DIY Universal Trike Conversion

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SirJoey

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My cozy little nook in the corner!
Wow, thanx for sharing that, Ed! I'd forgotten about even posting those pics back when I built it.
I'd post a pic here of the finished product if I knew how, although there's a pic of it in my "History of my projects" album
on my profile page, as well as a pic of that outrageous "Granny's Trikemare" chopper trike I actually used it on.
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Sir Joey
Posted your Completed Trike kit photo in the #1 post.
Located the photo, right clicked on it, copied the 'image address'
and posted that, into the thread.

Then as Brad taught us, I changed the ( URL ) to ( IMG ) and voila', the image appeared.
Seems like extra work, but its in there.
 
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SirJoey

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Yeah, that's the one! Thanx for updating me on how to post the img, too. That'll work! :)
Now maybe I should locate & upload the pics of exactly how to attach car wheels to that thing!


BTW, I found my googly-eyes avatar, but apparently the new forum doesn't support gifs, at least not as an avatar. 😟
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Hi,
The link to the old post does not work anymore. I saw that lots of the old posts were lost. Does anyone know of the dimensions to build this trike conversion? Thx
 
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emv304,
I did a search on the wayback machine (archive.org) for the original thread url and here are the list of links Universal Trike Conversion Kit
I chose a snapshot from the first link and did a quick scan through the posts.

The Kid's post on 3/18/08 mentioned
I copied one of those from pic of a Sun trike rear. It's buried in my garage with the DW rear. I forgot all about it. Thanks for reminding me. I was going to use it for a quad, but the DW plans came along, so I scrapped it for the lower DW design. If I find it, maybe I'll use it for a hauling trike. I made it from 1 1/4" EMT so I could use 5/8" flange bearings, and 1" EMT for connecting the two sides.

Sir Joey's first post from 6/1/2010 mentioned

Here's a pic RR sent me, with dimensions, back when I built it.
Width kinda depends on application & personal preference.
I made mine 24" wide, instead of the 19" in the pic.

and SirJoey's second post on 6/1/2010 mentioned


Originally Posted by eilismaura

LOL - ok - but WHAT determines how wide to make it??

and THANKS Sir Joey!


Well, if you're gonna use it on something that rides low, where you'll be sitting at least partially BETWEEN
the rear wheels, you need to allow yourself enough room for that, which is why I went with 24".
Also, if you're gonna be ripping around corners & sharp curves pretty fast, you'd want it a little wider.

If however, you're gonna definitely be seated ABOVE the wheels, & you're sure you're not gonna use it for some other application in
the future, & if you're not gonna be ridin' it like some of us MANIACS, then you could go a little narrower, like in Richies pic, 19".
Personally, I like the stability of a little wider wheelbase in EITHER case!

Does that make sense?



Since the pictures are from SirJoey's build I think it's safe to assume it's a 24" wide build. The post in that snapshot tended to end soon after that.

Hope this helps.
 
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Problem you have is where is the 19" and 24" measured ?

Outside ends of brown painted tubing ? = inside dimensions
Tyre centres ? = on road dimensions
outside of hubs = maximum width

Paul
 
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Why would you need a width measurement? Measure your body width or bike path width or mock it up and see what feels comfortable/stable for you, right?

I thought the photos are great but they don't provide quite enough info to replicate understand a step or 2.
 
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Why would you need a width measurement? Measure your body width or bike path width or mock it up and see what feels comfortable/stable for you, right?

I thought the photos are great but they don't provide quite enough info to replicate understand a step or 2.
Maybe because emv304 said

Hi,
The link to the old post does not work anymore. I saw that lots of the old posts were lost. Does anyone know of the dimensions to build this trike conversion? Thx
Paul
 
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Thanks everyone for your replies and your input. I am definitely going to try and see what happens. I will keep notes and measurements to help those in the future. Thanks again.
 
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So, I found something that might be useful to someone building a rear end for a trike. There is a guy on YouTube with a page called Custer Trikes. He is in Mexico and his videos are in Spanish. He gives a tutorial on how to build his trike. He goes into how to build the adapter and how to modify the hubs. He uses a 3/4” thick shaft. His trike is very simple but, again, the video is in spanish. I know enough spanish to be dangerous so I was able to follow along. For someone starting out, it might be worth a view.
 
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This is some thoughtful design work. Could someone explain the hubs for me? It looks like the two nine hole plates sandwich the inside of a standard wheel hub. Does this involve re-spoking, or am I not seeing how it really works. I'd appreciate anyone's help. Thanks!
 
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The hubs slide over the inner axle shaft. This can not itself provide drive. A collar is welded to one 9 hole plate and made to rotate by the use of a bolt and indent in the inner axle shaft. By fastening the other 9 hole plate through the existing spokes drive is provided. This second plate is often cut in half to avoid the need to respoke the wheel just to get that plate on. It means the spokes are subject to forces they were not designed to take on acceleration. I have no experience of this so can not attest to how well they take it. You can see the split plate here in a cheapo ebike kit

 
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Popshot, Thank you very much. Good explanation, and the photo is worth a thousand words. I'd guess these are foam gaskets too, to snug up the works. Thanks again.
 
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Yes foam gaskets are needed to reduce stress on the spokes. The plates are vertical but the spokes are not so the thick foam is there to take up that difference whilst still allowing the plates to provide some compression to prevent it rotating back and forth against the spokes. I expect the foam needs to be robust enough to stop it wearing out quickly.
 
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Thanks again Popshot. There are several gasket materials available (1/4" or 6mm), art store or auto department strengths. I'll have to do some eyes on shopping.
 
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