How to make a Go-kart Differential (From scrap)

I hate diffs...okay (and the laws of physics) ;)
In this video im showing you how i made myself a super small chain driven go-kart differential. Its purpose is to drive the front wheels of my 4x4 mini buggy. I think every go kart/dune buggy could use a differential to reduce tire wear and make for efficenter driving and cornering.
If youre interested in making a go-kart differential like this (with rear wheel drive), please keep in mind the axles should be supported at the ends, as well as in the middle.
Thanks for watching and if you have any questions regarding this video, please let me know in the comments.
follow me on instagram for updates on this, and other projects.
/ homemade_madness
music:
1 joakim karud - dreams
2 lightfoot - moldy lotion
3 joakim karud - rock angel

[@homemade_madness]

Want to see this differential and mini AWD buggy in action? Check out the test drive: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pV7WZaKfoq2notU

[@GeorgiaRidgerunner]

Not trying to be a jerk or any thing but you could have saved yourself a lot of time and effort just by using the axle from an old chain drive riding lawn mower they already have an identical set up as what you made and a lot lighter

[@homemade_madness]

Yup, but i didn’t have one... and don’t forget; making stuff is fun! also, this one is probably stronger.

[@GeorgiaRidgerunner]

@@homemade_madness yeah im thi k now your way is better the lawn mower axles are a lot smallee in diameter than remember

[@giuseppelattuca4914]

A

[@tstricklin4808]

😂thought i was the only one who uses cans to make shims. Good shit.

[@lincolnlunt6678]

I feel a sense of pride that I recognized all the go karts at the beginning

[@homemade_madness]

Lincoln Lunt congratulations😁

[@JustinDeckardFamilyMan]

Me to lol watch them all be built

[@R.N.GPerformance]

me too lol

[@nano-gq9tv]

Same

[@nano-gq9tv]

@@JustinDeckardFamilyMan same😂

[@clayboi6939]

Next video: "Improve traction of go kart by welding the diff!"

[@JCGver]

I'd say make a miniature Torsen diff

[@Andre_Thomasson]

Some need this to for things like "rally go karts"

[@robertbobin5053]

use a posi diff

[@1212sman]

Surely I'm not the only one who suggested the ol' "heat the bearing in the oven and freeze the axle in the freezer" to get them to go together...

[@ussweeneyd]

That is Raw ingenuity at play. Love the hand grinder application to machine down the hardened shaft.

[@VasilyBuilds]

Meanwhile I'm welding my diff 🤣🤣

[@homemade_madness]

Vasily Builds 🤣🤣

[@R.N.GPerformance]

lol

[@tonya9614]

We meet again!

[@Acoustic_Theory]

Maybe you could add a threaded collar or a pin setup that would lock the output shaft on one side to the housing, for a manual locker.

[@ВикторБосс-к9р]

Молодец ! Не побоялся никакой глупой мелочи в своей работе.. Всё сделано из мусора, из того что нашёл..как сумел это сделать без понтов своими руками и мозгами . но, с какой искренностью сремления достичь этого желаемого отличного результата на выходе .Всё просто, гениально и доступно , и главное не лениться и не надеяться на кого-то... Я уважаю таких простых без понтов ребят !

[@superktmduke]

For all critics....the 'Homemade' bit is the clue! Inspirational......thank you!

[@nano-gq9tv]

All the gocart he shows in the beginning of the video are home made u can woch videos of them making them on here

[@Biokemist-o3k]

I watched this when you built it and I have to say it has truly grown on me. I have been looking to purchase one of these and the places I looked may have had them but what name would you call it. Finally I came back and found your video and now to try and build it. Two years ago I did not even own a lathe and now I have restored one and then found a really great refurbished one in a grandfather's basement. Thank you.

[@charlesconley1847]

You did a very nice job building that diff. BUT, even though you added a grease fitting for the interior parts, if you have a bearing failure, you will have to cut it open to replace the bearing. Also, the welding heat draws the metal such that the internal parts down run true, thus causing increased wear. That's my opinion. Welding should only be used so far. I believe yours was excessive.

