Bearing extensions

[thebuggyman1]

Would you consider selling some of them?

Sorry, but I won't make them for other people. I'm way too slow at machining, and it's on borrowed equipment.

Even better, give us some directions as to how you made them and where you got the material. Also, how hard was it to machine? Did you start with round stock or turn spank square? How much do you have in a piece? I like your idea, and eventually would like a set of tracks on a machine or two, and I like the idea of making some of the components myself. I also think they may be a good keep on my gotcha build. I plan on using some pretty beefy tires any I am sure they would help.

I bought UHMW off Ebay, UHMW White Plastic Rod 5" Dia 045" Oversized x 12" Long Lathe Bar Round Stock | eBay Offered the guy $25 each piece (its approx $30/ft at mcmaster-carr) plus $20 shipping = $120 to make 12 pieces. It's 5" round stock with a rough outer. Because they don't need to be that precise, I didn't clean up the outside dia. The plastic macines very easily, but the tooling needs to be very sharp or you get grooves/ridges, and little hairs left behind.
I can give you a step by step to making them on the lathe and drill press, but I don't want to bore everyone else with that here.

Adair argo sells synthetic bearings of the same idea. They have different lengths. I think they are meant to replace the outer bearing with these synthetic but I 'm thinking you can mill one end to accept the usual outer bearing and acheive the bearing extension concept much cheaper.

I sent Tim an email this morning about providing the service of making them for other members. It took me many hours to make these ones, and I am not finished yet. I'm sure someone experienced could make them FAR faster. I also thought of the synthetic bearing idea, and decided an $8 seal on the outside wasn't much cheaper than a $13 bearing......maybe that's a better idea on the inside too

[trevorakm1]

Adair argo sells synthetic bearings of the same idea. They have different lengths. I think they are meant to replace the outer bearing with these synthetic but I 'm thinking you can mill one end to accept the usual outer bearing and acheive the bearing extension concept much cheaper.

[amphibious drew]

Would you consider selling some of them?

Even better, give us some directions as to how you made them and where you got the material. Also, how hard was it to machine? Did you start with round stock or turn spank square? How much do you have in a piece? I like your idea, and eventually would like a set of tracks on a machine or two, and I like the idea of making some of the components myself. I also think they may be a good keep on my gotcha build. I plan on using some pretty beefy tires any I am sure they would help.

[tattooman]

Would you consider selling some of them?

[thebuggyman1]

Aatv's have an inner axle bearing (sometimes a bushing), and an outer bearing at the tub. The outer bearing often acts as the tub seal, but even when it isn't, it protects the seal by holding the axle centered. This design works great for supporting the sprocket tube, but not so great for support of the machines weight. The problem with the design is the cantilever effect. The outer bearing is typically at the mid point on the axle. This makes any force exerted on the wheel doubled at the bearing. Argo uses a cast aluminum bearing extension (optional on most machines) to push the outer bearing closer to the wheel. Recreatives used to sell a cage design, that used additional bearings farther from the tub. Recreatives now sells a different design that I have not seen, but I'm sure it's the same concept. Most often these are used with tracks, but all machines benifit from them.

I made these out of 5" dia. UHMW. They are basically a twist on the older Recreatives cage design, meant for 5" long carriage bolts to hold them to the frame.
I believe these will help to make the bearings last longer, and help protect axles from bending.