I've seen this done on motorcycle, golf cart or luggage racks on the back of an RV. The caster needs some amount of suspension itself but there may even be a pre-built product out there.
@@daleolson3506 Even if you don't believe him when he says it's rwd, you should be able to use common sense to know that the burnout was achieved with the rear wheel, something that a fwd car is not capable of.
Ah yes, now you just need some casters on the motorcycle carrier and you'll have a proper wheelie bar for your 2000 ft-lb output Smart Car. A drag strip is a closed course, right?
I have about 40 “Chief Engineers “. Now I have to rank them, Master Chief, Hauptleute und Rittmeister Engineer, etc. I look forward to your Hayabusa swap into the Smart. You know you want to.
This is gold man, I love this stuff, and I love the way you think. It feels like something dumb I would do myself, in every way possible, from "torx doesn't fit so I make it fit" to "small bike + small car = big brain". I look forward to whatever you do next. Time to binge everything you've already done.
The bumper beam is the normal method of attaching a hitch to a European car... but they normally use a more substantial beam to replace the non-towing part... they don't just weld a receiver box to the part designed with minimal torsional strength. But SuperfastMatt knows that.
Found this channel in my recommendation with the Tesla door handles and I'm now binging all your videos, amazing blend of humor and engineering, truly a hidden gem of a channel
I honestly thought this was just going to be a hilarious set up for motorbike engine swap in that smart car. But oh well. Now all you need is a sketchy abom79 motorbike mount on the front end and all with be in perfect balance with the world.
I think the Torx bolts were TX45. Haven't taken one apart in a long time. Also I have the suspicion the carrier and the bike slightly exceed the maximum bearing load of 99lb (45kg for German Matt). But you can actually tow 450kg (992lb) with the 451
Bro i had a smart as a daily for a super long time. I have a 100 pound dog, and it perfectly fits in the back . As for the RWD and traction control, there is a hack where you short a pin in the OBD, and you get sideways like no other. Of course, on snow.
Those big holes at the end of your welds are usually caused by taking the filler metal away too fast. I ran into that issue when I learned stick welding. My instructor showed me to just hover over the spot about a second longer to compensate.
I also think that small cars are fun, but there are limitations. I'm impressed that you managed to reengineer the Smart's bumper beam to actually support a Honda Grom, but even though you managed to haul said Grom without turning your Smart to a 2 wheeler, I wouldn't recommend hauling anything heavier than a 50's vintage Schwin.
I just bought a Citroen Berlingo 2 seater van 2007 year with 1.4 litre petrol and manual 5 speed. Think French bead van. Sooooooooo much fun. Every journey is an adventure with people waving and me waving back. Small hills needs 2 or more down changers. The best ! Needs actual driving and it corners with so much roll it just puts a smile on my face
I was an expediter for a construction company for a time, young and dumb, driving a GMC W3500 short wheelbase, short box straight truck. Had to pick up a couple pallets of shingles from homme de potte, but their good fork lift was broken down. They were unable to push the pallets forward more than to barely be able to close the door. Every bump put the steer axle in the air. Longest delivery of my life.
I wish that I could show you the photos that I have seen of a Smart that was rear-ended by a drunk in a VW Golf 1 (think 80's VW Rabbit and you're close). The Golf was totalled. The Smart was driven home, and repaired within a week. Plenty strong in that brace.
That was absolutely superb old chap, so I have now cancelled my subscription to Netflix and you're going to have to get cracking on with more of these sublime feats of engineering excellence...
I love these videos. As one who thinks wrenches are cool art and welding is done with magic they are very educational. i am ;looking forward to seeing the first 1950 Jagutesla on the road
Hm... ...all this time the “dammit tool” was actually the chief engineer. No wonder we keep having problems. The chief ain’t getting the respect it deserves.
I bought a Honda 600 couple new in 1972. What a wonderful car. I had Astrali mags, 20x800 10 tires. Orange. Although I was from Tulsa, my first duty station was Jacksonville Florida. After a year I was stationed at MCAS El Toro, Santa Ana, Ca. Coast to coast with a top speed around 86mph. A wonderful time to be alive. I would still drive one. 598 CC's, 38 hp, 10,000 rpm. Just 100% exhilaration!
