How many rubber bands does it take to power a car?

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Can I make the world's largest pull-back car? Which material will work best for the engine?
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[@AL_O0]

Those toy pullback cars are incredibly clever, they have a mechanism that switches gear ratio when you release them so they can go much farther than you pulled them back

[@CraftNexus]

and I guess some kind of ratcheting mechanism to allow them to free roll instead of springing back when the spring is fully unwound

[@lucusloc]

Yep, they need a way to lock the engine while they change gears on the gearbox, then they can pull back in one gear and release it in another. They also need to get longer rubber tubes, as longer tubes can store way more energy. The round configuration probably could work, but it needs rollers instead of just bars to minimize friction losses. Maybe even multiple levels so the tube can spiral down to the drive bar. That way you can really pack in the rubber density. This could definitely work, maybe even get to 25 mph, but you are going to need *a lot* more rubber to get there.

[@jwalster9412]

I swear, every single pull back car I've had in my life sounded like it had the actual engine from an actual car. I wanna know how they get them to not sound bad lol.

[@DaimyoD0]

Wow, really? Yeah I was wondering if they had some kind of freewheel so they can coast after their stored energy is spent and you don't end up taking up energy winding it in reverse.

[@DaimyoD0]

@@CraftNexus Oh yeah same question.

[@KoroWerks]

Thank you Aaron and David for being enablers to Joel and his Antics 🤣🤣🤣
#FeelTheMagic

[@AARONLT25]

Urr welcome

[@kyleyoung2464]

Thanks indeed

[@zachmoyer1849]

hydraulic accumulator

[@patricklargin5767]

I've seen that other mystery rubberband powered car in person and spoke to the builder when I was a crew tech out at the bonneville salt flats. It was made by one of George Poteet's guys. There were 2 banks with different gearing...one for initial acceleration off the push truck, then a second for top speed. I never got to actually see it run but if I recall, he was shooting for something like 50mph with it. Was a super neat contraption. I have detail pictures somewhere on an old phone in my closet 😂

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

If you make the springs longer, and maybe a smaller one inside a larger one, you should get more speed and travel distance.
And thank you, Aaron and David!

[@alphabetsoup4269]

Get those pics!

[@DownloadedPixelz]

I actually have a lot of respect for posting semi-failed projects because it really reminds everyone of how many ideas and projects don't work that make the ones that do work feel all the more impressive.

[@Gothmog3019]

My immediate thought was to use a scaled up watch spring. I would love to see you revisit this with more research. Perhaps start with scale models?

[@traingameiacs]

yeah, pull back cars don't use rubber bands....

[@arghjayem]

Not only that but he needs a properly built car. The one he’s using is great and all, but it needs to be waaaay lighter. Less weight, less power required to move things. One seat, no gearbox, no suspension, thin lighter steel for the chassis etc etc.

[@killingtimeitself]

you can do one really substantial watch spring or even multiple due to how they sit as well.

[@xmysef4920]

@@arghjayem This. He needs to get a lighter chassis and vehicle in general

[@BuilderBasti]

​@@arghjayem Yeah, a gokart chassis for example

[@leviallen7210]

The problem of the wheels locking up is a problem at toy scale as well. Thats why we push down as we pull back with those little cars. I think that finding a way to overcome that (potentially a hand crank with some major leverage?) and fixing the spring design to something like a watch spring could help get the speed you want.
Sick work so far though. It looks really fun even at current speed. Haha

[@Drakith90]

A possible (OSHA rule violating) solution is to use the forklift to press down on the rear of the car as it is being pulled back.

[@856Dropout]

Could put PVC pipes over the birdcage bars to act like a roller bushings for the rubberbands

[@TheStuartstardust]

For rubber band solutions, they normally do twisting instead of stretching, perhaps better?🤔
Else constant force springs is better for this type of application i think. 🤓

[@NeonPaladin]

Thank you, Aaron and David, both for all of your help with these crazy ideas.

