rupp dart 1/2 steering shaft help

[ted johnson]

I'm with Gary. I too, broke a 1/2" Bug shaft back in '60. A 16 year old can more easily withstand a crash such as that which followed than a 60 year old can! We always buy the long unwelded Azusa kit, then I CAD design the appropriate pittman arm and get it water jet cut. Have it welded by someone who knows what they are doing! Ted

[Scott Elkes]

Kind of like this Gary and Ted? I shot this video three years ago while helping return an idled kart track to service. It was very frightening to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA3eXlpK-JY

[chuck giacobbe]

gary, sorry but i could not resist this one. broken steering shaft, broken kart frame, broken trailer, broken 101, how many broken crankshafts,  since you guys like trophies so much i'm going to offer one. the schleprock vintage kart award. gary you definitely won it last year and you are on track for receiving it this year too.

[Tom Day]

if you've ever had a 1/2 shaft break on you,     like I have,,,you know the answer....


gw

Gary's right, safety first. A broken shaft at any speed is dangerous and would ruin your whole weekend let alone an injury to you or someone else.

Robert Stanton of Robron should have what you need.

[David Luciani]

As a vintage karter/hobbiest can or should you retain a steering shaft that was banned as being unsafe in the early years ?

  These aren't yard toys when we run them on the track so the answer depends on a few things.
first is the shaft in that good condition where re-using it is safe? Careful inspection may reveal a crack look especially on the inside of the bent rod and where the hole goes through for the cotter pin if one is there.
If the kart is completely original and lightly used it would make restoration sense to keep it and run a small motor in demos. a west bend 580 three port ,a mc5,mc49 (stock), any homelite,or perhaps a stock p.p. 47 or 58 in demo runs with a lightly used steering shaft should be o.k.

Keeping a nice survivor complete would basically be the ONLY reason to retain the old steering shaft.

if you're getting or using any bigger motor buy a new steering shaft.
Robert Stanton of Rob Ron has exactly what you need and azusa can sell you the right parts that'll need to be fit up to your kart.
anyone competent with fabrication should have little to no trouble . Be sure to have quality welds laid in this is a job for an everyday welder if you aren't personally certain your welds are safe. Good welds are critical and failed welds can literally be a life and death/serious injury.

This shouldn't be a rules discussion. Forget about the VKA rules or Tbo rules or any tracks rules. This is an issue of safety which effects more than just yourself. If your steering goes south while at speed you can seriously injure yourself. While this would suck you are over 21 and free to be dangerous with yourself. The real issue is you'll be on the track with others that may not want to visit the hospital. If being a good guy and keepimng people safe doesn't work for you the phrase Knew or should have Known might be incentive. Those are lawyer words used in hostile situations enough said!!
if you have any doubts at all it is better to ere on the side of caution with steering issues or other safety questions.





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[ted johnson]

Along those same lines is the pittman arm attachment on '61 Bug products. The '58 thru '60 Bugs had a bent pittman arm, but in '61, Bug went to a square end milled onto the steering shaft with a 1/4" tapped hole in the end with a welded-on steering wheel. A flat pittman arm with a square hole pushed onto the end of the shaft and was secured with a 1/4" cap screw and flat washer. Horrible assembly! They always loosened and the shaft end became slightly rounded, as did the hole in the pittman. The only solutions are to weld on the pittman, which means the shaft has to be cut in order to disassemble, or to replace shaft, pittman and wheel with an aftermarket setup. The other issue with early Bug products was the ease with which the steering could go over center and steer the kart in the opposite direction from that intended. My pal, Jerry, had this happen in Ft. Pierce, FL when he was coming into the pits after a run on Pop's Wasp. He ended up stiff-arming another fellow's Oldsmobile and putting a big dent in his door. TJ

[Terry Bentley]

The other issue with early Bug products was the ease with which the steering could go over center and steer the kart in the opposite direction from that intended. My pal, Jerry, had this happen in Ft. Pierce, FL when he was coming into the pits after a run on Pop's Wasp. He ended up stiff-arming another fellow's Oldsmobile and putting a big dent in his door. TJ

Something like this?
   

[ted johnson]

Yep! Something like that... TJ

[Mel Ruffner]

The other issue with early Bug products was the ease with which the steering could go over center and steer the kart in the opposite direction from that intended. My pal, Jerry, had this happen in Ft. Pierce, FL when he was coming into the pits after a run on Pop's Wasp. He ended up stiff-arming another fellow's Oldsmobile and putting a big dent in his door. TJ

Something like this?

Thanks everyone for your  imputs on this matter as I do want to be safe. My days of real hard racing are behind me but very excited about vintage racing, but not going real quick. I ,am 66 years old, my mind tells me i,am 30 but my body says I,am old. I don,t know how to weld so I will have to find someone to weld the 5/8 bushings and i guess is the steering arm.

[David Luciani]

any local welder with a shop would be totally capable of doing a good job.
if it was me i'd source the parts from rob ron for best fit.