[@homemade_madness]

from an engineering perspective i would agree. but welding was the easy way out, and i wasnt sure yet how good the diff would work. if i would make one again i would use bolts like you say :)

[@theforgotten081]

Wow dude. You have a bright future if you keep it up machining, welding, and innovating. There is always a good use for junk. Good job man

[@DFX2KX]

I was wondering how doable something like that was for gokarts, glad to see someone actually made one!

[@cdjhyoung]

I would think if you are building a differential for the rear drive of a cart, building it as a limited slip differential would yield the most improvement.

[@golyajanos8604]

Torsen is the king!! Your accuracy is a nightmare with the grinder! I gave up at 4:57!!

[@Aladinscave]

The concept is great, I would recommend making flanges for the whole setup so you can replace parts and adjust gear mesh with shims, especially if you are going to put a good amount of power in to it, just an idea I’m sure this is going to work for you and it’s fairly cheap 🏁👍🏻

[@ВикторБосс-к9р]

Молодец ! Не побоялся никакой глупой мелочи в своей работе.. Всё сделано из мусора, из того что нашёл... но, с какой искренностью сремления достичь этого желаемого отличного результата на выходе .Всё просто, гениально и доступно , и главное не лениться и не надеяться на кого-то...

[@gmindgjerd]

When you added the sprocket i stopped understanding how it worked. Guess i`ll watch again. You are some sort of wizard aren`t you?

[@homemade_madness]

hahah i guess so ;)

[@calebsavory4951]

It works because the differential also allows the non driven wheel/axle to go faster than the driven axle. The driven wheel will always have power, but momentum will push the non driven axle faster through turns.

[@topphemlig1191]

Absolutely awesome! Thanks for sharing, you're a very talented young man and I hope you can sell loads of them. Bravo!

[@homemade_madness]

Thanks!

[@miguelcastaneda7236]

well done and thats coming from growing up salvage yard and 45 years as machinist

[@mxrider2strokebraaap54]

1:12 😂😂😂 Man great video! You’re litterly the first one on yt I see making his own differencials, amazing work😜🤙

[@homemade_madness]

Thanks!🤙🏻🤙🏻

[@MaxGiganteum]

@mxrider2strokebraaap54... As with all things, the question isn't whether or not an item is made at home. Rather ask the questions such as does it actually function? How well does it function? How long does it last? I say to ask these questions because all too often you find things look great on video but when it comes time to put them to use? They fall apart immediately or are otherwise non-functional. Give me the substance over style every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Best wishes! - Max Giganteum

[@cptrikester2671]

Interesting homemade diffy. I think the spider gears are going to wear the inside of the tube and disengage early. You may want to add thrust washers between the spiders and the tube. Looking fwd to seeing your other vids.

[@SolitaryCanid]

What he said, radius doesn't match.

[@MisterFixit69]

my immediate reaction: go karts dont need a diff, youll lose all the power because you (almost) lift the inside tire causing the diff to send all the power to it. the I saw the "Go karts" , yeah go for it

[@merdith6]

Well if you watch the video it is for the front of the go cart.

[@SirDrakeNewcanon]

9:30 at first I thought what a stupid id to drive one of the safts and hoping that some power will find they way to the other side. But your solution is GREAT!!!! Salute my friend!

[@homemade_madness]

Salute! 👊🏻

[@dejayrezme8617]

Thanks, awesome! I want to build a pedal driven quad with front wheel drive. With an all electric quad you could just put two motors on two rear axles with a belt to a trailing arm suspension wheel. Electric has some nice options to simplify drivetrain.

