RAKE

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Yes. You will have to hunt for it but there is a list for that purpose. Check out The Samba vw site. Lots of vw info there.
But still... If you looked up the numbers on mine it would not be correct. None of the parts in it are the ones that are supposed to be in it.

[vw driver]

I made my trike into a freeway flier, I put on 30" diameter tires.

[vwbuild]

I made my trike into a freeway flier, I put on 30" diameter tires.

I was thinking about 28" to 30" rear tires also. I want to upgrade rear to disk brakes. Along with the disk brake upgrade I was going to switch to 5 lug wheels of some sort. I don't think there are any tires that fit these 4 lug pattern wheels that are on my rear axle now. Any opinions on disk brake manufacturers and what does a guy do for a parking brake?

[vw driver]

There are VW 4 lug dune buggy wheels available that use larger tires, that is what I have on mine. For parking brake you can put a valve in the brake line, step on the brake pedal, close the valve which holds pressure and locks the rear wheels. There are disc brake kits available. I have stock drum brakes on the rear of mine and 850 Suzuki dual disc on the front. It stops better than my VW bug.

[vwbuild]

I need another question answered here. When I have my tubing bent, is there a good angle at which to bend the tube where it goes from the bottom of the frame and curves up to the neck? The angle where a guy would have his feet when driving is where I'm referring to. Is a 45 degree angle a good bend or is there a way to figure this out if I wanted a 42 degree rake. Seems attaching the fork tube to the frame tube is a pretty tricky ordeal. I can see why some builders use 2" X 3" rectangle tube for their frames instead of round tubing.

[vw driver]

I find square and rectangular easier to work with. Maybe post some pictures of what you are doing and you will get more input. Descriptions can be hard to visualize sometimes. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

[vwbuild]

I find square and rectangular easier to work with. Maybe post some pictures of what you are doing and you will get more input. Descriptions can be hard to visualize sometimes. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Yea--I agree with the picture thing but all I have right now is the rear axle assembly off a VW Beetle. Maybe i'll take a picture of my 2x4 trike and try explaining it that way.

[vw driver]

Like this?

[vwbuild]

Like this?

Looks better than mine. Wonder if this is drivable?

[vw driver]

Looks better than mine. Wonder if this is drivable?

Supposed to be. I bet he had a heck of a time getting a title. Home Depot special construction?

[vwbuild]

My big question of the day is about the angle at which or where the feet rest when riding. I'm messing with my mock-up 2x4 trike and took some pics that can hopefully explain my question. Right now in my pics I have a 42 degree rake. Easy to do with a 2x4. I'm wondering about what angle to bend round tubing at the point where the orange clamp is on the pics. Found my 1-3/4" tubing today. 20 foot piece runs $260 before tax. It happens that this size of tubing slides right into the horn in front of the torsion axle. It will slide in about 9 inches. I think I will heat up the horn metal at this point and deform it a little so I can straighten the pipes so they will stick out parallel. Haven't even thought about the backbone tube as of yet. So here are the pics--don't laugh.

[vw driver]

I not following your question, it looks like you already have the angle, from the down tubes to the floor?

[vwbuild]

I not following your question, it looks like you already have the angle, from the down tubes to the floor?

This is just something I threw together. I'm just wondering if there is an optimum bend there that would make it easier when attaching the fork neck. Seems like different angles at this spot would make it easier or harder to attack the fork neck. I'm planning on the rake to be around 42 or 43 degrees. Just thought the bend down there using round tubing should be around 45 degrees also. My tube bender guy wants me to show up with a pre-determined angle for this bend. He did suggest a 6" bending radius. I just thought 45 degrees looked OK.

[vw driver]

I always say if you like it that way do it , it's your trike. Adjusting that angle is going to affect the wheelbase. If it doesn't work you can always change it.

[vwbuild]

I always say if you like it that way do it , it's your trike. Adjusting that angle is going to affect the wheelbase. If it doesn't work you can always change it.

Yea--trying to hit the nail on the head the first time. Would hate to have to remove the neck and do it over again. Tacoma huh? Lived in Port Orchard for 6-1/2 years.

[vw driver]

Port Orchard, nice town. So you know about the rain. We have had about three dry days this spring although we are having a couple of days of nice weather but it supposed to be back to 60 degrees and some rain by the weekend. Anyway, if the rake and trail works out good it's probably OK, a lot of trikes end up with some front wheel wobble, even the add kits for bikes where they have to put on raked trees to get it out. Mine turned out pretty good, a slight, low speed wobble but I put on a VW steering damper and it's gone, handles very good actually. I messed with air pressure in the forks, put air shocks on the back, tried different air pressures in the tires and it kept getting better. I can let go of the handlebars and tracks great.

[vwbuild]

Port Orchard, nice town. So you know about the rain. We have had about three dry days this spring although we are having a couple of days of nice weather but it supposed to be back to 60 degrees and some rain by the weekend. Anyway, if the rake and trail works out good it's probably OK, a lot of trikes end up with some front wheel wobble, even the add kits for bikes where they have to put on raked trees to get it out. Mine turned out pretty good, a slight, low speed wobble but I put on a VW steering damper and it's gone, handles very good actually. I messed with air pressure in the forks, put air shocks on the back, tried different air pressures in the tires and it kept getting better. I can let go of the handlebars and tracks great.

We still have a home in Seattle where my wifes brother lives so we hear about the rain here and there. My schooling was in Solar engineering so I had a tough time there in Port Orchard. Sure miss the crabbing and oysters and the Columbia fishing for sturgeon. I heard about the dampers--not sure what it is yet because I haven't looked one up yet. I had a sportster that would wobble at 115 mph--scary as hell on two wheels. I finally got my tubing ordered today so really need to concentrate on that angle thing. 45 degrees looks to be to much--or too little depending on how you look at it. I'm thinking of damnear a 55 degree bend now with a longer fork. Sure like them long front ends. thanks for the info. Oh yea--read today that Mt St Helens magna is rising again.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

You can make any angle work. But if you don't have much triangle from backbone to down tube it gets weaker. You counter this with heavier tubing and gussets. Basically the bigger of a triangle you can get the easier it is to get strength.

[vwbuild]

You can make any angle work. But if you don't have much triangle from backbone to down tube it gets weaker. You counter this with heavier tubing and gussets. Basically the bigger of a triangle you can get the easier it is to get strength.

There is a guy on here called chromedome1964. I want to copy his frame build he has from early on in his thread. Would you consider the triangle in his frame large enough? Thanks

[vw driver]

Yeah, solar has not become a huge industry up here, not much sol. A VW steering damper is basically just a shock absorber connected to the steering, all of my VWs have one from the factory. While you're in the planning stage have you decided how many people will be riding on your trike and what sort of riding you'll be doing? Adding seats and extended forks can end up with a very long trike. Someone else said the larger the angle the weaker it gets and that makes sense to me. So an angle of 45+90=135 degrees, 55+90=145 degrees and so on until you reach 180 degrees which is a straight line. If you tell the guys bending the tubing that you want it bent at 45 degrees they might just bend it into an acute angle.