and slipped over the front of the frame of the little MTD rig. It should be a perfect fit, very strong and easy welding. The axle on the MTD is completely worn out and the LT1500 one is good.

Your mower yard is impressive, new ones I haven't seen before just keep appearing! Like where did that 12/38 come from!? Lol

I got that one last summer. It was headed to the dump. I spotted it on the guy’s trailer of junk, asked and he gave it to me.

a low rider intrigues me. i'll be watching to see where you go with this, that might be my next adveture. i've got one of those transmissions kicking around here that i've been thinking of putting to use.

I’m considering a different route. That rusty, beautiful old Wizard mower I have is begging to be the platform. That means the build-off entry of mine will have to change, but that is OK. I just read through George Herrin’s racing mower build and it is exactly the type of thing I want to do. Not a racing machine but the general layout of parts.

Here:

http://heymow.com/index.php/topic,1613.0.html

A lot of good pictures and explanation of the drive train.

If I do this, I want to just build the machine, clean the metal and clear coat it, maintaining all that neat rusty beauty.



Oh, if this happens it will be called “Wiz” (look closely at the bottom of this pic)

I’m bored to tears, tired of playing solitaire on my iPad. So, I keep thinking about this project. I think I can use all of the little ATV I was given as the low rider front and rear and engine. I am going to attempt to straighten the rear axle on the ATV (if that does indeed turn out to be the problem) and that will save all those parts I showed above for yet another project.
I think the little 125 cc engine from the ATV will fit inside the frame of the MTD, where the shifter used to stick out. That would leave the engine compartment available for the ATV front suspension and my luggage for long road trips.

There's a very good chance that the GY6 engine can be fit partially under the dash/shifter area they're not very big that's for sure!

If it ever gets warm enough to drag the ATV out of the snow bank it is in now, I am going to strip off the body (plastic and a bunch of screws) and take lots of pics and measure it all. I see the MTD becoming a shell around the ATV components if it all works. If not, at least the front suspension goes on.

So, the little ATV is nekkid now. (Don’t look Ethel!)



A lot of noodling and measuring tells me that the entire thing can be used in the low rider.

I do believe the problem with it is a bent rear axle, but I haven’t started the engine yet to spin the axle. If it IS the axle, I am going to try to straighten it in the press. If it works, I want to use the whole thing in the low rider.

The plan is to cut the thing apart and use the whole front suspension in one piece. To make it LOW, that will have to be mounted HIGH. That means that the steering column can simply be tilted over. And, it should clear the engine because it will be LOW. The engine is only 11 inches wide and I have 13 inches to work with width wise.
If I cut off the raised rear part of the frame and make the swing axle not swing, that is stationary, it will all go under the seat, ans should fit as a unit… engine/swing axle/axle.

My photo software includes scotch tape and scissors, so excuse the crudeness.

Might look like this. The front tire is just a tiny bit out of scale, but not much. Right now the ATV has 19” tires on the front and 18 on the back. I want to reverse that, but this sad image shows the larger ones on the front.



I know that lots can go wrong, but it looks right now like everything will fit nicely and even have supports for the hood and grill sheet metal. The seat can be lowered about 4” and the steering tilted as shown.

I just noticed that the front tire is not outside the hood. Ignore that too.

I have to say this is a cool idea and looking good but why do you want to do this for a low rider and not the JeepTor? A low rider with that suspension is going to end up bottoming out alot and you won't be able to take full advantage of the suspension travel as you'll have to add bump stops to prevent it.

I like your old school photoshop, this is how things were done before computers and expensive software and can't be accidentally deleted but could fly away in a breeze... lol

Ok, the thing is pretty light weight (the ATV that is). I will have no suspension on the rear, just the tires and the front will probably be pretty stiff since the shell of the mower isn’t very heavy.
I want the JeepTor to be for work, a real utility yard wheelchair for me.
This thing will be a gokart essentially, for cruising around the neighborhood. The roads and yard are flat and not busy at all, so I think it will just be a cool toy. Plus, if I finish it, the people who gave me the Wizard mower and the ATV will be amazed.

