Direct Drive from Toughbox Gearbox

[diesel]

Our team is looking to directly drive a wheel from the Toughbox Gearbox.
We would like to use an IFI traction wheel or a AndyMark performance wheels.
How would we go about doing this?
Any help would be nice.

[AJ R]

The 500 key hub from andymark will work for this.

http://andymark.biz/am-0077.html

[Leav]

My team is also interested in this concept so any ideas would be appreciated.
we might have a problem with our 8" wheels being too fast for this though...

-Leav

[kevin.li.rit]

You may want a longer shaft for the output shaft of the the tough box. Your wheels or the hub on the wheels need a key. I believe you can also lengthen the output shaft with a hex coupler to use with the performance wheel with the hext bore. If I remember one was actually in the 2004 kit.

[AJ R]

We may need a longer shaft on our transmission too. I wonder if the long axle from the super shifter could work? Or will the hex part be too long inside of the transmission?

http://andymark.biz/am-0126.html

[kevin.li.rit]

It looks long enough that the hex part will be outside of the gearbox. I'm assuming it's the right diameter?

[Alex.Norton]

I believe that it is the right diameter, however, the back end is too large and the hex part is too long so unless you have a lather and are willing to modify it you aren't going to be a ble to use the hex shaft from the supershifter.

[Chipawa]

This has become an issue for our team, too. We are considering driving an AndyMark omniwheel directly off of the toughbox and figure we are going to need a shaft coupling. Any advice would be appreciated.

~Chip Tucker

[kevin.li.rit]

You can try and look for shaft couplers on mcmaster.

[JHSmentor]

Ah, I was wondering if anyone else was having this problem as well. I talked to AndyMark and they do not have a longer output shaft that will work with the ToughBox. Two ways to resolve this if you want an axle that goes all the way through:

1. connect the output shaft to an axle using a shaft coupling. There are several models available at Mcmaster and Grainger or other places like that. You can choose from a ridgid coupler or a flex coupler that would allow for some play or misalignment between the shafts (be careful with torque ratings on these).

2. the output shaft has a 1/4-20 tapped hole in the end (1/2" deep). We are using a Grade 8 1/4 - 20 bolt through our outer wheel plate (with a bearingin the plate) as our axle and it will screw directly into the output shaft. The bolt will have spacers over it to take up the remaining space within the wheel center bore. Then we use the keyed Shaft HUB that AM sells to actually drive the wheel from the output shaft.

We have not tested option 2 under load or anything but I belive it will be strong enough. Without this bolt, the wheel would essentially be supported by the toughbox which is also plenty strong in most cases I think.

[sheikhmo]

I'm a mentor for a rookie team, and nobody on our team has had any mechanical experience (I'm an electrical engineer). Our team is also looking at powering the center wheels with the Toughbox. We would like to avoid chains and just use a direct drive method.
So since I have no experience with mechanical stuff, I was wondering if anyone had a picture or drawing of how to do this. The manual has some drawings on how to mount a wheel and using chains, but nothing on direct drive. Also, just to give you an idea of how little I know, I don't know what a hub is!
Any help would be much appreciated.

[AndyB]

If going trying to find a longer shaft for the toughbox, you must purchase the 2" extended shaft for the AndyMark single speed gearbox and then on input end, use a lathe to take the diameter down from 1/2" to 3/8". You may also need to consider a different bolt or drilling out a larger hole on the output side of the shaft.

The shaft is not hardened so your lathe should be able to do the job as well as any other steel part. Keep in mind, AndyMark does not sell a longer shaft, or endorse this style of shaft. Use this at your own risk and please do not send out emails to AndyMark complaining if you are having difficulty.

Hope this works.