Good free body diagram, but you may have wanted to go into the effect the cantilevered load has on the weight over the rear axle and how that influences the center of gravity of the vehicle and consequences of longitudinal stability during acceleration.
Mom had a 2 wheel trailer. Half of a leaf spring with a 8 or 10" caster with a pneumatic tire. I can think up several ways to us a small air bag like used on big rig sleeper cabs.
I just found your channel, it's great! Minor suggestion about the thumbnails; on mobile the length of the video covers the bottom right of the thumbnail which can block the text you've got there. Anyway, good stuff, I'm looking forward to your future videos!
We used to have a Smart- the weird part about the car is that the main aspect of the design- the being small part- works perfectly fine- but then the normal car stuff sucks... mostly the automatic gearbox- changing gears is sooo slow.. and since the car is so short you rock back and forth a lot... Also changing wheels on that car was a major pain for some reason.. the tires would fuse with the hub every time and needed ridiculous force to come off..
This video resonated so much with me! I have a prius c hatchback that I installed a hitch on. I'm sure you know this, but 1UP does sell their racks with a 1-1/4" hitch.. thingy. That's what I have on my car!
You could increase the loading by mounting the mountain bike rack to the tube at the rear of the motorcycle rack… then it would be one of those stylized-art-deco letter “E”s
Hmmm.... now for the front hitch and a snow / sand plow.... to even out the torque from the bike carrier. or even another bike/cargo carrier on the front?
I usually wait until the end of a video to hit the thumbs up button, if I am going to hit it. However, at 7:40, when you said "... is the most ingenious thing you have ever done", I had to pause the video to quit laughing and was therefore forced to hit that like button a little early.
Very entertaining. The 450 has two hole holes in the frame designed for this purpose. A person has to drill another hole in each side, and you can place a $150 trailer hitch. Or, in the two 3 3/4" holes in the back of the frame, insert two 90 degrees elbows, pointing upward, and weld across a 3" wide piece of alum channel, and you can have an E bibe, bike, or motorcycle rack. That is an excellent shop and equipment you got. I know you are just having fun. Thanks for the video.
I had the same thought. That probably would have been easier, and worked better, but I'm not sure that either being easy or working optimally were goals of the project.
After 6 years towing motorcycles, lumber and 4-6 bales of alfalfa behind a Prius... I will say the dudes in bro-dozers will not like this. By the way I love it.
I love my Model 3, but I could definitely see a case being made for a small 2 seater EV about the size of the smart car, for people that live in more urban environments. It'd have a smaller battery sure, but it'd also be a smaller/lighter car, so the range could be about the same. The Model 3 definitely wins for longer drives, but for quick urban hops something smaller would be great. I'm actually getting a small electric scooter for going to the shopping center behind me, so I don't have to get the car out of the garage and drive over a mile, all the way around, to get to a place that's literally right behind my apartment. The scooter will also come in handy for going to work (right across the street) and to ride at the park. And it will fit easily in my trunk.
IF you want to wheelie - I believe there is a box in the center console that prevents exactly that (was in my 451) as well as tipping the thing over sideways by limiting the g-forces. However you can chip the thing to like 120 hp (and remove the limiter) and it'll do 190 kph (or 170 with a bike attached) - However: I do not recommend that. Especially in the US, where you have speed limits :-)
I went through this EXACT same saga on my gf’s TJ. Glad I’m not the only one who looked at the bumper bar and thought “this is fine” before realizing what a horrible mistake it was and boxing it in 🤣
We had a customer put a class three hitch on their Buick sedan, to carry a heavy motorized mobility scooter. About two months later, the door will no longer operate. The weight bent the unibody. I guess putting 300 pounds on a car rated to carry 100 pounds is not a good idea. Specialized carriers are available that have an additional dolly wheel to take the weight.
I builded a rig like lhis 25 years ago it worked well. the only thing against this rig it extends to far away from the back of the car if the bike was closer to the back of the car it would have less leverage, making car more stable.
