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Post by jim99 on Mar 16, 2014 21:12:03 GMT -5
If you head over to the Dragon, be sure to travel The Foothills Parkway and the Cherohala Skyway. Also Fontana Dam, the tallest dam east of the Mississippi and you can drive across the top of it. If you need an over night spot try the Dragon Rest cabins. www.dragonsrestcabins.com/ Very nice people and nice rustic cabins. Jim |
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 17, 2014 21:19:01 GMT -5
I definitely plan to check that out once I am registered and feel safe and mechanically sound going the distance. As far as the tires go, they are all the same, bought them as a set of 4 from the Summit Demo rack for $160, they were the right size and that was to good of a deal to pass up.
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 19, 2014 17:21:46 GMT -5
1020 low carbon steel is just a standard form of metal you can purchase, its similar to 1018 (which is basic steel you get everywhere) but its stronger because of the higher carbon content. What you want is SAE 1020 Drawn over mandrel (DOM) seamless tubing so there is no weld seam to break on you. Its about twice as expensive but about half the cost of 4130. As far as supply goes I don't know, every chassis book I have talks about 1020 and 4130, most of them are dated about 20 years ago though so their may be something newer that replaced it as the standard. I usually just ask for DOM at the metal shop, people working their usually don't know anything about metal other then the list of numbers they have. 10 is the SAE grade and chemical make up, the 20 stands for 2.0% carbon content (1018 is as you would guess 1.8% carbon). Regardless use DOM, it won't split at the seam as it doesn't have one.
On a note closer to home I am having fueling issues I think. I finally got the trike out for a quick run around the block today and it worked for about 500 hundred yards and then sputtered to death slowly and died, I waited a few seconds knowing I wasn't out of fuel and tried it, started right up, went for about 200 yards and then did the same thing with the same restart and then I pulled into the garage. This does not bode well and I have no good way to put a fuel pressure sensor in line with the system. Any ideas from the crowd?
The current test option I am going to try later is running it while I jack it up and see if I can kill it by starvation in a reasonable amount of time and a reasonable tilt. Both times I was about 50 feet out of a corner when it started to fade.
UPDATE: did the tilt test, probably with to much fuel in the tank, no issues presented themselves.
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Post by jim99 on Mar 19, 2014 20:04:52 GMT -5
Suzuki uses a start up circuit. When key is turned on the fuel pump will run for several seconds to provide fuel for start up. At that point ECM requires feedback from engine that shows oil pressure, if not it will not turn fuel pump run circuit on and shortly the engine will stall.
Turn key on and do not start engine. Listen, can you hear fuel pump running? Does it shut off after a few seconds?
If it functions in this manner, it may be similar to a Suzuki. If so, try hooking a test light to the fuel pump circuit, my guess is the light will light when you start engine (light on key turn on) and go out after a few seconds. And then engine will shut down shortly .
That means you are trying to run trike on start up circuit and the fuel pump run circuit never turns on.
Jim
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 20, 2014 16:59:14 GMT -5
Learning new things every day, I had always just assumed that DOM was done by extruding a solid over a mandrel so that it was seamless, I am now less impressed. But good to know. Also, my trike acts very much like a suzuki because it is one, I have run the bike for a solid 10 minutes at idle no problem, I don't think its a pump not turning on issue. I am more leaning towards starvation from lack of baffles currently, about to go see if I can make it happen again today.
Also got the VIN done today by the state, so now I am being held up by my lack of North Carolina license which makes it not possible to register the thing until I get it. On top of that I can't register the vehicle without the actual license in hand so add another 10 days for that. Mildly frustrating, half my fault.
More testing today, seems to be starvation of the pump during right hand turns, whether at speed or long in duration.
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Post by Liteway on Mar 22, 2014 9:44:34 GMT -5
I love powder coating, represents high quality, durability. Great for show cars and productions vehicles.
In our case though, we are working with what are essentially development mules.
Perhaps you are confident you have everything right the first time and no changes will be necessary that involve additional welding at the frame.
In my case, I am still making changes 4 yrs after the frame was painted. I can go along for months, years and be happy with what I have, before I get an idea that makes me want to drag out the welder again. Body panel changes,component upgrades, etc. I enjoy the upgrades as much as the initial construction.
Point is most of us are better off to use something that can easily be touched up, such as a high quality spray enamel.
Planning a second frame? Production? Imo, do classic prototyping first. Live with the first frame for a while, get in some extended road miles, become familiar with all possible shortcomings, make and test whatever changes you can without a full makeover. When that can't be improved, and you are still not satisfied, then move on to the next frame.
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Post by mtntech on Mar 22, 2014 9:54:14 GMT -5
Learning new things every day, I had always just assumed that DOM was done by extruding a solid over a mandrel so that it was seamless, I am now less impressed. But good to know. Also, my trike acts very much like a suzuki because it is one, I have run the bike for a solid 10 minutes at idle no problem, I don't think its a pump not turning on issue. I am more leaning towards starvation from lack of baffles currently, about to go see if I can make it happen again today. Also got the VIN done today by the state, so now I am being held up by my lack of North Carolina license which makes it not possible to register the thing until I get it. On top of that I can't register the vehicle without the actual license in hand so add another 10 days for that. Mildly frustrating, half my fault. More testing today, seems to be starvation of the pump during right hand turns, whether at speed or long in duration. Captain, If you think it is a fuel starvation problem, you don't need fuel baffles per say. You should look into Walbro fuel pickups and put 3 or 4 of them in. Used in Arctic Cat snowmobiles to prevent fuel starvation regardless of attitude. I used them in my turbo sled build. They way they function prevents starvation. Here's some info for you. www.autoperformanceengineering.com/html/pickups.html |
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Post by jim99 on Mar 22, 2014 9:54:32 GMT -5
Racers fill their fuel cells with fuel cell foam to prevent fuel moving away from fuel pickup. You can purchase the fuel cell foam blocks from any speed shop and cut to fit. It's quick and easy vs. trying to install baffles in an already built fuel tank and foam will displace very little fuel.
