??? How to drive a single rear wheel on a front wheel drive car

[rmay635703]

I have been toying with this idea for a long time and really don't see any way to do it with off the shelf. (aka drive a rear wheel on a fwd car)

My hope was to find a way to get a halfshaft on a dummy rear axle so I could then drive it from something.

Hub motors won't work (1800lbs/4 causes rapid failure)

I really don't want to jack up the car a foot to fit in a straight axle.

Anyone have any good ideas what might be able to accomplish this without rapid failure?

Thanx
Ryan

[spacemanspif]

Your question is kind of confusing me. Are you wanting to turn a 4 wheel car into a 3 wheeler? And use the car's engine to drive the rear wheel? If so, I'm thinking you are going to need the back end of a motorcycle, shaft drive might be a good idea or a sprocket on the driven axle of the trans for chain/belt drive.

[Frank Lee]

I have been pondering the same thing for years... and not come up with anything that doesn't require a bunch of cutting and fabrication.

Except if you start with an AWD Tempo!!! Very nice li'l IRS half-shaft set-up. Except none of my fleet of Tempos is AWD. Come to think of it, all I'd probably need to get is the rear carrier bearing and half-shaft for one side and it should bolt right in! And it wouldn't need any of the other AWD stuff anyway. Hmmmmm.

I suppose any little AWD car would give a tremendous head start on such a project.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Your question is kind of confusing me. Are you wanting to turn a 4 wheel car into a 3 wheeler?
I'm thinking you are going to need the back end of a motorcycle, shaft drive might be a good idea or a sprocket on the driven axle of the trans for chain/belt drive.

Frank is right on,

I am not looking to do either of the things you mention.

I am looking for a better way to integrate mild hybrid activity into a front wheel drive car by driving a rear wheel. The way I have seen done is to use a 5th wheel off a trailer hitch, interesting but not reliable enough for me.

The motorcycle idea is interesting but I don't really have a safe method of placement for the drivetrain forward or behind the wheel, also a motorcycle would cause the wheel to be floating, it wouldn't be stablized in terms of yaw as well as I would like.

Ah well, one guy has rebuilt a chinese hub motor into something almost usable, but he uses it off a half shaft as the bearings even when rebuilt are up to bouncing on a wheel.

If anyone can solve this problem I think we are in the golden era of conversions from junkyard parts, just don't realize it yet.

Cheers
Ryan

[Daox]

Interesting idea, can't wait to see what we all come up with.

[vskid3]

I think Frank is on the right track with using an AWD car or one that could have had AWD (maybe even another model based on the same platform). You could even use the rear diff for gear reduction and to drive both rear wheels.

[ksa8907]

Ahem....

I'll just leave this here. Turn Your Car Into a Plug-In Hybrid for $3,000 | WIRED

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

Ahem....

I'll just leave this here. Turn Your Car Into a Plug-In Hybrid for $3,000 | WIRED

Yeah, I have seen things like that for years but its just another variation of a hub motor, you've got grime and vibration to deal with, copper wire connections don't deal with that type of thing very well.

Add to that the bearing wear out much more rapidly, even on rear now steering wheels.

If they could move the motor in so it wouldn't be suspended then they might have something

Even if it was in slightly it would still be less direct impact than in the hub it would be better.

Ah well.

[oil pan 4]

I think if you got the rear drive and suspension out of an SUV or cross over that would be a great start.
One that has available aftermarket gear ratios would be a plus.

[Hersbird]

And early AWD Dodge Grand Caravan. Seems you wouldn't have to start with an AWD model just use a normal version and get the rear suspension out of the junkyard. Then lose thar big center diff and put a motor there. There will also be plenty of room for a large battery pack.