Working under the trike

[dadorfman]

Somewhere along the way, the PO lost the nut holding the bolt securing the pillion to the chassis. When I bought the trike at a dealer, the pillion was loose. The dealer used a loose nut to secure a bolt. Now, I can't take off the bolt from above to take off the seats using a socket wrench or anything else. The bolt just twirls in place. Naturally, a number of the mods I want to do have a first step of taking off the seats.

I need to get under the trike to replace the loose nut with a nut firmly attached to the chassis. I was planning on using Gorilla Glue to hold it in place until I can tighten the bolt from above. The tightened bolt should keep the nut in place from that point on.

I picked up two ramps from Harbor Freight to raise the trike, but need advice on how to use them: Should I drive the front wheel onto a ramp and leave the rear wheels on the ground? Should I leave the front wheel on the ground and drive the rear wheels onto the ramps? Should I place the ramps on a backward-sloping grade and coast the rear wheels backward onto the ramps?

Should I coast or drive just the front wheel onto a ramp and keep the rear wheels on the ground? Should I spring for a motorcycle jack that can pick up the whole trike at one time? Should I have my head examined and live with things the way they are?

Thanks for your help.

[GoSlo]

Good questions actually about how to best get on the ramps. I'm wondering the same thing, so I'll be watching for replies from those that have done it and can steer us in the right direction (no pun intended).

[Bikerbozo]

I kind of like the idea of leaving front wheel on ground and riding back wheels up ramp. Seems a good way to avoid scraping pipes. Watch fenders, though. Trike will also be angled so don't fall forward into windshield.

[dadorfman]

My driveway slopes down from a carport. The hope is to ride up the ramp using only gravity and momentum, slowly. However I do it, I will post pics.

[americanbadass]

In all honesty...I think you should rethink this dynamic. Seems unsafe to me and contingent on slopes in your driveway. Don't you want to work on it in your garage? You probably already own jack stands and a motorcycle jack....I would jack it up and secure it with stands under the axel on either side and even one in the front to secure the jack.

I use an automotive jack, and jack up the rear, put stands under the axle, and the jack the front with a motorcycle scissor lift, usually 12-15 inches of the ground. I have the 80 dollar harbor freight jack, but prefer the scissor style in the pic.

Not trying to rain on your parade...just would be sad if you got ran over by your trike, and/or damage it with exotic methods of elevation.

[bustedwing]

I agree with ABA, jack rear axil and support with jack stands, then if you need the front tire up jack from under the engine but protect the bottom with a piece of wood. Then support with a jack stand.

[eagle1]

i cut out a 4" circle out of a piece of 1/2" wood,

then cut a 7"in length piece off of a 2x8. screwed them together.

use that as your floor jack end. slide it under the rear of the tri-glide

& place it so the wood covers 3 braces under the trunk.

jack up one side of the triglide & slide a 3t jack stand under the alxe of the t/g. lower the jack & slide it over to the other side & jack it up & place the another jack stand under it.

a 4x4 jack under the clutch area to the frame WILL NOT raise the rear wheels off of the ground . C/G is too far back. & don't jack under the defferential. MAJOR no-no

as per the manual. works for me.

i'd take the trike back to the dealer & see if they will fix it.

no harm in asking.till them what they did

[jfingalls]

Mr. Americanbadass is right on. I also use his approach and it works and, most of all, is safe for you and your Trike.

[Rick Kay]

In all honesty...I think you should rethink this dynamic. Seems unsafe to me and contingent on slopes in your driveway. Don't you want to work on it in your garage? You probably already own jack stands and a motorcycle jack....I would jack it up and secure it with stands under the axel on either side and even one in the front to secure the jack.

I use an automotive jack, and jack up the rear, put stands under the axle, and the jack the front with a motorcycle scissor lift, usually 12-15 inches of the ground. I have the 80 dollar harbor freight jack, but prefer the scissor style in the pic.

Not trying to rain on your parade...just would be sad if you got ran over by your trike, and/or damage it with exotic methods of elevation.

That's the right way to do it! Safety first!

[dadorfman]

I spoke with Lehman tech support this afternoon. The differential is the place to lift with a jack, but the differential is not in the center of the axle That makes it a two-person job keeping the trike stable as it is being lifted. He liked the idea of riding the front wheel up a ramp as long as the ramp is against a wall. I may try it tomorrow. If and when, I will take and post pics.

[americanbadass]

[QUOTE=dadorfman;159235]I spoke with Lehman tech support this afternoon. The differential is the place to lift with a jack, but the differential is not in the center of the axle .


Exactly...there is a differential that is slightly off center in the direction of your drive line....I just put my floor jack under that...jack it up, then put jack stands on both sides of the axel just behind each wheel. If you center the floor jack(under the differential), it is plenty stable for installing the jack stands. I do it by myself and have never had it move.

[Mick]

The side of the axle that the trike will lean towards while on the floor jack can be balanced by using a scissor jack in a pinch. You should still have enough room to put your jackstands in place. If you could get yours up on ramps heres what I use to jack my axle up.They make life a lot easier.

[Pegasus1300]

Well it's still a one man operation.Jack on differential until one side leaves the ground then put jack stand under that side now jack until other side matched 1st then put a jackstand under that side.If you need the front end up also put a 2 x 4 under the frame at the engine and jack there until you have the height you want.
I you have one, a bottle jack under a rear frame piece will also lift that side for jackstand placement.Just do one side at a time.

[Cougar]

Attachment 7821

[Rowdy]

I have used both the car ramps and jack. The ramps are very easy and safe to use. I cut a piece of 2x8 three to four ft. long for each ramp and drilled a hole in one end. I then drilled a hole in each ramp approx. one half way up the slope and inserted a bolt through both the 2x8 and ramp to hold it in place. This lessens the degree of the ramp and makes it very easy to drive up on ( moving forward). If I need the front raised I then jack it up and place a support under the front wheel. I have been doing this for yrs. with two trikes and I cannot see how anyway to get under the trike could be safer.

[beenthere]

Great way to ease slope.I will try this next time.Thanks

[dadorfman]

Rowdy,

Great idea! I wish i could take credit for it. I will try to post pics tomorrow or Sunday.

[robval87]

I am like Rowdy, I have a set of ramps that I back up onto. Then just jack up the front if needed and support it. The ramp I have are a plastic carbon (2000 lbs limit) Trike is well under that. It gives me about a foot and a half clearance under the Trike, plenty of room to move around and work.

[dadorfman]

As you can see, my carport is my workshop. When the house was built in 1955 (we bought it in 2003), most houses in built in Richmond did not have attached, heated garages.

First I tried driving the front wheel up the rams, leaving the rear wheels on the ground. I was able to get up the ram, but the area behind the pillion was not high enough for me to work there. It was not even worth taking a digital picture. Adding the 2X8's to the ramp allowed me to get the rear wheels raised enough for me to do the work. Success!



All I need to do know is figure out how to get it back on the ground with it and me intact.

[Cougar]

I install the Carbon One Lift I jack the bike up
add the four legs then remove the jack.. works great.
sturdy as well.

Attachment 7835