This thread will document my efforts to make a covered trike. The design brief is:-
There'll be a door on one side only. The side windows will run in double channel and will slide like an old Land Rover. Made out of 2mm polycarbonate they'll easily bend enough to get in the channel or take out completely if the weather allows. The windscreen will again be 2mm polycarbonate and will be curved to encourage the rain to run off. The windscreen and roof will overhang the door slightly again to encourage rain and wind not to worm it's way inside. The chassis will be 40x20x1.5 steel and will be the traditional T shape. No front suspension as it'd just add too much weight but there is suspension on the rear. Front wheels are very skinny 20" and the rear will be a 28" hub motored affair. The body frame will be aluminium as it'll be unstressed. At least it'll be unstressed unless and until the steel chassis asks it to help out. This is an area I can't fully resolve as the two have to be connected and steel is just way too heavy so I'll probably use some rubber washers between the two to keep the ally as unstressed as possible. Body panels will be correx bolted to an ally 15x15x1 square aluminium frame via nylon bolts to keep weight down. I wanted to use aluminium angle as it's lighter and it makes door to frame overlaps much easier but I came to the conclusion it simply wasn't butch enough unless it was actually heavier than the square tube. There'll be a correx floor on the underside of the frame and an expanded aluminium mesh floor above that to catch my feet if they head that way. The mesh won't hold my entire weight but should easily cope with getting in or out mishaps that would otherwise see me with a Flintstone's vehicle. The same expanded mesh / correx combo will also serve as a floor in the luggage area at the back. Access to the cargo area will be only over the back of the seat. Less practical than an opening hatch I know and the first instance of me breaking my own rule before I've even started but it's a big help in keeping water out! Brakes will be mechanical discs all round. Gears will be 3x8 as I've got a lovely pair of Deore LX 3x8 brake levers / trigger shifters just begging for a role.
There's a lot I'll have to engineer on the fly here and I'll need to learn how to solder aluminium to make the body frame. If I get it right the Drypod will just fit me in with very little room to spare. My fat trike is coming to a conclusion soon and this will be the next project in the garage. It's easily my most ambitious to date and thus comes with the most and tallest hurdles.
- Practicality - it has to be easy to get in and out of, carry some shopping, be at least as comfortable as the average vehicle like this can be and keep the bulk of the weather off. It do not expect it to be as dry as a car.
- The lard has to be kept down. I have to have some hope of pedalling it without a functional electric assist. With a decent hub motor and 48v battery it'll never be any featherweight but I'm setting a target of sub 50KG with the electrics on. No mega expensive parts will be used. Weight saving can not be at the expense of point 1.
There'll be a door on one side only. The side windows will run in double channel and will slide like an old Land Rover. Made out of 2mm polycarbonate they'll easily bend enough to get in the channel or take out completely if the weather allows. The windscreen will again be 2mm polycarbonate and will be curved to encourage the rain to run off. The windscreen and roof will overhang the door slightly again to encourage rain and wind not to worm it's way inside. The chassis will be 40x20x1.5 steel and will be the traditional T shape. No front suspension as it'd just add too much weight but there is suspension on the rear. Front wheels are very skinny 20" and the rear will be a 28" hub motored affair. The body frame will be aluminium as it'll be unstressed. At least it'll be unstressed unless and until the steel chassis asks it to help out. This is an area I can't fully resolve as the two have to be connected and steel is just way too heavy so I'll probably use some rubber washers between the two to keep the ally as unstressed as possible. Body panels will be correx bolted to an ally 15x15x1 square aluminium frame via nylon bolts to keep weight down. I wanted to use aluminium angle as it's lighter and it makes door to frame overlaps much easier but I came to the conclusion it simply wasn't butch enough unless it was actually heavier than the square tube. There'll be a correx floor on the underside of the frame and an expanded aluminium mesh floor above that to catch my feet if they head that way. The mesh won't hold my entire weight but should easily cope with getting in or out mishaps that would otherwise see me with a Flintstone's vehicle. The same expanded mesh / correx combo will also serve as a floor in the luggage area at the back. Access to the cargo area will be only over the back of the seat. Less practical than an opening hatch I know and the first instance of me breaking my own rule before I've even started but it's a big help in keeping water out! Brakes will be mechanical discs all round. Gears will be 3x8 as I've got a lovely pair of Deore LX 3x8 brake levers / trigger shifters just begging for a role.
There's a lot I'll have to engineer on the fly here and I'll need to learn how to solder aluminium to make the body frame. If I get it right the Drypod will just fit me in with very little room to spare. My fat trike is coming to a conclusion soon and this will be the next project in the garage. It's easily my most ambitious to date and thus comes with the most and tallest hurdles.