If someone had mentioned smart cars were RWD I never would have been so cold. Also this update in video production is welcome. I love the action, this day will be a turning point of you're channel
I think you're a little too sure of yourself to be truly likable but holy shit do you back up that confidence with genuine skill. So many hyper complicated things seem to be trivial to you, you make it look so easy. Super impressive.
that was super fun!! (is not that kind of rack are banned here, I believe is because block the rear lights and adds a hanging extension to the car that can be dangerous...)
Here's a thought: add a single castor wheel directly under the motorcycle - makes the whole thing a wheelie bar!
a supermarket cart wheel, it would be the best smart cart in the world
I've seen this done on motorcycle, golf cart or luggage racks on the back of an RV. The caster needs some amount of suspension itself but there may even be a pre-built product out there.
@@Brian86992DH That's the SingleWheel trailer and other similar insults to automotive dynamics.
Front wheel drive?
Oh Stoney, you are a bloody genius !
Wouldn't it be easier to tow the Smart car behind the motorcycle? Or maybe rig the motorcycle to help push?
Smart chariot!
I've seen " trailer adapters " where the front wheel goes on the hitch and the rear wheel of the bike stays on the ground.
Please be careful giving Matt bad ideas. He's an impressionable young man with what has to be dwindling financial means.
too easy
😂😂😂😂
"I'm gonna go find a heavier motorcycle, and a closed course" The most perfect ending I've seen in years.
"Influence from the Chief Engineer" is a fine euphemism.
Also, excellent dramatic grinding Sir.
indeed! Also sometimes known as "percussive maintenance."
@@paulheitkemper1559 a mechanic I used to work with called it the "velocity press"
I call it the micro adjuster. They come in 3 sizes
"Gentle persuasion"
The persistence and skill that you put into executing a bad idea is inspiring.
4:06 That check engine light on the wall! Pretty funny, I like it!
Yeah, talk about being "up staged"!
its awesome, time to go shopping for one.
Blipshift sells them.
Be honest, Matt, you just wanted a Wheelie-ing smart car.
Quite honestly, he's fooling no one if he tries to deny it.
Front wheel drive?
@@daleolson3506 7:58
@@daleolson3506 Even if you don't believe him when he says it's rwd, you should be able to use common sense to know that the burnout was achieved with the rear wheel, something that a fwd car is not capable of.
*wheel-E
Ah yes, now you just need some casters on the motorcycle carrier and you'll have a proper wheelie bar for your 2000 ft-lb output Smart Car. A drag strip is a closed course, right?
I'm amazed the motorcycle didn't tear off the entire rear of the smart car
Smart car bodies are extremely strong
I love the approach of ‘this is dumb. I absolutely shouldn’t be doing it, but I am anyway’
The whole channel just screams ADHD and I'm so here for it.l
Man, if only "Mercedes" had a chief engineer available during the prototyping phase...
I have about 40 “Chief Engineers “.
Now I have to rank them, Master Chief, Hauptleute und Rittmeister Engineer, etc.
I look forward to your Hayabusa swap into the Smart.
You know you want to.
This is an awful idea the whole internet cosigns. Please matt, for the algorithm! And the internet!
Thanks for talking about sendcutsend, that sounds useful for the heavy machine lacking DIYer.
“My favorite saw of all” was a missed opportunity for a play on words for Sawzall.
aww dude. you're right. 🤦
@@SuperfastMatt There is a CRAAAAZY way to improve a Smart Car.....
Ps it involves a Nissan Leaf drive unit and a few other bits.....
🤔 Whoosh!
@@kylereese4822you know you can get EV smart cars already right?
@@906MediaProductions
But... that's not nearly sketchy enough! (2 years later)
Your welds are looking good Matt!
I never realised when you watch a grinder in slo-mo it actually plays techno. Learn something new every day!
Your comment just made me suddenly guffaw out loud, which made my wife jump out of her skin : )
This is gold man, I love this stuff, and I love the way you think. It feels like something dumb I would do myself, in every way possible, from "torx doesn't fit so I make it fit" to "small bike + small car = big brain". I look forward to whatever you do next. Time to binge everything you've already done.
