Sorry to get off track on coolers. I'm continuing to enjoy the cart build and can't wait to see some end results.
Have you considered one of the soft coolers instead of the roto pelican. We have a yeti hopper 30 and it works great for 3-4 days
disc disc baby! actually i would have preferred the Sturmey Archer drum brakes...........less fabricating of brake mounts and they are bulletproof systems....but then i would have had to get wheels laced up....upping the cost.
Smith Industries will be machining the thru axle mounts this week or next!! (they connect the long thru axle to the flat deck) I AM STOKED! 90% complete!
Thru Axle mounts should be ready next week, Machinist has been insanely super busy.....I told him NO RUSH. only thing left after that is the flat deck and side rails/lashing points, then assembly, loc-tite, bolt torque, and then the long handle extensions.
saved myself $200 in aluminum costs and butchered a NEW shopping cart that the metal pickers/binners abandoned outside the scrapyard at work. 5 minutes with an angler grinder..... perfect fit. Going to secure the thru axle with a tone of stainless steel hose clamps I may be able to cut off the two larger tubes if the rest of the basket is welded at that point. ( i will probably leave them on for mounting red bike lights and DOT reflective tape) I can also move the thru axle back to the rear to change the balance. House Panther approved! yes thats a DANG HUGE CAT! still need the cart arms the baskets grid allows for EASY lashing of boxes and bags. I can also add molle pouches to it on the outside for frequently used items.
axle fastened in, 2 on the ends, 1 in the middle, 2 on each side of those. Simple screw clamp. Easy to keep spares. waterproof bag for sleeping gear, clothes. on the back
its coming along. Funny how the original design sorta morphed into a simple design. If i had gone with the original box style with all the compartments (and all the labor and welding and material costs) it would be a very awesome build, but like $3000 . As for the shopping cart basket, I may cut down the height of the cart a bit, to shed some weight. Seems to be very well welded so i'm not afraid of losing rigidity.
Like a rifle yep the whole underside of the cart could carry large molle pouches or a rifle case, discretely
8' long cart arms x 2 bought today. 1" OD x 3mm wall thickness x 8' long (x 2 pieces) metal mart dude gave me a hell of a Bro Deal.......2 for 1, so only $50 CAD pics soon, mounting them tonight 97% complete. Just need to tweak things a little bit, fit wise, then degrease and prep for spray paint. Final thing to do is buy two 650B (27.5") tires, plus one spare, plus tubes, plus long bike grips for the haul arms. EDIT: haul arms on....holy crap this trekking cart looks like a freaking Formula 1 Mini RickShaw..........I'm REALLY tempted to hike this down to HASTINGS RACECOURSE here in Vancouver BC Canada and hook it up to a Thoroughbred horse....... ya'll gonna have to wait for a bit for the final pics.
@Bushman5 I'm curious as to how you are going to mount your brake calipers and given the close tolerances/clearances of disk brakes and if you are concerned about the Axel slipping under side load and causing clearance issues on the calipers?
Bracket wizardry That axle does not move at all. Those clamp screws are red loctited and even with just 5 it is solid. I can add more but its not really needed. As for the brakes , if i even bother mounting them the calipers will be 'free floating ' +/- a few mm. Remember thst the old mormom carts were 100's of lbs empty, and about a thousand lbs full. No brakes
I could get brake brackets machined to mount on the axle, but the thought of forking out $750 cdn to get them machined ......no thanks