Spartan Trike Project

[captainamerica]

March '13 Design

The stainless gas tank is out to the shop for fabrication, hopefully I will see that within the next week or so. I drew up a new pedal design, trying to get the mount point as low as possible and out of the way so that the feet have a good chance of not hitting the bell crank cross member when you get in. From my personal fit tests the cross member is far enough back that it would be quite hard to get your foot stuck between the pedal and the bar. Also I attached a current vehicle model, it has so many mates and components that it is no longer useful to test parts out as it lags my computer so much. Now I simple make a new assembly with just the parts I am testing and see if they fit.

[captainamerica]

Mid March '13 Build

I finished the swing arm mounts almost two weeks ago and tested them out, and they work perfectly. I jigged them up separate from the car and then slide them over the engine mounts and they both went on first try no problem. Since the shock doesn't hold anything up yet and the chassis is three feet above ride height I opted to leave the swing arm off for now but you can see where it would fit.

Finally got a full day in with my lathe and made a bunch of parts I have been drawing up the last two weeks. The first rocker is done now and I worked late last night to get it installed on the chassis. For anyone wondering whats inside of a race car rocker I put a picture of all the pieces that are in there, two thrust bearings and two needle bearings stacked. They work great, but I need to work out the torque on the bolt, a the moment its a bit hard to rotate, I also need to pack it with grease.

[Deleted]

hi captainamerica,
compliment; the design of your threewheeler looks very good.
since a few years i am interested in 3 wheeled vehicles.

I am from germany. there are only a few number of threewheelers in europe.
So i think about the opprtunity to realise a own design.

I will follow your diary with pleasure.

[captainamerica]

Late March '13

Got some time late night on Friday to work on my lathe and turn the other rocker center as well as both steering column mounts and the final two engine mounts, and then I spent all day today, cutting and welding making the first revision of pedals, and mounting the front suspension and the second rocker and finally when I was done for the day I took it out in the driveway. The need of the nose cone is apparent and makes the whole thing look a bit weird in my opinion.

For anyone wondering about the pedal spacing and height, the bolt centers are just over 10" up and the pedals center to center are 5" apart and even with my big work boots on I have no issue selecting the brakes and getting off the throttle, at least that in theory that's what it seemed like when I sat in it. Also its hard to tell from the pictures but there is more then enough clearance from the bottom of the column to the top of the brake pedal.

[captainamerica]

Even Later March '13 - Easter Weekend

Friday - spent all morning sourcing my aluminum for the uprights and talking to a local waterjet machining company, and getting my front strut mount bar bent. Ended up getting enough metal for 3 uprights for about $180. After I got to the garage I used up most of my day trimming the tube (and modifying my tube notcher to do it). The fitting of this tube also gives a hard lower mount point for the gauge cluster panel and also the mount point for the steering column. In the evening I installed the steering column with its machined bearing mounts and roller bearings. The 3/4" DOM tubing I am using was 0.751" OD and the bearings would only accept 0.749" so I used my flapper wheel on the grinder as a crude lathe and took the offending amount off. At the end of the night I finished welding a bunch of pieces including the nose cone which is a serious looks addition to the car even if it does nothing else.

Saturday - I got up early and started working the tear down of the street bike and by lunch I had the wiring harness completely out and labeled, the rear seat mount removed, and the swing arm ready to go. With some help and outside the box thinking about how to get around custom Suzuki tools we got the swing arm off. None of the local tool stores carried a 19mm Allen wrench (NAPA was closest with a 17mm) for the swing arm axle so I bought two Honda lugs and welded them together which conveniently have a 19mm hex and used a wrench. Engine removal from there was pretty straight forward, only oddity I found was the alignment nuts for the rear mount bolts were so tight that I actually removed all the engine bolts and they held the chassis and motor together by clamping force.

Sunday - Spent the morning fixing the pedals (removing some zinc plated spacers I got at the hardware store which ruined my welds) and prepping the chassis for the attachment of the swing arm and the motor. In the evening with the help of some friends we mounted the swing arm and attempted the motor mount. The swing arm mounts that I designed actually interfere with the lower engine mounts and the whole this was quite a failure and it needs a mild redesign. Luckily we pulled it apart, removed the swing arm, and remounted the engine successfully with almost an 1/8" of clearance between the drivers seat plate and the valve cover. This is what happens when your nice CAD model is based on a GSXR600 engine which is somewhere around an inch shorter in the direction of the head. Overall a good weekend.

[captainamerica]

April '13

Finally got the motor mounted with the swing arm after doing some cutting and grinding of the swing arm mounts. I was able to mount the engine by myself using tie down straps from the front strut bar through the roll hoop and then down to the bolts I put in the head. There are some new parts to be made before I fix everything in its final position, and the exhaust hits the bell crank mount so that needs to be routed differently.