[@Deja117]

Everyone needs a John in their life. Plenty times I've started a project, got to a point, then just gave up... Sometimes it just takes a random person showing interest to help give you that final push. Aaron and David still deserve a lot of praise, but there's just a certain feeling you get from a random dude being interested in something, that even the most supportive friends can't replicate. Really cool design. I hope it inspires others to take it further, even though this fully worked. ;)

[@marluna_x]

You might wanna check out the spring mechanism of a vacuum cleaners cable reels. It's a metal strip that wants to roll up into one direction, but then you have a bigger roll that bends it in the opposite direction. Simple as that. They are actually quite strong (and sharp!), but they don't increase in strength even when pulled all the way out. I have built a compressed air hose reel with just two of them, and it's just barely enough, but it works! It's also probably pretty cheap too! You might be able to make a very wide version of it. Also, they go FAST!!! If you, while disassembling such a reel, let go at any time, the entire thing goes super speed and then breaks the spring... Just a suggestion!

[@Goodgu3963]

Those springs are called Constant Force springs, and they are a good idea for this application great suggestion!

[@ct92404]

​@@Goodgu3963I think it's a coil spring, like what typewriters used to advance the carriage. They have a lot of power and could work for experiments like this, but can be dangerous.

[@mumblety]

I think the key is using the same method that airplanes use for their rubber engines. They twist the rubber band around itself instead of wrapping around a shaft. This allows you to store much more energy. In fact this is how that dragster worked according to that photo that you showed. Also switching to a lower gear when winding would help you to not have to pull the car back so much. Thank you Aaron and David!
Edit: now that I'm thinking about this I remember having a hotwheels car that had a rubber engine. It also used the same method of an airplane!

[@Weisz]

Thank you david and aaron! This vid was dope joel, really put the spring in my step

[@OgienChomik]

So Joel there's a thing you may want to consider if you want to revisit this. The spring option is a great idea but you need to find "stiff" spring not necessarily a larger spring. There's some equations you can use to find these things and effectively take into account the force the spring is applying to the shaft along with the force that is being applied to the tires. Your goal is to overcome the static friction force first and then continue to push through the sliding friction. F=ma so the greater the force difference the faster the acceleration. If you also create somewhat of a gear system where the spring only engages when you want it to and then disconnects from the axel allowing the car to continue forward under its own momentum that would allow you to use the initial push that the spring has given you without the spring re winding back up and killing your momentum.
over all this was a great video and really great refresher for my kinematics from my physics classes since I'm taking the mcat in a few days. Thank you as well aaron and david for letting joel do his thing with your stuff.

[@ryanbox30]

Thank you David and Aaron for helping Joel make these awesome videos

[@Qsandbank]

Laugh all you want but this mf gonna come for you! (at 5 kilometers per hour for 10 seconds once every 2 minutes)

[@JoelCreates]

Still faster than Yankle...

[@CaptainBara]

@@JoelCreatesg

[@Gwallacec2]

Multiple spiral springs that are in toys are used all the time for bigger applications. I would definitely try spiral springs or nested coil springs.

[@PatrickHoodDaniel]

A constant force spring may be a better alternative. You can get these springs in monster sizes. Thank you David and thank you Aaron!

[@dingdingdingdiiiiing]

I have so much admiration for persistence in frustrating projects that have uh... no... actual useful application, and are simply an idea you want to make.

[@IDK77738]

thanks so much david for letting joel use your work shop nad thanks to you too joel for the amazing vid :)

[@fojcol]

A for effort. I can't imagine the tedium of gluing those bands each time! I do hope inspiration comes for something that will bring the magic!

[@mycology5242]

Thank you David, we all need a David in our lives

[@ashleyparker5998]

Thank you david and Aaron we appreciate all that you do.

[@Flargenyargen]

You all came together to do a really cool thing and that is just awesome. Neat project!

[@hm3139]

I love your videos man keep up the good work!

[@bobbydavis3777]

Thanks guys!!! This was am awesome project

[@Dave_Tries]

Thanks David and Aaron! Great job Joel! Fun project!

[@londonnelson7359]

Thank you David and Aron

[@zoltansnarf4862]

this was so fun. thank you all

[@craniumbear]

Thank you Aaron and dave! Maybe look at the inside of the toy car to see how it's done. I remember the ones I had as a kid had a spring that was a flat sheet of metal but it was rolled up like a coil.

