The Trikes keep getting longer...

[JGood]

Here is the newest trike. Measuring in at a little over 9 1/2'. the arm that attaches the frame to the trike wheels is 3'.









The next on should hopefully be built with 5' long bars and a second set 4" wide tires on it. I am thinking of adding a wooden truck bed with a tailgate. It will be HEAVY but it will be AWESOME. This version would be approximately 11 1/2' long.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

A trike "truck".......cool!

 

[Pushie Pirate]

That is cool, would have to go wide around corners and does your car now park outside?

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

that's awesome.

 

[otroo]

That looks cool man.


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[deorman]

Where's the cooler? Heck, where's the grill?

 

[HxCforever]

Man thats hot.

 

[JGood]

It actually turns better than you would think. If you stop you can turn like Zero radius lawn mower. One wheel spin and one stays still.

When I get the other set of wheels in front of these like this (ignore my friend & his daughter):

I will do a bed the length of the back half. Then I can mount a car seat for my son, a cooler and maybe even a grill all at once. I will have about 5' of length to work with. Next will be the addition of a electric motor to front wheel to power it as it will weigh a TON.. But I will have fun trying to pedal it before I get the electric on it (I like doing things the hard way, lol).

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Put a fifth wheel on it. Like a tractor trailer. Haha


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[LukeTheJoker]

I am worried about how it will turn with the extra set of wheels on, might be some scrub issues... ^ The idea above of @ifitsfreeitsforme, a matching trailer or 5th wheel set up would solve that issue...

Luke.

 

[OCD]

I assume your extra wheels will not be driven so they shouldn't scrub on corners. For the motor, you could mount a hub motor where the rear wheel used to be, then run the front chain to it and bolt a sprocket to the disc brake side of it and run that to your trike rear axle giving you a mid-drive hub motor, check endless-sphere.com for e-ideas. I think you might appreciate the assistance moving all that proposed weight.

 

[DJ Bill]

I can't see how being driven or not would affect side scrub on turning. To me it looks like it would have a hard time going anywhere but straight, if it was loaded so the tires had traction. Unless you add a self steer to one pair of wheels.
Of course once you add two more wheels it becomes a Quint-ke, not a Trike.

 

[JGood]

Tire scrub? I don't think I understand? I was actually not planning on hooking the front set of rear wheels to any type of drive. They would basically be there just for looks and would be free spinning. They would only help with supporting the weight and looking cool. I would imagine as I turn they would just spin as the bike turned. They plan is to mount them as far back and as close together as possible. Kind of like the rear wheels on a 6x6 truck or a large RV with two rear axles. Any input or experience with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Actually it was side scrub I was worried about, the two sets of rear wheels will be forced to take different paths due to being different lengths away from the steer wheel. It works ok on a truck because they have the power to push through the scrub, but on a bike you will find it takes a surprising amount of effort to turn, that is if the front wheel does not just skid.... Just trying to help, not criticize, would hate for you to have it all done and find it does not work.

If you still want to run the extra wheels, what about putting them beside the current ones, Dually style?

Luke.

 

[DJ Bill]

If you know anyone with a tandem axle trailer, have them pull it in a circle and you'll see just how much side force there is on those tires. A triple axle trailer is even worse....On hot days the tandem trucks and multi axle trailers actually start to peel up the pavement at intersections, don't ask how I know...

Like Luke says it takes a lot of energy to drag them sideways as you turn. On the flip side, you'll be able to keep going straight without steering for a long, long ways.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Watch the rear wheels in this video.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

The trike truck post got me thinking... Your should fab a paddy wagon style back end for the first trike that would be SO SWEET...

Carl.

 

[sean1960]

JGood That looks cool! If you don't mind I will tell you a little about axles like the setup you are thinking of doing. They are called tag axles and when you have a non powered axle in front of the powered axle it's called a pusher. Most of the time these pusher axles are lifted up to make a sharp turn. Some are steerable (stinger axles) and are normally behind the drive axle. You could design such a axle for your trike. Or you could just make the non driven tires barely touch the ground. Hope your design works I like how it looks.

 

[JGood]

Hmm... How bad do you think it will be? So you are saying they will drag to the side that I am turning. I have seen this on trailers but figured the relatively low weight would help make it not so bad. It might be easier to make the front set of rear wheels take weight and the back be the ones that barely touch but then I imagine the drag would be worse because the front set would also be the drive set. Any other ideas as to how to make this work minus making them steer? Also I was planning on putting the electric hub in the front wheel so it pulled everything and I could assist by pedaling the rear when needed. Any input is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks everyone!

 

[The Black Monark]

The Trikes keep getting longer...



...sorry...