Bought two master cylinders to test out the brake pedal position and found that the pedal sits slightly off center so that needs to be mended, now sure how yet. In front suspension news I have the uprights being made in two pieces, I turn the bearing mounts and a local water-jet company is cutting out the complex shape, they will be welded together. Hopefully one will be done this weekend and I can fit test my design.

[fredvv44]

You are lucky. In Florida you have to have an upright from an existing car that has been DOT tested.
Fred V

[captainamerica]

April 10/13

Picked up my parts from the waterjet company, they look very nice and the draft was much less then expected so the tolerances are much closer which is quite nice. I spent a very late night monday/early tuesday morning finishing one of the bearing centers, which is a little wrong and needs to be altered to be correct but its a good fit check. The Mcmastercarr bearing drawing made it look like the bearing race for the wheel bearing stuck out further then the tapered roller, however is passes through it by about .075" which make my part wrong and it makes me able to but the bearings further apart by 0.150" which is good for the load bearing surfaces. Lots to do this weekend, if I am lucky I will have some mock up spindles made and a rolling chassis....but thats a stretch.

[noahkatz]

Nice uprights.

How will the bearing tubes attach to them?

What's the material?

If 6061 Al, you could use dip brazing, although I think it can only be heat treated toT4 after that.

[captainamerica]

They are 6061-T6 which are going to be TIG welded by a local shop. The reality is these are functional mock ups to use for testing that will be replaced by fully machined 7075 versions once the design is finalized and I know it works.

Not much on my plan to get a rolling chassis this weekend as a friend of my blew out a head gasket on their nissan xterra and I offered to help replace it.

[captainamerica]

Mid April

Found out from Pegasus Autoracing that my new extended length steering rack from Titan Engineering in England should be on my doorstep, just the moving part, the housing is staying the same. Things are looking good to have a roller by the end of the month if I can just find the time to get into the shop.

I changed the rim color for fun and took some pictures of the full CAD model for reference. If you have questions or comments, ask away, I would be interested in knowing what ideas people have on how I can improve.

Also just got accepted on a house I am buying so my whole shop environment will be moved into my garage by the end of the summer or sooner which should increase the pace of any work I am doing.

[captainamerica]

[captainamerica]

The exhaust was hitting the chassis so I made a quick work around similar to small SUV hitch attachments, it does need to be stiffened up though I think the weight of the rear end will bend it.

[captainamerica]

April 25th, 2013

Spent all day in my shop today with my buddy Levi on the lathe and me on the mill. Got quite a lot accomplished with more to come tomorrow. Still waiting on the longer steering rack to arrive from England.

[captainamerica]

April '13

After a long weekend in the machine shop I came within a few hours of my rolling chassis goal. I am turning 26 this week, started this at 23 and hopefully I will be able to give myself a birthday present if my steering rack comes in this week.

Just to not the spindles will be threaded along with the spindle nuts, these collars are just place holders.

[captainamerica]

April '13

Finally got a wheel on the front of the car, and I am very close to have the other one on as well. Spent some time on the nose cone as well. I am quite glad I am making test pieces for both the uprights and the spindles. I found out tonight my caliper model is wrong and when I put the assembly together the rotor was passing through the caliper so back to the lathe for a quick fix but that would have been an expensive fix on a single piece spindle and an expensive paper weight on a single piece upright.




To everyone: hope you all like what you see after 10k views over the last year, making me feel special for my birthday.

[DaveJ98092]

Not sure if its today or Apr 13th but Happy B day.


I am following most of the current builds and you guys are doing a very good job detailing the build out.

While your designs are very nice they are well above my build level, cost is the factor for me. I would need off the shelf items that could be modified. But I like to look. Its like a Brit friend of mine that has a saying "I'm not a gynecologist, but sure, I'll take a peek". ;D

[kolibri]

Hi Andrew,

happy birthday and keep on going with your fantastic work.

Looks great

Greatings from Germany

Ralf

[captainamerica]

It may not look super different from my other pictures but after two years all the wheels are on the ground, this coming weekend it will be a rolling chassis with the steering rack coming in tomorrow and I will be welding up mock up struts (tubes with rod ends) to get the car off the ground.

[captainamerica]

May 7-9 '13

Finally got the new steering rack in and braced the rear bell crank mount so that it won't bend under the weight of the trike and rolled the bad boy out into the driveway. The fake struts for the front were actually pretty easy to make as well. The rolling chassis is ready and the engine is already mounted so I don't know if I can call it that but the feeling of pushing it back and forth the first time is quite amazing.