[@P8FPV]

Thanks everyone involved 😀 cool project defo one to come bk to v2.0

[@AzureSkyBeta]

Thank you all for these amazing videos! Every time you put one out I think "he can't get more ridiculous than this" and every time I am proven wrong!

[@someone5781]

This is so cool!!! I love your videos! I'm binging these, and thank you Aaron and David!

[@queenelliedees182]

Thank you David and Aaron!! Keep Joel creating!!

[@elderdavidyoung]

Thank you Aaron and David! This helped make my day!

[@gypsycrow3917]

Got a new favorite channel to binge! Thanks to you, Aaron, and David. Cheers!

[@user-hy2py3lb6z]

Thank you David and Aaron! Great video Joel

[@TrevOOF]

You the man David 🙏🏻

[@TeamZinjaGaming2]

THANKS DAVID AND AARON YOU GUYS ROCK.

[@gannas42]

David and Aaron are real bros. What an awesome opportunity!

[@MaDMaXGroW]

That was cool mate, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You are creating joy. Keep on creating Joel.

[@TOGthatoneguy]

this was awesome! i did feel the magic watching you all make a great toy.

[@gh0stm0nst3r6]

I love watching you try. You are my kind of dude

[@ingusbingus8750]

thanks David and Aaron for their work

[@Katherine._.97._.]

Thank you Aaron and David!!

[@fuzzylilpeach6591]

Thank you Aaron, David and Joel for making these amazing crazy ideas a reality

[@user-we9fz4ud7c]

thanks to Aaron and david for putting up with Joel projects

[@jero37]

I hope Aaron & David see really positive business from helping with your projects Joel. Thanks for being good friends to him guys.

[@arjovenzia]

Somewhat different scale, but reminds me of a project I did in school for a science project. Making a mousetrap powered car. I possibly cheated a bit, with my grandpa, uncle and dad all contributing ideas, designs and parts, although I did technically build the whole thing myself. Tiny ball bearings, high quality fishing line around the axle attached to the mousetrap arm and CD ‘coasters’ as wheels (at the time, burning a CD was not a guaranteed success, but far and away was the most economic way to store data. There was invariably a spindle of failed burns, affectionately called coasters). The small axle diameter and the huge wheel diameter made for an excellent ratio. My car couldn't drive across a desk because of lack of traction, it would just spin the wheels. But on carpet or concrete, was an absolute beast. I won that one by orders of magnitude.

[@HostileHST]

Thank you Dave and all those who tolerate Joel's crazy antics!

[@californiasomething]

a very enjoyable video. thanks Joel.

[@michaelhill2644]

Thank you Aaron and David for being enablers to Joel

[@snowmanthegamer4983]

Good stuff!!! Hope you continue with cool stuff!

[@ziplockwaffles8012]

Thank you David and Aaron!!! You guys are the best!!

[@CarrotGamingYT]

Thank you, Aaron and David

[@CodyHovland]

Great work man! This must have taken forever to redo the deign over and over! I had this idea since i was a kid too! I thought I was going to have to cross this off my idea list but now I think we have our collaboration idea. We'll get you to the cut off speed you're looking for, then take you to holy $#!%. Huge respect to Aaron and David, you guys rock!

[@vivalafiaga]

thank you to all the guys that put up with this one nutters ideas, we're thankful for the content

[@RealAndySkibba]

Woah. This is a crazy build.

[@bornfacemanda9000]

Your team is the dream team ❤️ thank you Aaron and David ❤️

[@treyp3541]

Thanks David and Aaron! I personally wouldn't get too much bigger of a spring after seeing car suspension videos 😂

[@theextremepopecuuer8511]

I just had to say thank you for all the hard work put into making this channel happen y'all are awesome

[@gringusmcbingus]

Thank you David and Aaron! Y'all the MVPs!

[@RobsNeighbor]

Yes!!! I have been waiting for this since you mentioned it ! Great Job Joel! Thank you David, Thank you Aaron!

[@partciudgam8478]

THANK YOU!! Aaron and David! your sacrifice is what makes science of rubber band powered cars advance!

