Power Wheels Bronco build

[eBronc2]

Found some golf cart wheels and tires on FBM for a good price. Need a good cleaning, but at least they're all the same size. I know they look a little big, but once the suspension is under the Bronco (#2), the wheelbase is stretched a little, and the body is stretched to fit (probably in the door area), the proportions will be better. I hope.

OK, back to Bronco #1. All the stock black plastic wheels on the Broncos are the same, but to make it a "drive wheel" they screw a plastic adapter to the inside of the wheel, which fits into the output drive gear of the motor/gearbox.

To make other wheels "drive wheels", you need another adapter (and motor/gearbox. obviously). ML Toys has these 3D-printed drive wheel adapters, they screw right in. Since they and the wheels have a hole for the axle, motor/gearboxes can be slid over the front spindles to drive the FRONT wheels as well, making it real four wheel drive. The front spindles aren't quite long enough to accomodate the gearbox, adapter, and wheel, so to retain the front wheel to the spindle an extension will needed to screw onto the thread on the spindle, and provide threads to use the Nylock nut that retains the wheel.

The plastichrome wheelcovers/hubcaps on the stock wheels are shiny, but lack depth.

So, I added some detail to them with flat black model paint and a Sharpie. I doubt anyone will notice, but I had fun for about an hour.

 

[eBronc2]

Scored a 4WD, lifted, Bluetooth-enabled parts donor on FBM for $100. New, these things are $500 - $600. Seller said it had a bad battery, but when I got it home and checked things out, it turned out the battery was fine - the problem was the original charger was bad.

Yeah, it's a Jeep, but I just bought it for the parts - suspension, wheels/tires, motor/gearboxes, wiring harness, etc. Not the first time a Jeep donated parts for a Bronco project.

Rear swing arm suspension with coilovers, 16" x 6" rubber tires, four 12 volt motors, lots of led lights, Bluetooth remote control - now I just need to swap all of that into the Bronco.

 

[sprdv1]

Love the project.. Thanks for sharing the journey

 

[eBronc2]

Been doing some work on it, mostly fabricating an entire solid axle front suspension - the Jeep front suspension was just absolute crap, only things I ended up using from it were the drive motor portal gearboxes.

Started with the axletube itself - actually an 18" long section of old garage jack handle. Thick and heavy. Welded on outer knuckles from a shifter kart, coil-over shock mounting tabs, a bracket for the track bar, and pass-through tubes for the radius arm bolts.

The hardest part of fabricating the front axle housing was getting the knuckles welded on correctly to allow about 1/2 a degree of negative camber for the front wheels, and about 2 degrees of caster so they track straight without constant correction.

 

[eBronc2]

If you're wondering why the spindles are so long, it's because the portal motor gearboxes need to slip over them, and they need to be long enough to pass all the way through the wheel and be able to thread a locknut on the end to retain everything. The portal gearboxes needed a little opening up with a 5/8" bit to slip over the spindles.

All 4 wheels have these drive dogs bolted to them that fit into the drive sleeves in the portal gearboxes. These are the wheel/tire assemblies from the power wheels Jeep, they are plastic, but the tires are actually a soft rubber bonded to them - lots more traction, and a lot smoother and quieter on pavement and rocks.

Just enough room to get a Nylock jam nut on the end of the threads of the spindle.

 

[eBronc2]

More fabrication: Here are the track bar, tie rod, and drag link - all internally threaded aluminum tubing, with 1/4" rod ends.

Everything in place and mocked up. The upper track bar mount uses the original axle mounting location in the bottom of the plastic body. Coilover shocks have lengthened shafts to accommodate the suspension travel. The tie rod attaches to the top of the steering arms of the knuckles, for increased ground clearance - ("tie rod over"). The radius arms are 3/8" threaded aluminum tubes, with fabricated frame mounts that are welded to the original steel "frame" rails that run under the Bronco plastic body. The drag link is attached to the power steering gearbox from the power wheels Jeep, that will enable remote control steering.

If the front axle and suspension look familiar, they should - I basically copied the layout of my full size '71 Bronco (full-width high pinion D44, custom steering, 8 lug GM disk brakes).

 

[eBronc2]

The rear suspension I pretty much swapped right over from the power wheels Jeep, it's not impressive, but it's adequate...for now. Basically just swing arms pivoting from frame mounts, with adjustable coilovers. The frame mounts are actually old wheelbarrow axle brackets I had lying around the shop, they worked great.

I still need to weld in the tailgate hinge support, the receiver hitch, and swap over the entire wiring harness from the power wheels Jeep. When finished, the Bronco will have true four wheel drive with four 12 volt motors, several speed levels, portal gearboxes, full coilover suspension, twin 12 volt lithium ion batteries, opening hood and tailgate, and full remote control over forward, backwards, and proportional steering.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

What a fun gizmo! You've got some dadgum good vision and dandy fab skills! Looking forward to seeing it in action!

 

[Qumanchew]

This thing is getting serious! Very cool!

 

[Speedrdr]

How long will it run on a charge?

Randy

 

[eBronc2]

Still trying to decide between red or blue coils on the shocks...

Flexes ok. Not amazing, but enough for a 2 year old.

 

[eBronc2]

Bronco #1 has been over at the kids' house since Christmas, the original 6v batteries finally gave out, so I had them bring it back to my shop so I could give it a once-over. Upgraded the batteries to a new single 6v, 14 ah battery and cleaned up the wiring a little.

Since I had both Broncos in the shop at the same time, I took the opportunity to put them side by side and get some photos to show the differences between them:

Bronco #1 (small one) - stock body, no suspension, 6v battery and motors on each rear wheel, stock hard plastic wheels/tires. Good for a 2 yr old to learn on, nice and simple.

Bronco #2 (big one) - stock body w/opening hood, frunk, opening tailgate, custom adjustable coil-over suspension, power steering, 12v motor at every wheel (true 4WD), larger wheels w/rubber tires, receiver hitch, dual 12v lithium-ion batteries for more power and extended run time.

 

[eBronc2]

Finally got all the motors, suspension, wiring, relays, power steering box, and Bluetooth remote hooked up and working. Bench tested everything first, then installed it temporarily in the Bronco for a few test runs. Video below:

Everything works, still a few bugs to work out - the steering box is not a servo, just a small motor driving a reduction gearbox that turns the steering shaft. Pretty much like the wheel gearboxes, just smaller. Not being a servo, it has no feedback - which means as long as it's getting a signal to turn the steering shaft, it just keeps rotating it - no stop. When it gets overcenter, the drag link starts pulling the steering arm instead of pushing it, which turns the wheels the other direction (left instead of right, or vice versa). I'll have to install a physical travel limiter or limit switches to prevent that. In the video, it's running on an old, weak 12v battery, once everything is in for good I'll intall the two high capacity 12v lithium batteries, which will give it a lot more amperage to draw from.

Just happy that it all works pretty well, when my Grandson is over to visit he can drive it all over, and I can still control it from the remote if needed.

 

[phred]

Man that’s freaking cool. Well done

 

[dmoses42]

I bet you could put a boat seat in it to make it more comfy... Heck, I have a buddy who has a '71 Bronco that had ratty seats when he got it and he put boat seats in it probably 15 years ago, and is still running them!