So I wrote that sometimes heavy is beter than filmsy. My colleague had such heavy sidecar to his Junak bike, we called his rig "The Tank" . It was a bit hard to drive (track wider than wheelbase) but acted as a reliable truck. Simplest cheap passenger tub will be a copy of russian one but without narrow ends, just the same width in every point. Two sheetmetal sidewalls and one simple straight sheetmetal as back-bottom-front. For you, as good welder, it should be easy to connect. Straight sidewalls give better place to mount crutch holders than round tub. Or you may build a cargo version. You have good base. Add a big trunk with modified lid to make it accessible from motorcycle seat or from outside. Maybe some army surplus. Army hardware is durable and well engineered. I had a trailer with such chest.
Other cheap tub will be a plywood one. Wood, glue, few simple sheetmetal elements. Somewhere on this forums a guy posted photos from whole making of. As I can rmember it was two-person side by side version.
I am trying to build a replica HD car and have run into many problems. I cut the two sides out of 18gauge sheet metal and have the top/bottom tapered to fit like a vintage HD car. The shape is bang on with the car being 78" in length and 22" wide. It is 20" tall, 17" to the hatch cut out. Now the main problem is attaching the top to the sides. First attempt was plug welding 1/2" angle around the perimeter and plug welding the top to the angle. No luck as warpage from the welding and grinding the plugs resulted in chopping the whole thing up and depositing it in a metal recycling bin. Attempt number two..... What if I stitch welded the top to the sides? Of course, I would use jigs and braces to hold everything together until it was fully welded. I'm wondering if this is the proper procedure before I load up on more 18 gauge sheet metal!
This is similar to how we do unibody auto framing. Sad thing is, we have dedicated fixtures to hold everything, and tack weld it in strategic areas, then remove the fixtures and go back and do lots of welds. Perhaps you can do the same with clamps and 2x4s? We mock up the entire body at once, and try to evenly do the welding, so any warpage is symmetrical. Wish I could help more, but I'm not really a sheet metal guy, I maintained the robots and clamping fixture. Our framing fixture cost 20x more than my house, but we can go from a bunch of sheet metal to a basic car frame in less than a minute. I think you're on the right track with a piece of angle around the perimeter. At the very least, for temporary support, but permanent sounds right. Making it thicker than the sheet doesn't sound right, though, keep it thin, and maybe in spots you can't see, rivets would work? I don't see why the whole underside can't be riveted.
You can use 1/2'' thin wall angle on sidewalls perimeter. But the corner will not be made from the sheetmetal itself, only from angle with lap-joint welded to the wings of angle. Weld with short tacks and then weld with very short (but not too thin) welds. At the end, round everything up with a flap disc. Technoque used when making containers, looking very nice.
Thanks, I’ll try it again. Lots of metal available!
Why don't you try buying a body from a builder like SWEET Sidecars in Greenville, SC or Melbourne, Fl.? I would think that would work for you as it did for me. Whichever is closest for you. I bought the body complete with upholstery. Contact Johnny or Eric for pricing.
Yes, that is an option. I hate being defeated and I am a good welder, it’s just the specialized equipment and jigs that I don’t have access to. I am seriously leaning in that direction. The frame and mounting assembly is no problem.
I can understand your thinking. I built the frame and all the attachments myself with help from an expert on how to assemble them so they didn't bend or break. I am 74 and I thought my time was better spent riding than building a body. I found an ad for Sweet sidecars in today's Craigslist. $3485 painted and installed. I'm quite sure he will sell you a body without the frameworks if thats what you want.
https://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/d/sweet-motorcycle-sidecars/6533839670.html
Busadave, Turning left with a right hand mount hack is always going to take more effort than turning right. Reducing the trail on your front end will greatly reduce the steering effort in both directions.
