Does anyone have some good links for Building Kinetics Crafts? I am going to be building a two person Kinetics craft to race in the CA and need so good information before I start welding.

Thanks,

Jonathan Sterner

Elliot,

Good to hear from you again! Hope things are well in CA. Of course I am very familiar with your how-to, but I do have a technical question for you. I'm considering 5' dia. plywood wheels for my machine this year. Its intended to be a 4-seat machine, so the gross vehicle weight will be in the neighborhood of 1200 lbs loaded (minions are not light). I'm thinking 3 wheels in a tadpole configuration similar to Duane Flatmo's machine when it was rear-steer.

Now here's the technical question: do you think standard 1" pillow-block bearings (with radial ball-bearings like on your paddle-wheel) will handle the side-loads for a machine that heavy? Anybody in CA using that configuration? Or should I be looking for spindles from a car or something?  Your thoughts and observations?

Thanks,

Dr. Scott Diabolical, evil genius