The bumper beam is the normal method of attaching a hitch to a European car... but they normally use a more substantial beam to replace the non-towing part... they don't just weld a receiver box to the part designed with minimal torsional strength. But SuperfastMatt knows that.
If I was your employer, I don't know if your creativity would impress me or scare the poop out of me.
As a UA-cam viewer, I believe that you are SuperfastMatt's current employer. I think you should be both highly impressed and appropriately scared.
Sign up on Patreon and for $1.00 per month you can become an official Matt Supervisor...
Roman was not built in a day............they had to put up the sheds first.?
Found this channel in my recommendation with the Tesla door handles and I'm now binging all your videos, amazing blend of humor and engineering, truly a hidden gem of a channel
I honestly thought this was just going to be a hilarious set up for motorbike engine swap in that smart car. But oh well.
Now all you need is a sketchy abom79 motorbike mount on the front end and all with be in perfect balance with the world.
I think a big winch on the front would really make this adventure rig complete!
Idk man, that front bike mount is more substantial than the entire smart car
Alternativ title: How to get arrested in a smart.
Or killed while driving.
I think the Torx bolts were TX45. Haven't taken one apart in a long time.
Also I have the suspicion the carrier and the bike slightly exceed the maximum bearing load of 99lb (45kg for German Matt). But you can actually tow 450kg (992lb) with the 451
Remember to add rear skate wheels to the bike rack. Dragging it will slow you down and end your wheelie.
I own a Smart, and a small motorbike. Your handy work has convinced me, to buy a pickup. Thanks, Matt!
the word sketchy definitely comes to mind looking at it.. LOVE IT
Was absolutely prepared for a "tappy tap tap" from the "chief engineer"... been watching too much AvE...
Bro i had a smart as a daily for a super long time. I have a 100 pound dog, and it perfectly fits in the back . As for the RWD and traction control, there is a hack where you short a pin in the OBD, and you get sideways like no other. Of course, on snow.
Those big holes at the end of your welds are usually caused by taking the filler metal away too fast. I ran into that issue when I learned stick welding. My instructor showed me to just hover over the spot about a second longer to compensate.
I also think that small cars are fun, but there are limitations. I'm impressed that you managed to reengineer the Smart's bumper beam to actually support a Honda Grom, but even though you managed to haul said Grom without turning your Smart to a 2 wheeler, I wouldn't recommend hauling anything heavier than a 50's vintage Schwin.
Oh, and I'm hoping that you'll get back to working on the Jaguar soon.
I just bought a Citroen Berlingo 2 seater van 2007 year with 1.4 litre petrol and manual 5 speed. Think French bead van. Sooooooooo much fun. Every journey is an adventure with people waving and me waving back. Small hills needs 2 or more down changers. The best ! Needs actual driving and it corners with so much roll it just puts a smile on my face
Well done for tiptoeing around the obvious question until 8:48.
There aren't many you-tubers who could've resisted asking it sooner...
You truly are a mad lad engineer and I love it!
I was an expediter for a construction company for a time, young and dumb, driving a GMC W3500 short wheelbase, short box straight truck. Had to pick up a couple pallets of shingles from homme de potte, but their good fork lift was broken down. They were unable to push the pallets forward more than to barely be able to close the door. Every bump put the steer axle in the air. Longest delivery of my life.
I wish that I could show you the photos that I have seen of a Smart that was rear-ended by a drunk in a VW Golf 1 (think 80's VW Rabbit and you're close). The Golf was totalled. The Smart was driven home, and repaired within a week. Plenty strong in that brace.
E trailer sells hitches that mount to the frame underneath
That was absolutely superb old chap, so I have now cancelled my subscription to Netflix and you're going to have to get cracking on with more of these sublime feats of engineering excellence...
Your videos have been helping me keep my mind off of other things going on in the world right now. Thank you for this much needed reprieve.
I love these videos. As one who thinks wrenches are cool art and welding is done with magic they are very educational. i am ;looking forward to seeing the first 1950 Jagutesla on the road
Hm... ...all this time the “dammit tool” was actually the chief engineer. No wonder we keep having problems. The chief ain’t getting the respect it deserves.
This latest update on the tesla conversion is amazing !!