[@kevinsellsit5584]

You didn't make the "jump to light speed" but you did prove you have very cool friends.
Oh, and you don't give up easily. :)

[@ramone79]

Thank you Aaron and David.

[@Scott.E.H]

Absolutely keep iterating on this. I want more.

[@internetcancer1672]

Thank you Aaron and David

[@michaelandersson6088]

Thank you Aaron and David!

[@SanderJValtin]

Thank you Aaron and David

[@sadeqqsm8157]

finally someone did it
Man, thank you

[@Mustachedminer]

Thank you, Aaron and David for letting Joel do crazy stuff

[@biggestcomplainer]

All the work you put into this. Can’t believe you have gotten more traffic

[@secularstormchaser0074]

Thank you all for your teamwork! It creates excellent content thats outrageously fun to conceptualize

[@jayde4872]

Thanks David, thanks Aaron

[@TheRealBigYang]

Thank you guys

[@JosephCatrambone]

Thank you Aaron and David. If I lived in the midwest I'd probably go to you lot first for my automotive and garage door needs; you seem like you know your stuff.

[@Ganerrr]

thank u aaron and david and quincy and john and

[@SomeRandomDude52]

Thx Aaron & David

[@RegularOldDan]

Thank you Aaron and David. It makes for good suffering for Joel. 😂

[@brettandtrish]

Thank you Dave and Aaron 😃

[@bababoyynpc5349]

Thanks Aaron and David for being so patient with this dude👍

[@yaboigaming1675]

thank you david and aaron

[@imperlast2]

thanks david and arron so we can get a great vids like this

[@drewanderson8279]

I hope to see this revisited !!

[@arandomredarmykomrade9529]

truly some of the best friends ever

[@MasterJay1985]

Nice job! The hat looks nice and warm.

[@stanis_gaming]

Thank you David and Aaron ❤

[@dannybrennan31]

Thank you for making this video. It makes me feel better about my own failures

[@danielmilner6035]

Thanks Aaron and David for helping with Joels spring shenanigans

[@The-Core-of-Life]

Thx David and Aaron

[@chotizz602]

Thank you Aaron and David for being enablers to Joel and his Antics

[@Goodgu3963]

Thanks Aaron and David for helping make Joel's projects possible! Joel, you should take a look at constant force springs. I've designed a couple of CF spring mechanisms in the past and those are probably the way you want to go here. Also, you are going to need a LOT more spring force.
CF springs really only produce linear motion. The best way I can think to implement this is to wrap a cable around a drum and use a CF spring to pull on that cable. In your birdcage design you could line each crossmember with short throw CF springs. Those spring will rotate around those crossbars. Then have them pointing inwards toward the rotating shaft, which you attach them to with a cable or perhaps a sheet of metal. Then when you wind up the car, it will pull out each of the CF springs towards the center loading all the springs while winding up the cables or sheets. Since you have so many crossmembers and your birdcage is so wide, you will be able to use far more CF springs than you'll probably need. Just find the right amount so that you can use the car's weight to wind it up and you'll be able to wind it through their entire length because of the constant force.
Best of luck, can't wait to see your next video!

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

David is single handedly changing my opinion of people who wear bluetooth ear pieces after like 2011. For the longest time every person I have met who is wearing one of those has just been so douchey but david is so cool.
Also Aaron's timing was amazing literally today I asked a garage door guy if they did other doors, as my works back door got kicked in last night. The guy said "We dont do anything else" in a very similar way to aaron. Both of those guys are great.

[@user-sx7fc2sp7j]

Thank you Aaron and David for being enablers to Joel and his Antics 🤣🤣🤣

[@feku_pl]

If you want to go anywhere you will need longer rubber, which is also stronger, a "kinetic rope" (used in the field to recover off-road cars) with a few pulleys will do an amazing job.

[@Ryoland]

Was interesting to see the attempt.

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome for everyone's help.

[@tagbon]

Thanks David, Aaron, Quincy, John, other John and Charles!

[@ludvigpersson2311]

Thank's everyone who helped with the projekt

[@NoahDaun.]

Hello from Sweden