I had hoped to do an extensive review of the many websites on designing and making go-karts, but I came across the following one which stitches together many different sites on kart plans into one single page in a step by step manner. It has YouTube Videos, Picture slideshows, photos and lots of other information.
It divides up the Step by Step How to Guide into four major sections:
Front A-arms assembly
Main frame assembly
Steering system assembly
Drive axle assembly
It has lots of useful information on engines, videos of engines in use on karts and much more. A picture of it can be seen below. The website address is: http://hubpages.com/hub/Build-Your-Own-Go-Kart—A-Step-by-Step-Guide Hopefully this link and website will remain active. Here is an image of the website:
When I started the first Kartbuilding website in 2001 (archive link), there was very little information available on karts and kart plans on the Internet. In the last few years however the information, videos, plans etc. has increased enormously. This is great news for anyone wanting to build a kart. If you have any good websites on building karts, feel free to drop us an email ( kartbuilding at gmail.com )
I’m sure you’ll agree its some experience. What more incentive would a person need to get involved in karting. I do hope that was a closed road they were driving on! If the above video stops working, just drop us an email ( ).
I’ve always liked Popular Mechanics, from reading old copies which my Dad used to get (many years ago), to browsing their website. I’ve even blogged about articles from their website before, however this month’s article is especially cool!
The Top Coolest Backyard Invention of 2008:
DIY Rally (Jet-Powered Go-Kart)
Bryan, a 37 year old assistant manager at a Mitsubishi dealership devised this backyard invention complete from old parts and scrap metal! He got the power turbine on eBay and modded the rest himself. His total bill came to $1000 which might sound like a lot, however we do not know how much the turbine cost. The final kart weighing in at nearly 500lb reaches an astonishing 60mph in 8 seconds! There is a youtube video also available, showing the kart in action. It sure sounds loud! I bet the neighbours were giving out, it been late at night and all when they took the video :-)
It seems that you can buy just about anything on eBaythese days. For kartbuilding, this is great news as odd parts and components can easily be sourced, however it can cost quite a bit if you have to pay for shipping. Most of the time, with some patience and looking in skips and yards etc. all the parts can be obtained for virtually nothing.
While the articleitself lacks a lot of inside information into the build, it provides great inspiration to many people looking to build karts from old pieces of scrap and second-hand parts. The popular mechanics website also provides great inspiration and a wealth of information on engines, motorbikes, chassis’s, brakes and just about everything that’s involved with kartbuilding. Hopefully the summer and go-kart building is going well for all of you.
Looks like its too late to enter this years Red Bull Soapbox race in Belfast on May 25th, 2008. What a pity. Still the event itself should be a good laugh with plenty of ideas and soapbox carts/karts to see with 47 teams been given “Soap Box Racing licences”. The event seems planned very well, with plenty of information on the RedBull website, including details on brakes and steering!
Attending the race is free to the public, and as the teams are from all over Ireland/N.Ireland it’ll be well worth a visit.
So, what is a Soap Box? They are simple vehicles which reply completely upon gravity. Typically they are raced together as part of a “Soap Box Derby” which is exactly what is happening with the Red Bull Soapbox race.
Keep the ideas and kartbuilding going!
EDIT:
Due to the interest and questions recieved about Red Bull Soapbox racing via email, some vidoes of previous races can be found on youtube. The following are two relevant ones. The first video shows part 1 of the construction of a soapbox racer. The second video shows one of the soapbox carts in action.
Apologies for not blogging here in quite a while. Behind the scenes more plans and material is been made. Below is a preview of plans for an off-road kart currently being drawn up. Full cutting lists and bills of materials will be created covering all aspects of building the off-road kart, using commonly available materials and parts. For example, for the seat below, which is a modified plastic chair with side reinforcements and padding, will be fully descibed with details on how to adapt it to suit. The wheels shown below are from a wheelbarrow! The idea of these kart plans is to provide details and information on making a low-cost, low-budget kart.