I bought a Honda 600 couple new in 1972. What a wonderful car. I had Astrali mags, 20x800 10 tires. Orange. Although I was from Tulsa, my first duty station was Jacksonville Florida. After a year I was stationed at MCAS El Toro, Santa Ana, Ca.
Coast to coast with a top speed around 86mph. A wonderful time to be alive.
I would still drive one. 598 CC's, 38 hp, 10,000 rpm. Just 100% exhilaration!
Back in the day I put a hitch on a Geo Metro. It worked if you were careful. And didn't have to stop too fast.
Don't forget that you add a torque in the opposite direction when you get in the car. This is your funniest video ever!! 🤣🤣
Looks like there’s one smart thing in the room and it’s got wheels.
Had me laughing out loud for about 2/3 of the video. Praise be “the algorithm” for recommending you.
Good free body diagram, but you may have wanted to go into the effect the cantilevered load has on the weight over the rear axle and how that influences the center of gravity of the vehicle and consequences of longitudinal stability during acceleration.
I had a feeling that the Smart Car factory rear bumper strengthening was actually the front bumper, but your solution is superb!!!!!
All hail the algorithm.
Actually, I wonder if the algorithm likes being worshipped, or if it finds it manipulative and demeaning.
@@duncanmartin2626 the algorithm is indeed manipulative and demeaning. It is also a narcissist. Ask me how I know...
Put a wheel under the mc carrier. Thing of a large caster wheel. You can get them for highway use.
Mom had a 2 wheel trailer. Half of a leaf spring with a 8 or 10" caster with a pneumatic tire.
I can think up several ways to us a small air bag like used on big rig sleeper cabs.
I just found your channel, it's great! Minor suggestion about the thumbnails; on mobile the length of the video covers the bottom right of the thumbnail which can block the text you've got there. Anyway, good stuff, I'm looking forward to your future videos!
I keep finding your videos randomly pop up in my recommendations. Love your work mate
Truly some of your best work yet, keep it up bro!
The wheelie pun completed my soul xD
You really make my day with your style of videos and your … wel … British style voice over. Thanx!
Love it!
Isn't the piece of stamped metal you welded the hitch to made of some super high modulus boron steel usually? How was the weldability?
We used to have a Smart- the weird part about the car is that the main aspect of the design- the being small part- works perfectly fine- but then the normal car stuff sucks... mostly the automatic gearbox- changing gears is sooo slow.. and since the car is so short you rock back and forth a lot... Also changing wheels on that car was a major pain for some reason.. the tires would fuse with the hub every time and needed ridiculous force to come off..
A wheel-E, I love it.
This video resonated so much with me! I have a prius c hatchback that I installed a hitch on. I'm sure you know this, but 1UP does sell their racks with a 1-1/4" hitch.. thingy. That's what I have on my car!
So, you've gone from the large rock and blow torch method to the finer aspects of a ball-peen hammer and an arc welder method.
You could increase the loading by mounting the mountain bike rack to the tube at the rear of the motorcycle rack… then it would be one of those stylized-art-deco letter “E”s
Hmmm.... now for the front hitch and a snow / sand plow.... to even out the torque from the bike carrier. or even another bike/cargo carrier on the front?
The smart thing to do would have been to slide the carrier forward closer to the hitch, alternatively pull the bike on a small trailer...
There are a couple of companies out there making air bag suspensions for the Smart. You'd probably only need half a kit on order to do the rear...
Beautiful engineering on box beam and triangle mount.
"being made by mercedes" hasn't meant anything good since the late 80's
You could install a single castor wheel on the bike rack , perhaps for smoother riding add a spring to the castor mount, she'll be right mate.
Maybe some solid bump stops to stop the rear from sagging would allow the front wheels to come up.
I did something similar for my prius v modified a new hitch with a 2 inch like you did and it works great with bracing from cables underneath
I usually wait until the end of a video to hit the thumbs up button, if I am going to hit it. However, at 7:40, when you said "... is the most ingenious thing you have ever done", I had to pause the video to quit laughing and was therefore forced to hit that like button a little early.
