# Belt Driven Single Speed transmission



## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

do you know if it is possible to buy the pulleys/belts separately?


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## michaeljayclark (Apr 3, 2008)

the unit itself I could not find, just the picture. i asked the website owner and they were in brazil. he told me that the units are common but he doesnt know where it came from and if i find it let him know.

Id imagine this can be made.

you can find the pulleys for chain driven on http://www.linngear.com/products/highlights/infosheets/i-1.html

belt driven pulleys are there too.

drill out or get a pulley with a shaft size big enough to press in two bearings. one for the axle that it will run on and one for the traction motor shaft to key into.

have a plate that the axles are welded to.

the other one would have the two bearings, one for the pulley and the other for the splined shaft for the yoke to be put on. then a short drive shaft to the yoke of the rear end. have to have drive shaft because mounting the motor to the rear end would probably mean that the motor would be shaking and motors do not like to be shaken (but not stirred lol)

someone tell me if my thoughts are right here, I am just pulling this picture out my head and could be completely wrong.

and someone tell me why these transmissions have not been tried before?


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

These folks have had several belt drives flying reliably for several years. Since aircraft generally run continuously at 50% power and above, that's a pretty good sign that they've worked out the bugs.

Their pictured version appears to have a shroud to protect critical components in the event of belt failure.


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## michaeljayclark (Apr 3, 2008)

It also looks like it is custom made. I emailed them and see if indeed they are custom made per airplane.

we could beef them up a bit or even use chain drive to handle the torque. Id think we might have to enclose the units and have some kind of gear oil to keep them lubricated and oiled.

of course cars have timing belts that are just there with no heat dissipation. superchargers are the same way yet have no cooling.

I would think if we could machine one and just have the pulleys interchangeable to change ratio we could replace the transmission this way


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

They make them to mate to a Chevy engine.

How much horsepower do you need to handle? If you're going belt drive, have you considered a CVT instead? Snowmobile CVTs handle up to 200hp. The belt would probably wear faster than a toothed belt, but you'd get much better performance.

I asked about doing this a while back. For an EV you would probably want to modify the CVT so that it never "goes into neutral" (slips at low rpm). No need with an electric motor.


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## michaeljayclark (Apr 3, 2008)

have considered a snowmobile tranny but I like the simplification of having 2 spockets and one or two chains or belts.

Ive seen the belts handle a dragcar so i think the hp and torque could be handled. if not just go with a wider belt or two belts.

Ill make a wooden mock up and see how it plays out.

got a reply from beltedair. they said they are made inhouse and are proprietary LOL I figured they were custom made as needed. so that probably means the cost to make it isnt too terrible. instead of aircraft aluminum we could just use steel.


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## michaeljayclark (Apr 3, 2008)

found this company is canada that makes gear reducers for airplanes that can be changed/made for electric vehicles:

http://glasairproject.com/Marcotte/Page2.html


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## ElectrifiedMonteSS (Feb 27, 2011)

That trannys sound like good ideas, however moving a prop is more different than pushing/pulling a car.. We all know that there is wasted gears in both the auto and manual trannys.. 

Whats needed is for someone to look into what is needed for a simple 2 speed manual and 2 speed auto.. my first thought was for a older 2 speed powerglide.. but they are really hard to find complete, or someone that has one thinks it is worth a ton of gold.. autos have a bleed off issue that I know another forum member solved and I’m sure any other trany speed shop could manage as well once they got past the fact that you were putting it behind an electric motor! LOL

I do have some other tranny related questions but I’m not sure this is the right thread to bring them up.. please point me in the right direction!

Thx, 
Kevin


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## michaeljayclark (Apr 3, 2008)

the powerglide holds the most hope. $3000 from kansas ev already modified.


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## Bags (Jun 20, 2010)

Direct drive + overdrive unit is another option.


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## wb9hco (Nov 11, 2009)

I began looking for a gearbelt pulley as well, and did find quite a few here if you are willing to construct your own drive mechanism.
see:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_nkw=gearbelt pulleys&rvr_id=230114785096
many of these pulleys have taperlock adapters to fit many different shaft sizes.
Might help, and they are pretty common it seems.

Paul


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