Have you checked the mounting of the "tip over" switch? On our race cars it caused us problems. No leaning of chassis in corners and enough G forces to activate the switch. Unscrew the cover on the switch, you will find a metal ring that slides on a curved rail. Take a cut off grinder and cut through the ring on one side, rotate ring cut through again. Both parts of ring will drop off and switch will be deactivated, but switch circuit will be intact. Unplugging switch will not work.
Jim
Jim
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Post by mtntech on Mar 22, 2014 10:03:28 GMT -5
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Post by jim99 on Mar 22, 2014 10:06:45 GMT -5
In regard to powder coating, I agree with Triplethreat. I powder coated my current trike. I resist making changes, as I do not want to grind off any of the coating and it was way too expensive.
I used rattle cans to paint frame of my first trike and I ground it off in many places and made changes/welds and just shot a little more paint on it with a rattle can and was good to go.
I like to use semi gloss, it matches/blends better than a full gloss.
Jim
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 24, 2014 19:28:49 GMT -5
So, it turns out I had not properly attached the bike's tip over sensor, it was sitting at a 45 degree angle closing the circuit every time I made a hard left turn. Zip tied that in place and it runs like a dream. I need to now find myself a decent shop with a dyno and get the thing over their and tuned correctly.
As far as paint goes I am leaning towards the rattle can myself as this is not exactly the final design and I don't want to hold back from fixing things because of the paint. I even brought 6 cans of gray primer and 6 cans of flat black with me from my Datsun project two years ago. Really I am just dreading taking the whole thing apart to paint it.
Maybe someone can answer this for me, how does fuel cell foam work in a tank with a float sensor? Wouldn't it interfere with that a lot?
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Post by jim99 on Mar 24, 2014 21:49:54 GMT -5
Fuel cell foam is available in various sizes. You can cut it to fit and cut voids in it to clear items.
Jim
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 24, 2014 22:39:25 GMT -5
But how do you get it into the tank as a solid block even with a void cut out for the float? I have a 3" diameter hole for the fuel pump and other then that I would have to put it in before welding and hope the thing doesn't burn up inside.
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Post by DaveJ98092 on Mar 24, 2014 23:00:58 GMT -5
It is a soft foam and can be compressed. Most large Fuel Cells have only a 3 to 4 inch hole and the foam can be squeezed in. You just cut it to fit tightly and with voids for pickups and floats, then squeeze it in place.
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 29, 2014 16:35:50 GMT -5
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Post by stretchmobileski on Mar 29, 2014 22:25:23 GMT -5
The hollow traverse tube for your shifter working for you? I had to swap mine out for a solid shaft, the tube was flexing too much.
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 30, 2014 11:06:29 GMT -5
Funny you mention that, it actually had a lot more problems with the front to back linkage bending because my L/D wasn't near enough to stop bending in a 5/16" shaft. I have the 1/2" solid rod to swap out for the cross tube but because its a more difficult change I opted to fix the links first and just see if that helped and it did. It has no issue shifting now but replacing that cross link is on my to do list. Right now I am having more problems with the battery not doing very well with the head lights on and needing to finish installing the seat. I stalled it doing brake testing about the furthest I have been from my garage and ended up pushing it back. I also switched back to the stock ecu from the power commander because it didn't have a good fuel map and it runs a lot stronger now. Well see once a proper dyno tune is done whether that was worth the $450.
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Post by Liteway on Mar 30, 2014 12:05:35 GMT -5
Sounds like debugging is coming along nicely.
Curious about what kind of wheel travel (compression/rebound) your computer modeling gave you and if it actually came out that way.
I don't see any provision yet for the diagrammed anti-roll system. Still planned right? Don't mean to rush you, know you got a lot on your plate and that is something that can wait. Again just curious about how well that will work out. I'm toying with the idea of installing a bell crank system on mine.
I bought a CanAm Spyder anti-roll bar a year ago, but could not make it work with my frame/suspension configuration. The bar is only 20"long. I have figured a way to use it (on paper anyway) with a bell crank system. There could be a lot of trial and error for me, so whatever I could learn from your experience would be great.
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Post by captainamerica on Mar 30, 2014 21:33:41 GMT -5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=os2N2s6MmTE&feature=youtu.beNew video from NC, first time with the new camera, next time I'll make sure my head is not the prominent feature. I have not actually measured the motion but its built to the spec on the CAD model so I would expect it to be very close to the same at 2.75" of travel up and down. I went down to the garage to look at the roll bar setup after seeing your question, it looks like it should work. I just went ahead and bought the rod ends to make it happen and I already have the threaded tube inserts and the tubing. So its just a matter of time. I also did a quick inspection of the lower front rod ends and they are beginning to bend so that puts more stress on moving up the timeline of replacing them. The annoying thing is I have the replacements they just don't make high misalignment pieces for that size racing rod end so I have drawn up custom inserts but I have not gotten around to actually making them.
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Post by stretchmobileski on Mar 30, 2014 23:09:11 GMT -5
The wide angle lens makes your front wheels appear to have mega toe in. Looks pretty awesome. Take offs are a lot smoother now.
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