[@cr-us9ch]

Every Gokart DOES need one of these

[@daszieher]

While I greatly appreciate your efforts and applaud you actually doing something, there are a couple of points that I would like to share on the way this nifty diff was manufactured. Make no mistake, doing something is always better than just blabbing. 1. Heat management. Try to stick to the sequence order of casting - forging - welding - machining - assembly wherever possible, i.e. on should try to avoid welding or machining an assembly as much as one would machine anything before it was actually forged. Heat tends to distort, no matter what precautions are taken, so I would instead have machined the final surfaces after having welded the two parts of the diff casing together. 2. Use of lubricant. Grease is not the optimal choice for your little diff. In practice I'd even bet that you'll be fine, given it is out of a car and only going into your buggy/cart. You could even get away with no lubricant at all. Long story short. High speed gears prefer oil designed for high pressure shearing, something grease tends to do less well. I know the gears will mostly see low relative speeds, but the casement will be spinning fast, making re-lubricating the gears more difficult. 3. Choice of music. Maybe not important at all, but what might sound good to you, may hurt someone else's ears. 😉 Sometimes less music means more viewers.

[@TEKKYTWO]

I just want to say this has left me inspired. Thank you bro instant sub 👍🏻

[@ph1lthyvision]

Dude, freaking excellent!👏👏 ill hold your beer proudly while you fabricate this madness!

[@dkdanis1340]

You should put two sprag clutches or one way bearings on front axles it will work great as differential. In the rear you could use diy lockable diff.

[@homemade_madness]

Yes it would, but i also want 4x4 in reverse gear😎

[@randallslattman3119]

@@homemade_madness problem solved lol plz make this design. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHbMhIewgJJ0aKM

[@olipritchard8151]

Just got to the part with the grinder on the lathe. . . Subscribed 🤣 its great to see "real world" solutions when you have to make do.

[@kobekumar8823]

i had the same gutteral reaction

[@TheButlerNZ]

I HAVE drive a couple of those go-karts... and the actual GO-Kart fixed axle allows you to travel round a corner extremely fast due to all the load being on the outside tyre and the inner, even with an extremely low centre of gravity, will leave the ground. The instant you lift a cheap differential off the ground all the driving force will follow the path of least resistance (i.e. wheel spin) and you loose forward drive until the wheel contacts the ground. SO... if you want a kart to turn tightly at slow speed... use a differential... If you want to do it at extreme speeds (the whole idea of kart racing) then use a fixed axle (or a very expensive limited slip diff). As for kart racing, a limited slip diff would probably negate any advantage with the weight disadvantage (also notable in its rear position). As for the long suspension vehicles pictured (which are starting to leave the realm of "kart".. it depends on use as to whether a fixed or limited slip would be an advantage. Anyone that has put their rear wheel drive van on full lock and expedience the inside wheel spinning may realize the concept of loss of forward thrust due to 'Burning rubber' (I use a van as an example as although it has suspension, it is fairly stiff, especially when empty.... just like a light weight racing kart.

[@thegenerousdegenerate9395]

Dude... You keep this shit up and your channel is going to take off in no time!

[@thegenerousdegenerate9395]

I know it arguably already has but i mean like cars and cameras #'s

[@charlesaanonson3954]

It looks really excellent to me. Filled with grease it should last forever.

[@spo5egy]

Treacle is good too.

[@JaccoProductions]

Damn you’re a freaking genius!

[@oneeyemonster3262]

why's it's typical stuff in R/C cars diff...which strips, wears out. when it slips....slips..you might as will do NONE live ax. or jamm ear plug in it...lmao Most people shim it and or FILL it with super duper THICK OIL...to make sure it works. What he should do is mount another CLUTCH with different gear ratio for a SECOND GEAR..to get the low end torque and retain top speed. It's actually simple..if you have the tools to mill and weld the parts. The clutch is on the axle sort of like drum brake.

[@dwightschrute3862]

@@oneeyemonster3262 the engine inside of the build has gears on it already

[@jimmypopp2695]

You are truly amazing my friend!! This is what I have been waiting for but really did not know it.

[@IanMBuilds]

That looks very cool. I will be trying to put one in my homemade G-Class soon :)

[@TheScaryName]

Not to be "that guy", but you should probably have seated those bearings in the opposite order to obtain maximum support for the bearing race on both pressings. Probably won't matter as there's not a crazy amount of speeds involved, and waaaaay better than most (who just pound them in) fabs I've seen on YT :) Aaaanyway, definitely a sub from me.

