T-Rex Carbon Fiber

[edvb]

Hi Joe

I am looking at your build and am a little confused by it all. I hope you can clear it up for me.

Reading all your posts it sounds like you used some of the components from a Kandi Viper. Is this correct? Did you also use part of the frame that you welded additional 1.5" steel tubing to?

You are also using a Honda Silverwing 600cc. Did you use part of that frame also?

Can you show a good side picture of your front A-arms that shows all the attach points and how all are mounted in one picture?

As I also modified my Eco Exo R quite a bit but discussed the changes with the designer and some engineers first before moving forward. I also did mockups and tested the bump steer with a laser level having everything assembled to make sure I was within tolerances. It is overbuilt but when going 55-65 MPH I do not worry about something failing. It has a far stronger and more durable front suspension that has proven it's self in the 3000+ miles I have driven it.

It just would be interesting how your frame looks now before you finish it to get a good idea how everything is put together.

I did it on another forum that help me a lot and put my mind at ease.

We all have to look out for each other and the only worry I have is that you are using components used on a 250cc trike and now have a 600cc motor and transmission powering it. Even with mine I beefed up the suspension as the 1/2" rod ends just seemed too small for me. I would rather be safe than sorry.
There are some really sharp people on this board that know way much more than I do and have the skills to match.

Good luck on your build and show some more detailed pictures.

Edward

[joe]

Sold most of the Kandi Viper, which was an inexpensive inspiration to the basic layout of my design. The Chinese appear to be where Japan was back in the 1960s. In those days; "made in Japan" was considered junk, but they proved on the contrary a decade later with advanced engineering, hence reliability. The Chinese products have good engineering, but sloppy production, via cheap labor. That being said as I mentioned on my earlier posts as Industrial Engineer I normally over analyze and research when in doubt. I have used steering rack, ball joints lower A arm from Kandi. I used the frame assembly with engine mounts from Honda. I appreciate Captain America engineering posts since automotive engineering is not my expertise. Thanks for all concerned comments. Currently on other business projects, but left off with wiring schematic. Will add pic's in future post, keep on Trike'n!

[noahkatz]

looking good, Joe

great idea to use a winch with speed reduction built in

[joe]

Attachment Deleted
After 6 months on other projects, finally got started on finishing the wiring beginning with finalizing the dash layout. This includes the OEM Honda silverwing gauges, stereo, glove box, etc.This is fabricated out of sheet metal with PVC gauge shades, then it will be claded with black & silver dash vinyl.

[joe]

Adding vinyl cladding & carbon fiber accents to dash.

[joe]

Added new NRG Seats, much more comfortable than my home made ones.

Fabricated a quick access mount by extending the slide bar with welded tabs that bolt to a perpendicular cross bar which is welded to the chassis.

Yes, they were a tight fit, I had my 6ft+ son sit in to assure fit and clearances.
Back view.

[joe]

Easy access to seat mounting bolts, only tack welded at this point. Also had to relocate and raise up reverse shifter plus emergency brake due to taller seat bottom. Redesigning rear attachments of reverse shift cable due to the fact that it falls about 2" short of previous mount position.

[joe]

Attachment DeletedUsing aluminum Riv-nuts in Carbon Fiber body with stainless steel screws to mount new LED side signal marker lamps. I first discovered rivet-nuts or riv-nuts when repairing a carbon fiber bicycle . Since you can't achieve good structural integrity by simply tapping internal threads in thin carbon fiber & other thin plastics or composites, this is a great solution.Attachment DeletedHere is the marker light mounted & illuminated . Attachment DeletedThe Polaris Slingshot is very popular in Sarasota, Fl. A reasonably priced trike that some owners have fun customizing with various aftermarket accessories . 

[joe]

Reverse gear is finalized with new kinematic design all welded & painted, showing all components.



Modifications were originally made to compensate for cable position change due to new seats in previous post.

[joe]

Ordeed .25 thick polycarbonate to create a full windshield. Will be fabricating Stainless steel mounts and hardware for attachment.

[joe]

New 0.25" thick polycarbonate indshield cut to size with stainless steel mounting brackets. Stainless brackets will be attached with stainless 1/4-20 screws into nylon inserts to prevent galvanic corrosion.

[Scorpio]

Nov 16, 2016 18:22:57 GMT -5 joe said:

New polycarbonate . 25 thk. windshield cut to size with stainless steel mtg. brackets. Stainless brackets will be attached will stainless 1/4-20 screws into nylon inserts to prevent galvanic corrosion . 

