Drift Board Build!

Hello Everyone,

I’ve posted a wanted ad here as I’m looking to get two 50mm to test a new concept.

Now that the skate cycle is well on its way, what I’d really like to build is a board that can drift. When I say drift, I mean like a real car. I want both real wheels spinning with minimal traction so the back end slides out and then the front end controls direction (For the most part). In order to make this happen, what I’m envisioning is a board with a pivot in the middle, so that steering can be controlled not only by leaning, but also by rotation of the front or rear foot. Similar to how you steer a skatecycle or a snakeboard. Except I think I only need one pivot point as opposed to two. To get a good drift, both rear wheels need to be spinning and I was thinking of putting some abs piping over the wheels to reduce traction. The front wheel(s) would also need a drive mechanism as they would essentially be what is propelling the board forward to sustain a drift. The rear wheels will provide some forward momentum, but given they are going to mostly be spinning, it probably wouldn’t be enough to sustain a long drift which is my goal.

I have a concept in mind to build an axle that drives both rear wheels at the same time with a belt drive from one motor. I’m going to fab it out of old skateboard bearing, tubing and whatever else I have lying around. No idea if it will work or not…

For the front, I’m going to just do a homemade motor mount and a belt drive to keep it simple.

What do you guys think? Is it feasible?

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Sound’s like you’re trying to make a Lief board :stuck_out_tongue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXAODHCVBvA

It’s easy enough to drift a longboard anyway…ride faster and practice slides.

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I’ve seen those and while they look like drifting, they are cheating in my opinion by using casters. There is another non-electric one like that as well that I’ve seen.

I want a real drift, back tires smoking!!!

I’m not talking about a little slide, I’m talking about a sustained drift that you control with throttle. Like formula D type stuff.

Also putting ABS over your wheels sounds like a recipe for disaster. You might just want to try to find higher durometer wheels.

Yeah you might be right with the wheels, but the reason why I said ABS initially was because there are some guys locally with electric drift trikes and they use this on the rear wheels to give them some nice sliding action.

A lot easier to balance on a sliding trike, than longboard :slight_smile:

I’m sure you’re right. But given that this is new territory, there is only one way to learn…the hard way haha.

Don’t forget to pad up!

I’m planning on going full hockey gear basically haha.

You could try front wheel drive with slippery rear wheels like they do with the electric drift trikes. Seems like the best way to control speed and slide at the same time. I might try flipping my board around backwards, reversing my motor rotation, and jam some pvc on my non-driven wheels. For science, of course. Got my wheels turning now…:laughing:

That’s definitely the concept I’m going for. If you try it out, let me know how it works!

But I think a major factor in this is having a pivot in the board. The drift trike can steer independent of the sliding wheels just like cars. The ability to countersteer while drifting is in my opinion what separates a slide from a drift.

Of course I want the rear wheels to be spinning so that I can “burn rubber” or some sort of plastic in this case haha.

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Please record for posterity

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Good point. Probably need to loosen the crap out of the front truck, and lean heavily to maintain directional control during the slide. Maybe even wedge the front truck for additional steering. Dammit, now I have a new project to work on…I love this shit.

Sort of sounds to me like you’re describing Carver trucks for the front.

please do give it a try and let us know how it goes. glad I have someone else wanting to venture down this path!

I’ve still got to get some motors and wait for some stuff to be sent from HK before I can get this going so might be a little whIle. …

This should be interesting. I’ve been trying to imagine how or if this would actually work, but I guess I’ll find out soon…

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Lol…awe man…ur gonna bust yo azz

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Dude, be sure to have somebody shoot video on your first try.

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