How to mount wheels on amphicat?

[Kermath]

Well I'm just about ready to take a test spin in the cat with the small exceptions of not having the top half of the body on and I do not have the wheels on. My question is with the wheels and mounting hubs. Of course the wheels are old. My guess is they originally had the glue on tires? The inner wheel hub on some of the wheels has about 1/4 inch of rubber still on it. Other rims are just steel and the rubber is gone. This effectively makes the rims different widths. The axle on the cat sticks out about 8". Solid 3/4" fine thread with a keyway. 2 parts thread on to this. There is the tubular part with the large flange that goes on first and then a wheel mounting hub with 3 bolts sticking out of it. These 2 pieces go back to back. Are these 2 pieces supposed to squeeze the rim? If they but up to each other they do just apply a little pressure to the inside hub of the rim, on the steel rims. The rims that still have rubber require these 2 mounting pieces to be spaced apart from each other. If these 2 pieces are not tight against each other what keeps them from walking when everything is spinning around? Is the wheel made to be supported only in the middle? What keeps the key in? This is a budget project that probably will not see a ton of trail time. I know the tires are crap. Are new/used rims in my future too? The axles are straight right now and I do not want to bend them by putting on the wheels incorrectly. I have freshened up the Sachs 277 with Mikuni carb. It actually runs pretty good. I see why you need a fuel pump on this. It uses gas faster than gravity will get it there at high speed. The drive train has been redone with new bearings and chains. Not real wild about the chain tensioning system on the cat. Anyhow, my big question is how the wheels go on. I can probably post more pics if needed although it is hard for me to get them small enough. Thanks. Ron

[Amphiman1]

Well I'm just about ready to take a test spin in the cat with the small exceptions of not having the top half of the body on and I do not have the wheels on. My question is with the wheels and mounting hubs. Of course the wheels are old. My guess is they originally had the glue on tires? The inner wheel hub on some of the wheels has about 1/4 inch of rubber still on it. Other rims are just steel and the rubber is gone. This effectively makes the rims different widths. The axle on the cat sticks out about 8". Solid 3/4" fine thread with a keyway. 2 parts thread on to this. There is the tubular part with the large flange that goes on first and then a wheel mounting hub with 3 bolts sticking out of it. These 2 pieces go back to back. Are these 2 pieces supposed to squeeze the rim? If they but up to each other they do just apply a little pressure to the inside hub of the rim, on the steel rims. The rims that still have rubber require these 2 mounting pieces to be spaced apart from each other. If these 2 pieces are not tight against each other what keeps them from walking when everything is spinning around? Is the wheel made to be supported only in the middle? What keeps the key in? This is a budget project that probably will not see a ton of trail time. I know the tires are crap. Are new/used rims in my future too? The axles are straight right now and I do not want to bend them by putting on the wheels incorrectly. I have freshened up the Sachs 277 with Mikuni carb. It actually runs pretty good. I see why you need a fuel pump on this. It uses gas faster than gravity will get it there at high speed. The drive train has been redone with new bearings and chains. Not real wild about the chain tensioning system on the cat. Anyhow, my big question is how the wheels go on. I can probably post more pics if needed although it is hard for me to get them small enough. Thanks. Ron

You have a very cool amphicat! It is a canadian Bee Hoo !! i have one also. either find more balloon tires or make 4 lug adapter plates to 4 lug wheels, cheaper and easier than 5 lugs (budget, budget) they will do the same job.
On that amphicat,. there are 3 lugs and a nut and lockwasher in the middle, that hold the wheel on it was a good system.. P.m. me for more info if u need it

[Kermath]

Well I bolted everything up and took her out. I decided to take it easy at the beginning... about 15 seconds. Everything seems to work. I don't have any padding on the seat right now. Gonna have to fix that. Spun donuts in the gravel and my neighbors field. I was surprised how fast it went. Seems like the engine and exhaust get pretty hot and are close to the abs body. Now I need to see what to do about tires and such. Happy Labor Day.

[pgruessing]

Pardon me for asking but where did you get the bearings for yours? I am in need of some serious bearings to fix mine. Let me know. Thanks!

[racerone3]

Pardon me for asking but where did you get the bearings for yours? I am in need of some serious bearings to fix mine. Let me know. Thanks!

kermath last posted on 10/11/2009, and amphiman1 has been banned from the site for years so I doubt either is likely to reply. Try starting a new thread to ask about your bearings

[SteveReg]

Hi there. I have quite a few amphicat parts, axles, shafts, diagrams. I will be cleaning them up and selling them. Please let me know if you are interested. Not looking to get rich, just keep the parts in use. They are in good shape.