"New" Ratty Hack... I hope!

[Leaf]

I guess I didn't get this one torqued down enough!!



That was one of my expensive hardened bolts, too. ;_;

[Bobmws]

Bummer! Lock nuts are a good thing...........

[halflive]

Originally Posted by Leaf

I guess I didn't get this one torqued down enough!!



That was one of my expensive hardened bolts, too. ;_;

Or the bolt just broke.
Every sidecar is fitted with common M12 8.8 bolts. often with a self locking, but more usual with castellatednuts.
There is a lot of live and movement in a sidecar. I would not use a hardened bolt,

[Leaf]

I stuck one of my 8.8 footpeg bolts in it and stole a nut off one of the upper motor mounts, until I get around to the hardware store. I broke the suspension off my truck, so the hack is the only thing I have to haul tools and stuff to work until I get the truck fixed. :P

The rest of them have 5/16 bolts with lock washers, torqued down hard with an impact wrench. I didn't think about breakage, but that does sound a little more likely. D:

Unless I just forgot to hit that one with the air wrench. :3

[Leaf]

New bolts. Two of them were the "right" ones that came with the sidecar, but I replaced them anyway. It's a /lot/ more solid in the hard lefties, now.... I didn't think just replacing bolts would have that kind of effect. O_o



Temporary wiring, until I get somewhere to get some wire loom. I have some cheap beehive lights on the way.



Cheap tractor light. It's not wired up yet, but it is brighter than the headlight on the tug. O_o Prolly move it to the front of the car if/when I get around to making a bumper.

[MotoJ]

I'm really digging your rig, Leaf! I love rat builds....

[kshansen]

Originally Posted by Leaf

I stuck one of my 8.8 footpeg bolts in it and stole a nut off one of the upper motor mounts, until I get around to the hardware store. I broke the suspension off my truck, so the hack is the only thing I have to haul tools and stuff to work until I get the truck fixed. :P

The rest of them have 5/16 bolts with lock washers, torqued down hard with an impact wrench. I didn't think about breakage, but that does sound a little more likely. D:

Unless I just forgot to hit that one with the air wrench. :3

I personally would NOT use an impact for tightening critical fasteners. If a torque wrench is not available, it should be, then tighten by hand. It is very easy to under or over torque with an impact wrench. Too loose and it can fall off to tight and you either strip the threads or over stretch the bolt and it fails under load.

As for the lock washers I'm not a big fan of those either. I much prefer hardened flat washers and good grade lock nuts. Fine threaded fasteners also are a good choice.

[Leaf]

Math.... I should have done it!

35 watt low beam + 55 watt tractor light = 90 watts. 90 watts / 12 volts = 7.5 amps.

55 watt high beam + 55 watt tractor light = 110 watts. 110 watts / 12 volts = 11 amps.

The headlight fuse is 7 amps. Apparently when I was testing the tractor light, 7.5 amps was not enough to blow it.

So I'm out in the middle of nowhere. It gets dark, so I flip on the high beams, then throw the switch to tie the tractor light into the high beam circuit.

Oops.

Turns out that both of the spare fuses in my fuse box were blown.

Oops.

So I swapped in the fuse for the running lights and stuck a paper clip into the front brake switch so I'd have some tail lights, and got it home.

I shall have to install a relay and an aux fusebox.

Moral of the story: Don't be derpy, and do the math. :P

[MotoJ]

Originally Posted by Leaf

Math.... I should have done it!

35 watt low beam + 55 watt tractor light = 90 watts. 90 watts / 12 volts = 7.5 amps.

55 watt high beam + 55 watt tractor light = 110 watts. 110 watts / 12 volts = 11 amps.

The headlight fuse is 7 amps. Apparently when I was testing the tractor light, 7.5 amps was not enough to blow it.

So I'm out in the middle of nowhere. It gets dark, so I flip on the high beams, then throw the switch to tie the tractor light into the high beam circuit.

Oops.

Turns out that both of the spare fuses in my fuse box were blown.

Oops.

So I swapped in the fuse for the running lights and stuck a paper clip into the front brake switch so I'd have some tail lights, and got it home.

I shall have to install a relay and an aux fusebox.

Moral of the story: Don't be derpy, and do the math. :P

Very resourceful! You're ready for the Zombie Apocalypse. Only the most cunning will survive!

[Leaf]

Bought a relay, some fuses, inline fuse holders, and connectors today. The plan is to add a new circuit for the aux lighting, driven by the relay, straight off the battery, with the switch selecting whether the relay is on, off, or driven by the stock high beam circuit. But it's been drizzling all day and I was soaked when I got home, so I haven't installed anything yet.

I had my first monkey, too. She was pleased, after getting over the initial trepidation over riding in something that looks like it fell off a scrap truck.

[kshansen]

Originally Posted by Leaf

I had my first monkey, too. She was pleased, after getting over the initial trepidation over riding in something that looks like it fell off a scrap truck.

If it would make her feel better I could post a picture of my "ride to work outfit". It would make yours look like a show winner!

[Leaf]

I had an electrical meltdown during the recent pseudopocalypse while the power was out for several days.

Of course, there was no 'lectricity to run the soldering gun to fix it proper-like, so I had to improvise.

Poor Hawk. :< I shall fix it all proper-like next time something breaks.....

[cleatusj]

And I thought I was scattered with my wiring.

[sandsman]

Dang dude, one little spark at the wrong time and the whole thing will go up in smoke...............and you will look like this

[Leaf]

I was going to fix it properly today, but I didn't get 'round to it. :<