The plans being drawn will contain all the details and information of the the above kart (photo). It will be a few months however before the all the plans, details and information is fully completed for the above kart, so check back soon. If you have any ideas on what should be included in the Plans for this Off-Road Kart, please get in touch and let us know.
GoingKarting.co.uk: This website offers great tips and advice to help you get the most out of go-karting. There is some good general knowledge on karting, with all types of karts (pedal to petrol etc.) been covered for both young and old. It also has information on setting up a karting meeting.
Tony Kart produces high quality racing kart chassis. A catalogue of their kart chassis can be found on their website. A particular chassis model, a Tony Kart Extreme ‘97, was modelled using SolidWorks, and is available for download. Below is an overview of the chassis, in isometric and in a plan view.
Overview of Chassis in SolidWorks
This chassis is modelled perfectly in SolidWorks, with each member as an individual part and fully in-context. With the complete assembly and part files, it would be very easy to create 2d drawings of the chassis. The chassis is full size, so no scaling would have to be carried out.
Perhaps in the future the author will complete a fully dimensioned chassis using SolidWorks. Please contact the author if you have any queries etc. regarding this.
Download SolidWorks Files
The SolidWorks assembly file can be downloaded from its original location here, along with some other CAD drawings also. A backup local copy of the SolidWorks chassis is also available.
eDrawings Download of the Chassis
In case you don’t have a copy of SolidWorks to open and measure the components, the eDrawings viewer can be used to open the chassis, measure each component, and create a section view through the chassis. The chassis opened in eDrawings can be seen below:
Hopefully the detailed professional chassis design will give you ideas on how to design and create your own chassis. An idea of the size of the chassis design can also be obtained using the eDrawing. Best of Luck!
If you have any queries or comments, please email them to the author at:
The following website (http://www.vintagekarts.com/karts.htm) has some excellent photos and articles on old vintage go-karts. These karts were made using the basic necessities, and still achieved high speeds with excellent cornering and handling. Several ideas can be taken from these vintage karts where there were “no frills” to building gokarts. Ideas which can be combed from the gallery of photos include:
There are also some excellent in-depth articles about the history of karting, right up to the current day! Some of the topics discussed include:
Karting Grand Nationals, from 1960 to 2005
Transportation of GoKarts
Women Gokart Racers
Rocket Powered Karts
McCulloch’s Entry into Karting
Hopefully this website will provide further insight and details as to how simple engine powered gokarts were and can be made. If you would like your karting website reviewed and mentioned here, or if you have any comments on this or any other article, please contact the author by email at
The following well produced video shows the stages involved in making a Go-Kart using the Dirt Devil kart plans. The stages shown in the video below are:
Welding, Cutting and making the Chassis
Obtaining parts for the Suspension
The 18hp Engine
The Rear brake Calliper
Steering Setup
Testing and Racing the Go-Kart with Suspension
A lot of parts were taken from a quad and an other working go-kart! The suspension seems to work very well, however the camber angle on the front wheels seems too much. The front wheels are splayed out sidewards. Perhaps this is the suspension, but ideally this would need to be readjusted. Read more on camber angles here.
The CIA (Commission Internationale de Karting) is the specialised Karting commission of the FIA, the governing body of world Motor Sport. The CIA oversees Karting safety in conjunction with the FIA and with a Research Group exclusively dedicated to Karting.
The CIA publish Technical Regulations for Karting, which includes detailed Drawings and specifications. In their most recent publication (2007), detailed drawings showing measurements and designs for Kart chassis are included.
The drawing above shows actual sizes (metric also!!) of Karts and provide an excellent guide to building a Kart complete to regulation!! Many people, including myself develop free kart plans, and overlook the wealth of information and diagrams offered by Karting Authorities such as the CIA.
This blog compliments the main www.kartbuilding.net free kart plans website, and contains regularly updated tips, information and diagrams relating to kart design, kart plans and all aspects of kart building.
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The following well produced video shows the stages involved in making a Go-Kart using the 
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