[@robrath31]

You're a bloody gun mate! Nice work!

[@martinmajewski]

Builds a kart differential from scrap with tools that cost a fortune! 😭 I want such a workshop, too!

[@thenujayawarnakulasuriya7760]

Great build man! May I ask you where did you get all of those parts? I'm going to build my own now. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@homemade_madness]

Thenujaya Warnakulasuriya thanks, the parts from pretty much any diff will work. Its best to take a diff from a very small FWD car, then the gears are smaller but still plenty strong for a go kart.

[@manuelsilva1999]

Craig's list. The free lawn tractor.

[@maxarce8629]

excelent!! very smart! i want to see more videos working the diferential on pavement please!

[@homemade_madness]

thanks! soon! :)

[@randallslattman3119]

@@homemade_madness Try this axle design out on ur offroad rig it provides the best of both worlds ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHbMhIewgJJ0aKM

[@timekeeper5275]

Awesome video and commentary man. I know it takes a lot of effort.

[@qwerty2008100]

You could turn this into a locker by adding a dog clutch keyed onto the axle to one side of the housing. Use a lever with a thrust bearing to engage the clutch. I'm probably doing a bad job at explaining this, but be assured that the gears in my head are turning on how to stop these gears from turning.

[@natevisna5420]

You can save a lot of time by removing a differential from an old lawn mower.

[@funnydubby6401]

Lawn mower differentials are geared WAY TOO LOW, just stick to a solid rear axle and CVT, you’ll have to do a bit to them before u can make them work for a long period of tome

[@karlalton3170]

Dude from scrap ? Awesome job mate 😁😁🤘🤘 still pissing myself laughing at the grinder on lathe bit 😂😂👍👍

[@homemade_madness]

Thanks✌🏻🤣

[@shanepowers7566]

He has carbide tools. I saw them, or one of them, anyway.

[@gearinfo96]

Super cool But if you have to open it? Because you welded it completely

[@homemade_madness]

i probably will never have to open it again, its very strong and will never break under this small force

[@gearinfo96]

So you're very confident. Anyway I've seen your this Go_kart Running. It's super fantastic and i love the design.

[@clydebalcom8252]

I was about to ask how you were going to lubricate the diff.

[@Lessenjr]

A neat idea, but it nullifies all of the engineering thst goes into designing a kart chassis that Jacks properly.

[@shacharliberman5084]

Yes. I don't think that the creator of the video knows about jacking.

[@dangerdylan5005]

What is jacking

[@shacharliberman5084]

@@dangerdylan5005 When you turn the steering wheel on a go kart, the outside front wheel raises up, lowering that side of the kart, while the inside front wheel lowers. (ie while turning the steering wheel to the right, the kart rolls to the left (same roll direction happens when you drive a car in a turn. But in Karting it happens even when you're stationary) ) This makes the outside rear wheel to carry more of the overall weight, and the inside wheel carries less. Now during a turn the inside rear spins faster than it needs to (since there's no differential), and the fact that it's jacked up means that it is free to rotate faster without affecting the stability of the kart or wearing off the tyre too badly. This can only be achieved in karts, since they drive on smooth asphalt. Karts have great power to weight ratios because they forgo suspensions and differentials. They get away with not having a diff by chassis flex and jacking.

[@collinkuhn2139]

North Idaho lathe!! Hope you go viral man

[@homemade_madness]

Collin Kuhn yeahh! Lets hope so😉

[@matyasgrohmann]

It´s comig together! Can´t wait till it´s finished! :P

[@homemade_madness]

Matyas Grohmann soon! 🤙🏻

[@Xempt_One]

Love the idea but damn those inner bearings arent gonna last very long and will be a bitch to try and change. Ive had a need for a small diff like this for a while now so good to know its possible. Now i just need a lathe.

