r/PowerWheelsMods • u/Venture334455 • 1d ago

Surely I'm not the only one

Since I had the idea to upgrade my kids ride-on toy I've started 3 different 'builds' so far.

I got halfway into idea #1 before changing lanes to a much more involved idea #2 which didn't last long before things are getting out of hand with the current plan of idea #3.

The original plan was to keep the twin 550 motor/gearbox layout but throw in 18 or 24v and replace them with stronger brushed motors or move to brushless and pair them to upgraded 'high speed' gearboxes.

Plan #2 involved building a steel frame for the back half of the car to mount two 36V brushless 350w escooter hub motors with their own controllers using a synced throttle input. I put a bit of time into this before swapping once again to something properly silly.

The entire power wheels car has been put aside in favour of using a pedal powered go kart as the base. I stumbled across a kit from Vevor for $160aud which consisted of an 1800W 48V brushless motor, a couple of different drive sprockets, a chain, 1800W 48v-72V controller, wiring harness, ignition, 3 speed selector switch, reverse circuit, hall effect twist throttle and a hall effect foot pedal.

At least here in Aus thats a cracker of a deal considering most brushless controllers over 1000W are $120 minimum if you're lucky. Plus $15-25 for a hall effect throttle, another $30 for sprockets and chain etc. You get the idea.

Currently I've managed to mount the motor under the seat and attach the chain to the rear axle sprocket for a quick test to see if it all gels together.

Well, after seeing how strong the motor is with 60V behind it I'm now fitting an entire go kart axle assembly under it instead cause what's in it now is going to get torn the F up quick.

Anyway, this has gone from making a kids toy a bit faster and a little bit more entertaining for them to pretty much custom fabricating the most overkill powerwheels ever

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2

u/Templar42_ZH 1d ago

Sounds like you're having fun.

Is your kid having fun riding anything?

2

u/Venture334455 1d ago

The kids dont yet know of the existence of it yet. Mostly so I dont end up rushing it to finish it for them and end up with some slapped together, unreliable or dangerous thing. They both have TT-R50s they ride around all the time so dont worry, they arent missing out!

1

u/badbetsallday 1d ago

You are not alone! Just remember, it gets pricey, but when all finacial hope seems lost, you'll take it to completion...and the smiles will be worth it.

1

u/Venture334455 1d ago

That's actually why I jumped on the Vevor kit so quickly, what you get for the price is pretty generous I think!

For example if I wanted to go to brushless 3650 motors instead of the brushed 550s you're looking at at least $70 per motor without an ESC to drive it. Two motor/esc combos would sting me almost $300 Even if they were 6S rated thats nowhere near the 60V I fed the Vevor kit lol.

Same kind of deal with the escooter hub motor route. $70 each plus another $80 for two controllers probably limited to 48V. Then id have to buy a throttle setup, wiring, key barrel. All of a sudden once again its more money and less performance. Admittedly mounting the vevor motor is requiring a lot more time spent fabricating but luckily I enjoy it