Any dads here who've modified their kids PowerWheels?

Bought my son an old Powerwheels jeep off Craigslist for $50. Had 6V out of the box and ran 3.5mph. But now.....It is switchable between 6V,12V or 18V. Voltage is indicated by an LED volt meter mounted in the dash. Has LED headlights (15/per head light), a three point harness out of an old child seat and a tow point off an old Audi. The tow point is perfect for dragging the neighbors kids in their wagons all while beating other kids powerwheels. Oh, and the important part -I clocked it at 11Mph. It's great to live vicariously through my two year old!

 

Awesome

 

So cool man! +1 for being an awesome dad. Now explain the brontosaurus.

 

Ha. Thanks man. Yeah we live in Durham NC and the area is really great for kids. The science museum extends to the park where they have a bunch of dinosaurs randomly propped up over the course of about a half mile. Really cool for my son

 

Back in the late 80's we had a Ford Big Foot Power Wheel, had trouble with tire slippage on wed grass and climbing hills, made a caps out of a John Deere Gator tires, and screwed them on the tires, it made the thing go anywhere.

 

I thought about doing something similar, however I think the wheel spin is what's keeping the transmission alive.

 

I "enhanced" an old 6V power wheels jeep for my son as well. The best mod was adding a second 6V motor on the back axle to drive the other rear wheel. The Jeep is almost unstoppable with both back wheels driven by independent motors.


I also did a batmobile skin for Halloween one year. Starting with a giant foam block and carving with my chainsaw.

Video of Batmobile in action
http://youtu.be/Wz_4Gnd5_dI

 

Back in the early/mid 90s for my daughter. Also added a bunch of stubby screws into the tires as studs for traction and she drove it for years around the farm. Great memories!!

 

Your 2 year old is way more talented than mine! Already operating a supercharged power wheel?? My little fella can't even figure out his trike...he may be destined for some sort of blue collar career, much like his old man.

 

Please start a build thread for this. I have two Power wheels sitting in my back yard. One is a 4 wheeler and the other is a Barbi Jeep. How hard is this to do?

 

I'd post detailed pictures, but the Jeep is now at the grandparents house since we're on leave for a work assignment. SO, here's the breakdown.
ITEMS REQUIRED:
(2) Three-way switches
(2) two-way switches
(1) Small volt meter - MUST BE ABLE TO REGISTER BELOW 6V, here's one similar to the one I used

$10 DROK 0.56" DC 3-30V Digital Voltmeter Voltage Tester Gauge Green Bright LED Display Two Wires Volt Meter for Solar Battery Monitor Car Motor Panel Mount

http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Digital-...550011&sr=8-6&keywords=digital+volt+meter+car
(1) 12 AMP minimum for longevity, 12V SLA (Sealed Lead Acid, very important) battery Note-UPG makes great batteries for this application
(1) 12 AMP ,6V SLA battery
(1) 12V automotive fuse block
(1) piece of really high gauge steel or tin to cover up the exposed switches and wire.
(1) spool of roughly 18 gauge wire

DIRECTIONS (roughly)
like I said, I don't have the jeep in front of me so I'm kind of winging it. To wire this, its best to draw it out as it can be incredibly overwhelming. You have four, three way switches. Each three way switch has six leads while each two way switch has four leads. This means you have yourself twenty pain-in-the-ass connections to make. When I drew it out, which literally was a drawing of four boxes and a bunch of convoluted lines connecting one to the other- I used each two way switch to turn on or off the 6v and 12v batteries. The two three way switches were wired in a manner which allowed each battery to run independently of one another, or in combination (hence the option of 6v,12v and 18v) This is part of the reason I installed the LED volt meter (to the left of the steering wheel in the picture) This switchable power source option really comes in handy when you don't feel like putting your kids seatbelt on and sprinting down the road after them....or when your wife is pissed because she thinks it to dangerous and swears if your kid gets hurt that she'll back over the jeep with her car.
Oh, and run the volt meter in-line with the final output to the gas pedal. This way it picks up any changes in voltage. Otherwise, it might only read 6 or 12 or 18..not 6 and 12 and 18

Anyways, hope this helps. let me know if you have any questions on it.

 

+1000 dad points. That's awesome!

 

Trust me when I say there were plenty of near misses in the beginning. That three point harness saved his ass (and mine from my wife) more than a few times. But, he did get the hang of it quick. I was surprised. The biggest issue at that age isn't the ability to understand, but rather focus. He'll be going full speed down the road, get distracted by a dog taking a dump and then slam into a tree. Kind of funny, actually

 

Great job my man! I just bought a new f150 power wheels for my daughter, can be seen on my profile. Matches my truck exactly. Anyways, I was thinking of wiring 2 upgraded motors from my rc trucks. These things run 50 mph with the current gearing. Very very powerful motors. Theoretically, i could control the speed remotely with my 2.4gz controller. I realize this is a long shot, but does anyone know if or how this can be done?

 

I'm waiting for my nephew to outgrow his power wheel so I can build a subframe and add a small lawnmower engine. His parents are both overprotective helicopters and I'm the fun uncle that lets him get dirty and occasionally we get hurt having fun.

 

Apparently I have a new goal in life.

Have a kid so I can do this kind of shit.

 

I suppose I could just buy a quad but I like the hands on project. I'm sure can relate. I think I may need an electrical engineer for this one..

 

Being an uncle is cheaper and more fun. When he cries I just give him back.

 

Get it! Dads should be heros.