[@benfred9312]

Go karting places need these lmao stop kids slamming into walls from thinking they can make the corner 😣😣

[@icouldntthinkofagoodname7216]

Wow I hope I can buy those set of machineries so I can also build a differential for my project gokart that is not built yet.

[@williamhall7165]

Very nice. But you have a nice machine shop to work with. Trying to figure out how to do one with out high dollar lathe and press and such

[@dadsfriendlyrobotcompany]

Well, if you don't want to build your own, or don't have all the materials, for the price of the raw materials and a scrap diff, you can just buy a Peerless differential. They are out of riding tractor/mowers and you can bolt a sprocket to the side of it, with only adding a couple holes to your sprocket to match the pattern. I used on in my 1800W power wheels build.

[@sanrasuzumaki942]

Real Nice built! 11:48 should have done that before sealing it to ensure no metal chips going in.

[@omnisalkar7440]

Hi! Loved your work..... just had one question what is the gear module of the bevels that you used and how much power is it taking!

[@SHANECLEWS]

I actually sold a quad I had for 40mins and bought a road legal buggy straight after as the quad did not have a diff and wanted to push me out of corners

[@jaratt85]

The "Stormtrooper" you showed was actually called the Cross Kart built by Cars And Cameras on here.. and while they used Miata rear suspension on it, it does just have a straight axle so.. yeah I'm sure it doesn't want to turn the best but you'd want a locker or something in it or you'd just spin on tire all the time with that CB750 engine it has in it.

[@homemade_madness]

Yes i agree, lockdiff would be best

[@numeprenume512]

Welding and grinding on a lathe Awesome

[@michaellowe3665]

It seems that if the side gears were beveled the other direction and the spider gears were swapped so the taper faced out instead of in that you could eliminate the housing around them. Do they not make them this way because its hard to make gears that way or because the teeth would be weak? In your case the housing holds the grease in, but in road vehicles there is a larger housing already around them.

[@diypapie8428]

Feeling inlighted from your ideas well well well done 👌👌🍻

[@homemade_madness]

niko debruyne thanks bro!

[@danielramirezcruz.2209]

Great work l love it thanks..super trabajo me encanta mil gracias

[@rider68-12]

I love the build. It totally makes sense, to use something like this. That type of horsepower would something like this hold up to?

[@dsheffield2010]

Well being that all of the drive parts are still car diff gears as well as the spider gear shaft it should be more than any go cart you could put it on.

[@homemade_madness]

Yup, i tink 50hp should be no problem as long as you support the axles strong enough

[@Iowa599]

Since it should have heavy oil (~80w90, idk the model), instead of a zerk and really heavy grease, some "00" grease may be better. You would need a fill plug, though, because it is the lightest grease, which is just slightly thicker than the heaviest oil.

[@jonhunt5408]

Unfortunately that differential probably won’t last long. An important piece of the puzzle is that the bearings inside the differential housing are tapered bearings, so they not only support radial load, but also resist axial thrust. As the differential is required to split the rotational needs of each wheel, axial load will be applied through the spider assembly to the bearings. Plain ball bearings will fail as these loads are applied, eventually allowing the spider gears to slip in the housing. Otherwise it’s a very nice piece of diy.

[@Lucas_sGarage]

In theory adding additional bearings outside would do the trick

[@arafatmotogarage]

Realy a cool idea bro keep up I love watching it

[@yachtsteve]

Thanks is SOOOOO cool, also it gave me an idea, I have a leaking differential, I may be adding a grease fitting and swapping out the oil for grease!

[@johng5295]

Thanks in a million. Great content. Awesome imagination. Grade: A++💥.....

[@ogaugeclockwork4407]

For my kids pedal car I made a differential using 4” angle grinder replacement gear sets.

[@luisperenna988]

Vilebrequin approved

[@Hellsong89]

Good work other than potentially frying the bearings, not allowing any maintenance since there is no way other than grinder to open it, those bearing do not have way to get oiled and grease only have one way out, the bearing seals. Also grease will hamper gears working so its stiffer that could be beneficial in this setup but it should be stiff oil instead.

