wrx -> shifter kart?

[Rick Brown]

As with anything new it needs to be checked more as things settle and loosen,straps stretch and grease flows. No need to be paranoid but cautious will prevent you from suffering loss an liability. I assume you have a spare tire even though the ones on the trailer are new. Hopefully you went for the 12" tires. You do know your now consigned to the slow lane and 55mph (read earlier threads on tickets). I haven't see the photo's of the kart specific layout, but there are some nice features for the HF trailer that make tie down easy. So when you done if you can post some images we can discuss. If you don't want to go bearing buddies HF has some nice caps with grease fitting and viewing window so youcan check your bearing easily. I bought my trailer used, so don't know if it was an add on or came with the trailer, but you have chains correct?

Slow lanes. Right two on a 4 lane freeway. Yes, technically can only drive 55 in CA. Have to say I rarely do so, but am always scanning for CHP. but I do stay in the correct lanes. Have seen a few people with jet ski trailers pulled over, they often are in the wrong lane and going fast.

My trailer setup:

[Jarrett Gorlick]

Thanks Randy, I'll definitely keep all of that in mind. I have also heard keeping track of miles as things can go wrong in time, some I'm going to use fuelly.com as an odo.
Arthur I did get the 12 inch wheels and I still need to go grab tie downs and a spare but the wheels are well greased with good stuff and we're going back and loctite'ing and torquing every bolt on the thing.
As for driving and speed and such I am a very cautious/boring/law-abiding driver so I had no issue doing 50-60 in the 2nd to slow lane. And fortunately I will never be towing the trailer and kart alone so I will have someone to periodically check back to make sure all is going well with the trailer.
I will be using Rick's trailer design as a basis for my platform but I am not going to make it as tall as the kart stand cause storing the trailer is going to be tricky.

[Jarrett Gorlick]

little update time.
Trailer is built, and will be registered wednesday after I have my hitch installed, and that evening we're going to pick up the kart.
We made a little platform very similar to Rick's though I think we made it too narrow, its 4 feet wide, not 5 so I'm not sure if it is wide enough for the kart. I was thinking we either put another piece of wood in the center and just take off the wheels for trailering or we use 18 inch wide pieces of wood instead of 12 inch wide pieces like Rick used as the cross bar/support (the 90* angle bar thing) is only 4 feet wide, not 5.
Any tips, ideas, anyone know the track of a kart? front and rear?
Thanks guys!

[Rick Brown]

little update time.
Trailer is built, and will be registered wednesday after I have my hitch installed, and that evening we're going to pick up the kart.
We made a little platform very similar to Rick's though I think we made it too narrow, its 4 feet wide, not 5 so I'm not sure if it is wide enough for the kart. I was thinking we either put another piece of wood in the center and just take off the wheels for trailering or we use 18 inch wide pieces of wood instead of 12 inch wide pieces like Rick used as the cross bar/support (the 90* angle bar thing) is only 4 feet wide, not 5.
Any tips, ideas, anyone know the track of a kart? front and rear?
Thanks guys!

Max width of rear is 55", front is a few inches less. Both are adjustable to some extent, depending on the type of hubs you have. All you really need would be a 1"x6" that's about 55" long to put across the front and back for the tires. You could even get by with a 2x4 just to pick it up since the contact patch of the tire isn't that big, then finish it once you have the kart to see how everything really fits.

[Jarrett Gorlick]

so if the max width is 55" then I'll have about half of both rear tires on the trailer...is that ok temporarily?
or what if I pull the rear wheels/tires and have the frame sitting on the platform, and leave the front wheels/tires?

[Randy Chase]

Another idea may be to decrease the width of the platform and lay the chassis directly on it, allowing the tires to stick down on both sides. Me, I like using the kart's tires and shock absorbers... but perhaps the shock and vib is not really that bad on the trailer.

[Robert Puertas]

Wheelbase is only 42" or so.
Does it fit sideways?

[Jarrett Gorlick]

Randy thats a good idea, I do have an extra piece of wood thats 48x36 so I could drill 4 holes in that and mount it in the center of the trailer rather than the two slabs on either side.
And robert the platform is 48 inches wide at max and has 24 inches of gap in the center so it could probably fit sideways, that would just be kinda strange? I think I am going to leave it as is right now and drill into my extra piece to have the chasis sit on the platform and bring both to pick up the kart.