I got my wife a painting program for her iPad and just found out it will mess with photos. I’m learning, but this was easier than printing, cutting and taping. What fun!

Nevadablue wrote:

Ok, the thing is pretty light weight (the ATV that is). I will have no suspension on the rear, just the tires and the front will probably be pretty stiff since the shell of the mower isn’t very heavy.
I want the JeepTor to be for work, a real utility yard wheelchair for me.
This thing will be a gokart essentially, for cruising around the neighborhood. The roads and yard are flat and not busy at all, so I think it will just be a cool toy. Plus, if I finish it, the people who gave me the Wizard mower and the ATV will be amazed.

Well that makes perfect sense to me now! I have to say it's an excellent concept and based on your mock up photos looks really cool! The cool thing about your engine (GY6/monkey motor) is the amount of configurations and displacements it's available in plus an amazing amount of aftermarket support and parts!

I thought I would post some pics of the stripped naked ATV. It is cold and windy here today, so I am stuck inside again.

My plan is that the entire front suspension unit can be mounted inside the front end of the Wizard, behind the grill where the engine would be. It can be mounted up high to lower the front of the tractor. There is plenty of room. In reality, it looks like this was supposed to be.















The last pic shows where I could cut the frame to make things fit. You can see the shape and size of the front suspension unit nicely. I will have to cut off the frame of the MTD and make frame rails I’m thinking. They would extend to the ATV parts and be braced back to the remaining tractor frame. It also looks like there are plenty of mounting points to hold the front of the tractor: grill and hood.

The steering column in the ATV is nearly vertical and has to be that way because of where the engine is. Since I am moving the engine unit (engine and swing arm) back, I will be able to cut the steering support bracket out and tilt it back at the angle I want. I may have to put a universal joint in it, but maybe not. That way the steering geometry stays like it is.

The entire engine and swing arm assembly should fit inside the tractor shell. The engine is higher at the front, but that part will be under the hood and occupy the space that the steering gear takes now, the rest should fit in the tunnel behind the dash.

Here are a few pics of the insides of the MTD carcass. You can see that the parts should fit nicely. The engine is only 11 inches wide and the MTD frame is 13 inside. Length from rear axle to front of engine is 30 inches, perfect.







I will probably end up cutting out the entire ‘floor’ of the MTD frame. The front end will get cut off and the rest of it isn’t very long anyway. Full length square tubing welded inside the frame will make up for the loss and the ATV frame parts plus some cross members should stiffen it sufficiently.

That ATV is in really good shape, boy did you score! It's a semi-auto too which is awesome! How many speeds?

Yes, that was a lucky find for sure. I am not sure about speeds. I can’t find the exact model online and all the references I find say it could be an FNR or a 3 speed transmission. I hope to start it up soon and find out. I could just rock it back and forth and shift it too I guess.

I’m hoping I can straighten the axle. It ‘should’ be easy to remove and I have an 80 ton hydraulic press (over at my son’s shop now). He has a huge work table with a flat steel top that we can use as a ‘straight edge’. Hopefully tweaking and rolling, rinse and repeat, will give us a useable axle. I have attempted to straighten things before and it can be scary. I had a 2” shaft explode once, it was hardened. I’m sure this is soft… I think.

I got no key with the machine and I’m trying to figure out how to wire the switch out of the system. I’m not sure what they are trying to say in this diagram. I may attempt to drill out the tumblers so the switch will work without a key.



I think connecting the black and red (and leaving the other two disconnected) will let it start. It also has a neutral and reverse light. Pretty neat. The diagram appears to match what I see on the rig, but I don’t have the remote switch. Mine has a pull type disconnect like guys use on racing rigs to shut it off if you fall off. Except it has never been used, the tiewrap is still on the cord. It is under the seat at the back. (You always fall off backwards, right?)