[@vancroft13]

Not a huge fan of your choice of music (Mostly the so-called manipulated vocal stuff, 🤯🥴) BUT I'm Huge Fan of your Outstanding work and ideas, Again well done and executed!!!

[@homemade_madness]

thanks, i know the music isn't perfect

[@DJRute]

love your content!!! Can't wait for the next video

[@lucasvanhamburg4937]

Litterally has an differential. Today we will make a differential out of a differential!

[@boltonky]

That is a cool little build :) , reality once you have a lathe and possibly mill lifes easy....try doing it all by hand haha. Keep up the hard work :) and practice

[@daltonwalters558]

Once you have a diff you can't go anywhere my opinion but if you want to keep your yard nice it be perfect for that

[@homemade_madness]

Its better for on-road use, offroad, i agree youre better off with a solid axle

[@randallslattman3119]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHbMhIewgJJ0aKM

[@moshehayon1999]

You are crazy man! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@Justamanonamission77]

Good job bud! Nice to see some young guys making the impossible possible! I have a drift trike and run pvc sleeves to make up for no diff. It would be awesome to make a diff for mine but ill just feel better knowing someone else did it :) You didnt mention what that diff came off of?

[@iamcancer3298]

And i thought you might have used the carrier as a housing, with axle tubes...👍good stuff

[@dnomyarnostaw]

Came for the differential, stayed for the Poetry.

[@sudrajatsuhaeli6212]

Very good job, bro 👍

[@Goatee_yay]

Great for people who don't like doing donuts or drifting but do like 1 tire fire burnouts.

[@nikolakhs89]

is there a way to lock differential when the situation ask for it so the wheels spin together?

[@shawnmarks1400]

Good idea and we'll done my friend well done

[@RealCascars]

Cool, I Learnd how a diff works from lego😂😂 Echt coole video’s groetjes, misschien in de toekomst een meeting met mastermilo? Film jij in je eentje?

[@homemade_madness]

CasCars haha. Ja zou wel vet zijn misschien ooit maar moet ik eerst groter zijn. Jup, doe het alleen.

[@Caspertl2]

How much power could a diff like this handle? What about a 130 hp RWD street quad/ATV? :D

[@david667766]

Nice but im not sure how long the welded driveshaft will last

[@homemade_madness]

i had my doubts too, but its held up fine so far

[@prawny12009]

in the perfect world there would be no war, no hate, no disasters and ..... no corners

[@bobsean7866]

Kool am inspired to make one for my current project

[@tonya9614]

I was waiting to see how you were going to make it serviceable, guess not😝

[@bilteman_hukkaportti]

Differential will last forever, with no oilservice, that what they told at car dealership 😃

[@shacharliberman5084]

There's no way throwing a diff on a kart is something new. However if you can make a full size car that jacks the rear inside wheel up in the air while cornering- now that would be a true novalty :)

[@andyjota8906]

You did not say where you got the bevel gears from and the luck you had getting all the same teeth????

[@HackTarget786003]

Awesome video ... btw whats the music name ?

[@joshnolastname407]

No vent? Seams like the seals would start leaking in a short time , great job tho👍

[@stevenjennings8347]

Awesome informational educational video experience Y'alls God Bless Ya 🙏

[@R.N.GPerformance]

i see you had to throw cars and cameras pic in the mix lol

[@TheProblematic93]

Called the Crosscart... Stormtrooper?

[@nano-gq9tv]

Yep😂 and rather b weddings doom buggy it the first 1 it showed

[@Tampaboys]

This is a really cool video bud

[@homemade_madness]

Tampa Boys Customs thanks🤙🏻

[@ГянджаТойс]

Please say why you do not add 3, 4, 5, 6 more arachnid cogwheels?

[@dennismenace5174]

This is the video i was waiting for.. You have quenched my thirst

[@homemade_madness]

Dennis Kamau no problem! Thanks for watching

[@TheKencoffee]

Someone forgot to zero the grinder before they started.