Joe

Do you have T-Rex Frame dimension plan as i would like to weld the frame and do new body for it.

[joe]

Attached is a side view screen shot of my CAD drawing. I used a Harbor Freight tubing bender to bend 1.5" O.D. x .0625 wall DOM steel tubing. The calculated inside bending radius is typically 8.5" @ 90 degrees.

This CAD details the roll cage bottom front nose.



This CAD detail is of the front.windshield area & upper front nose piece. Note: the drawings depict the theoretical  straight distance for bend radius purposes. I hope you find..this helpful!

[Scorpio]

Nov 21, 2016 23:40:58 GMT -5 joe said:

Attached is a side view screen shot of my CAD drawing. I used a Harbor Freight tubing bender to bend 1.5" O.D. x .0625 wall DOM steel tubing. The calculated inside  bending radius is typically 8.5" @ 90 degrees. 

This CAD details the roll cage & bottom front nose.

This CAD detail is of the front.windshield area & upper front nose piece. Note: the drawings depict the theoretical  straight distance for bend radius purposes. I hope you find..this helpful!  

thanx Joe and this is going to be interesting as i'm not use to inch and using in mm, so it's gonna take me time to change all numbers unless your CAD can do it?

and i'm actually looking if any one have "detail" measurement for ALL metal parts and it i remember something like correct there is about 60+ frame parts

[joe]

Attachment Deleted
Fabricated LED daytime driving lights with high intensity LED strip mounted behind step down sized thin polycarbonate mirrored sheet. I started with a cardboard template pieces and hot melt glued the assembly to perfect the fit. The small plastic mirror pieces were then placed over a fixture and clear silicon glued together. The bottom triangular pieces are cut to leave about .300" for the LED strip to slide in behind. This assembly sits just below the projector beam headlamps. Both the LED assembly and the headlamps are covered with a thin polycarbonate dust cover to protect them from the elements . The LED can be seen well in daylight and give the front of the trike a striking look.

[joe]

Purchased a new steering wheel quick release /removal assembly from Chinese vendor for under $20 including shipping. It is machined from aluminum alloy with spring loaded locking system, has no back play. Manufacturing tolerances are very good outer surface has a nice red anodized finish. Always good to see better quality parts from China at a great price. The Japanese manufacturers improved there quality and reputation from the 1960's through the 1980's, I believe the Chinese will eventually follow with the same!

[joe]

Merry Christmas to all and best of health & prosperity for 2017, keep on Triking!

[Liteway]

Right back at you and eveyone else on site.

[joe]

Finally got back to spend some serious time to finish my trike. I had previously switched out the motor for a Honda Silverwing FSC600 with the CVT trans. I finalized all wiring, dash switches, wiring harness, and welded in steel U-Channel to safely route harness, throttle cable, brake line through the floor pan. I then tripped the trike down to bare frame, finalized all welds and painted it maroon to match the detail of the maroon carbon fiber body.
I reassembled it and started it for the first time in over a year, but within a day had to evacuate the Island of Siesta Key for hurricane Irma. Irma was projected to be a directly in the forecast path with 140mph winds. As hurricane Charlie did back in 04, Irma decided miraculously to turn East and avoid any serious damage to the barrier islands of Sarasota.

Back to the trike, I found an issue after starting appears the ECM was the problem according to the Honda shop manual. The engine would not start again after running smoothly for 15 min. The programmable fuel circuit was the culprit via the ECM, so I ordered a replacement. This is after I made a more comprehensive CAD layout of the ECM pins and associated interfacing sensors in order to rule out any of them first.

[joe]

I made this CAD drawing in about 2 hrs, but it saved me countless hrs of trying to trace everything back to the exact ECM pin. I must be getting old, had to enlarge the Honda schematic 5x just to read it. Meanwhile while I had the motor running was able to check charging circuit, fuel & temp. gauges, idle speed, etc. all good thankfully! I had a hard time bleeding the brakes, the issue was air in the rear caliper since I had the motor off. After some time I was able to get the trapped air out by reverse bleeding it. This was a new process for me, I made a bottle up or DOT-4 with a hose to the rear caliper's fitting and with the master cyl. cap off I squeezed the bottle full of fluid back into the caliper forcing the air out of the master cylinder. Luckily it worked, but almost came to the forum looking for advise. My replacement ECM should arrive by 9/26, hopefully that is the only culprit. Will update future progress!