Very entertaining. The 450 has two hole holes in the frame designed for this purpose. A person has to drill another hole in each side, and you can place a $150 trailer hitch. Or, in the two 3 3/4" holes in the back of the frame, insert two 90 degrees elbows, pointing upward, and weld across a 3" wide piece of alum channel, and you can have an E bibe, bike, or motorcycle rack. That is an excellent shop and equipment you got. I know you are just having fun. Thanks for the video.
I wondered why he didn't just build a steel mount in place of where the old bumper was instead of bracing it
I had the same thought. That probably would have been easier, and worked better, but I'm not sure that either being easy or working optimally were goals of the project.
"We later found out that it was not square, oh well" - Story of my life
Once again the YT algo for the win and also Matt, you had me at the Ace Ventura quote @ 00:02:34
Make a Sketchy roof rack for the motorcycle. You can figure out the small details. You know, like mounting it on the roof.
oh my god this hurts me so much to watch matt
Stick a swivel wheel derictly below the the Grom
After 6 years towing motorcycles, lumber and 4-6 bales of alfalfa behind a Prius... I will say the dudes in bro-dozers will not like this. By the way I love it.
You need a carrier that basically sits on that hitch as opposed to one that has extra length on it for some reason.
I had the "will it wheelie" question in mind since I saw the thumbnail.
I love my Model 3, but I could definitely see a case being made for a small 2 seater EV about the size of the smart car, for people that live in more urban environments. It'd have a smaller battery sure, but it'd also be a smaller/lighter car, so the range could be about the same. The Model 3 definitely wins for longer drives, but for quick urban hops something smaller would be great. I'm actually getting a small electric scooter for going to the shopping center behind me, so I don't have to get the car out of the garage and drive over a mile, all the way around, to get to a place that's literally right behind my apartment. The scooter will also come in handy for going to work (right across the street) and to ride at the park. And it will fit easily in my trunk.
The "I" pivots around the wheel so I call it a "wheel-I" caught me completely off guard. Well played!
IF you want to wheelie - I believe there is a box in the center console that prevents exactly that (was in my 451) as well as tipping the thing over sideways by limiting the g-forces.
However you can chip the thing to like 120 hp (and remove the limiter) and it'll do 190 kph (or 170 with a bike attached) - However: I do not recommend that. Especially in the US, where you have speed limits :-)
I went through this EXACT same saga on my gf’s TJ. Glad I’m not the only one who looked at the bumper bar and thought “this is fine” before realizing what a horrible mistake it was and boxing it in 🤣
We had a customer put a class three hitch on their Buick sedan, to carry a heavy motorized mobility scooter. About two months later, the door will no longer operate. The weight bent the unibody. I guess putting 300 pounds on a car rated to carry 100 pounds is not a good idea.
Specialized carriers are available that have an additional dolly wheel to take the weight.
I builded a rig like lhis 25 years ago it worked well.
the only thing against this rig it extends to far away from the back of the car
if the bike was closer to the back of the car it would have less leverage, making car more stable.
If someone had mentioned smart cars were RWD I never would have been so cold. Also this update in video production is welcome. I love the action, this day will be a turning point of you're channel
So excited to see what you do with this. For an amazing paint job paint the roof yellow and the body red like a cozy coupe.
When are you putting the Hayabusa motor in the Smart?
As someone who installed a class III hitch on the back of a Ford Fiesta, this is good for the soul.
I think you're a little too sure of yourself to be truly likable but holy shit do you back up that confidence with genuine skill. So many hyper complicated things seem to be trivial to you, you make it look so easy. Super impressive.
I love that you do super smart and super dumb things. Just makes me happy.
"I question it's crash-worthiness." Isn't that that the deal with the Ping-pong, I mean, Smart Car?
This guy is the most optimistic man I've seen in a while. SMART!
That's the hot spark action I am looking for
At this point, wouldn’t it make more sense to get a carrier so the motorcycle hauls the car?
This is the silliest channel i know of and i love it :D
that was super fun!! (is not that kind of rack are banned here, I believe is because block the rear lights and adds a hanging extension to the car that can be dangerous...)
How about add a pivoting wheel under the bike rack kind of like the rear wheel on a tail dragger airplane?