[Jarrett Gorlick]

another update: went in today to uhaul to have them throw my hitch on so I could pick the kart up today...
well, apparently there's a storm in phoenix and my hitch is still chilling there so getting the kart is delayed to friday (hopefully at the latest).

[Jarrett Gorlick]

so after the hitch being late, getting hit by a truck on my bike :/, a tow strap ripping, kart slipping (we had it on straight until we turned it 90* which worked well), here it is!



we just need to move the seat back, which is kind of annoying but necessary.

[Arthur Grant]

Hit by a truck on your bike, you ok man? You got checked out by your doctor right, just in case?

As you tweak the trailer solution it will work better.

Assume other than being late with the hitch U-Haul did a good job and at the price quoted?

[Jarrett Gorlick]

I saw that the guy wasn't looking towards me, just towards traffic so I was able to slow down significantly. And I did see the doctor so I'm alright, thanks for asking.
And yeah the trailer is working fine as is with the kart sideways, so we're just going to mount chaulks to hold it in a tad better.
and uhaul was great, they were really nice, $240 for everything including ball mount, draw bar, installation, wiring etc. And they were only an hour, so no regrets there.

[Nick Hutchings]

Well since I'm the co-owner I figured I'd chime in and say thank you to everyone for the information! Here are two pictures of the kart

And yes.. The front bumper is sticker bombed.

We got a new seat, a small, and had our local kart shop, TNR, install it. Glad we had someone who knew what they were doing install the seat since Jarrett and I were a little confused. I'm still a little big for the kart, but I think I'll get used to the position my feet need to be in so I can get my legs in comfortably.

Thanks again for all the hospitality, see you guys out there soon!

[Arthur Grant]

I think a repaint in either Martini or Gulf colors is in order.

If you haven't already bought racing suits they are very reasonable from K-1 speed. Or if you want a fires suit look at Lico through Saferacer.

[Kurt Rahn]

I think a repaint in either Martini or Gulf colors is in order.

Especially since it's a Porsche ;)

[Michael Palero]

I think the "Hellaflush" & "illest" crowds would love that front bumper of yours.

It reminds me of those Tokidoki bags http://www.tokidoki.it/?gclid=CKDu0u2gl ... bAodgzGzHw

[Jarrett Gorlick]

we both already have suits, helmets, gloves and shoes so we're all set.
and our plan is to get some wide wheels with tiny sidewalls and stretch the tires, get some poke as well. Oh and max out the camber so we can slam it...
but in all reality the sticker bomb thing is pretty big with fatlace people, and younger people in general but I like it, and new bumpers are cheap so I'm not too worried.
Jarrett

[Robert Puertas]

Needs curb feelers.
Preferably gold ones...

[Jarrett Gorlick]

what about spinners and a GIANT wing that isn't functional at all?
oh god, have we riced out a kart?

[Rick Brown]

...... a GIANT wing ...........

[Jarrett Gorlick]

does it have to be mounted to my shoulders? looks a tad painful...

[Arthur Grant]

Was surprised we didn't see you guys out at Norton.

[Rick Brown]

does it have to be mounted to my shoulders? looks a tad painful...

Not too painful, but you have to be careful not to lean back too much or you will be separated from the vehicle..............



Yeah, and where you for the last event? Definitely a fun kart course!

[Jarrett Gorlick]

just a little update for anyone who is interested:
we had troubles tying down the kart to the trailer, but we widened the platform and figured out a simple and perfect way of mounting the tie downs. Thats all sorted out, though we might try to enclose the trailer, we'll see.
Yesterday Nick (co-owner) and I took the kart to willow springs for a day of practice. Towed in the rain, tons of fun, but got there and it was nice and dry.
We pretty much had their .6 mile kart track to ourselves, and we each ran 3 sessions of probably around 10 laps, pretty much run until your tired then switch.
It was a great learning experience, and tons of fun. Kart held up just fine, though the motor mount isn't the best.
We should be auto-xing shortly, most likely the el toro championship in march, perhaps before (but thats when I'm on spring break).
Again, thank you so much to everyone who helped make getting the kart possible. You all are the best.
Jarrett

[Tin Bui]

Thanks for the update! This is a nice tread. I have a TAG Birel PRD for over a year...and haven't driven it yet. Good read cause I am abandoning putting it in the back of my SUV, no looking at the HF trailer.