V8 Diesel Trike... old Uhaul truck

[BMB Guns]

Well, this has been a trying week. I live dang near in the middle of all the crazy ass flooding in south Louisiana. My house stayed dry but my parents got 2 1/2 feet of water in their home. More friends and family than I can count were flooded. It's a disaster down here. Cajuns will prevail but this crap sucks. My trike project was on high ground so it's still fine. All of this did have me thinking, how big would pontoons have to be to make the war trike amphibious!?!?!!?!

[peteg59]

Sorry to hear of the flooding & the tough times for all in LA right now.
Looks like lots of outside support is starting to happen, & hopefully the residents pulling together will get most through this tragedy...

As far as an amphibious trike goes, well you may be onto something
Maybe a modified airboat platform, with a PTO for the fan???

[diver]

Well, this has been a trying week. I live dang near in the middle of all the crazy ass flooding in south Louisiana. My house stayed dry but my parents got 2 1/2 feet of water in their home. More friends and family than I can count were flooded. It's a disaster down here. Cajuns will prevail but this crap sucks. My trike project was on high ground so it's still fine. All of this did have me thinking, how big would pontoons have to be to make the war trike amphibious!?!?!!?!

I volunteered cleanup in the area for a month when Katrina went threw. I was living in florida at the time The shiet the folks had to endue was terrible. Hope all works out well for your family and friends

[BMB Guns]

I appreciate the good will. My parents were emotionally crushed after seeing their home of over 40 years filled with over 2 feet of muddy river water. Quick thinking and hard work has really turned it around. They are emotionally doing much better and the house has really come along well....As for my possibly amphibious trike. I'm thinking of a pontoon frame thing I can easily remove with tractor pins and drive around (at low speed) with it attached to the trike. Something like that would have really come in handy recently!!!!

[Gorilla]

Now that is something to think about

[Texan]

Anyone familiar with the laws in Louisiana concerning trikes built from cars/trucks? I plan on calling the DMV and my insurance company before I really get I to turning wrenches and cutting steel.

Was going to suggest this very action. States all around you are not allowing these vehicles to be registered anymore. You go out a big chunk of $$$$ ($4,000-$6,000) getting the welds certified only to find out you can't drive it on public roads.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

8~\o

[BMB Guns]

Well... I'm back at it! I've had ongoing issues with connecting this beast of an engine and transmission to the rear end. The 353t is a tall engine. The bottom of the oil pan is a little less than 15 inches below the center of the crankshaft. Once you get the engine low enough to line up the driveshaft you have to dig a hole in the ground for the oil pan to sit. Anyway, I finally decided to cut the saddles loose on the rear end and rotate it up a few degrees. Due to the short driveshaft and built in offset of the differential on the axle my driveshaft guy suggested I run the driveshaft as straight as possible (up and down). The 1 1/4 offset of the differential (left and right) will be more than enough to make the u joints work. Finished driveshaft is approximately 13 inches with around 5 inches of spline for movement. So... to visualize how the engine and transmission will have to sit in the frame, I make a simple mockup. 1 1/4 box with a flange bolted to the yoke. The expanded metal and plate represent the oil pan which is the lowest part of the engine. I have 8 inches of clearance under the differential. I set the angle of the mockup tube so I would have at least 8 inches under the back of the oil pan. This is what the centerline of the engine and transmission would look like sitting in the frame... many pics below...

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[Gorilla]

You can enter Tractor pulls with that trike. It's going to be awesome

[peteg59]

it will be awesome.
Glad to see you back on your project BMB. Don't slow down now
8" of clearance under the pan should be fine for most street use, unless you go offroading?

[BMB Guns]

So... now I totally have my panties in a bunch over the angle of the engine and transmission. To get my driveshaft right and have 8 inches of clearance under the oil pan in need 10 degrees maximum angle. This is what that would look like.... freaking engine is jacked back. I'm not concerned about looks, just the mechanics of it. Will it cause issues with the engine?
I will be on the horn with Deteoit Diesel tomorrow begging for help.

[peteg59]

It will be interesting to hear if the angle will be an issue.
I'm nowhere near an engineer however I would think as long as the pickup tube can get a good & continuous oil supply from the pan, its good?
Theres no float level to worry about as you would have in a carb, and the fuel pump/injectors can typically run at fairly extreme angles before starving out, so what else is there to consider in a diesel powered trike besides looks?

[LarryA]

BMB, google 4btswaps Detroit section.....seems they discussed cutting 2-3 in,off an oil pan. maybe widen bottom of pan for same capacity? folks will love that Detroit music! got a 6v53 in a 50 chev 1.5 ton ...bunch of fun!! larry

[peteg59]

Rear pinion angle might also be an issue to consider. Don't know how much a stock u joint driveshaft will tolerate, running 10deg."off"?

[J.T.M.]

So... now I totally have my panties in a bunch over the angle of the engine and transmission. To get my driveshaft right and have 8 inches of clearance under the oil pan in need 10 degrees maximum angle. This is what that would look like.... freaking engine is jacked back. I'm not concerned about looks, just the mechanics of it. Will it cause issues with the engine?
I will be on the horn with Deteoit Diesel tomorrow begging for help.

You can cut the bottom off the oil pan and put two kick outs on it to give you more ground clearance the kick outs will give you more oil capacity. You will have to shorten the oil pick up. We do this on race cars all the time.

[BMB Guns]

Rear pinion angle might also be an issue to consider. Don't know how much a stock u joint driveshaft will tolerate, running 10deg."off"?

The rear pinion won't be 10 degrees off. As I stated earlier, I cut the saddles off of the rear axle to allow me to roll the differential/pinion to an upward angle to match the angle of the engine/transmission. The offset to allow the u joints to work will be handled by the pinon shaft which is not dead center on the axle.

[peteg59]

The rear pinion won't be 10 degrees off. As I stated earlier, I cut the saddles off of the rear axle to allow me to roll the differential/pinion to an upward angle to match the angle of the engine/transmission. The offset to allow the u joints to work will be handled by the pinon shaft which is not dead center on the axle.

/\...Yup, I remember now...

[BMB Guns]

BMB, google 4btswaps Detroit section.....seems they discussed cutting 2-3 in,off an oil pan. maybe widen bottom of pan for same capacity? folks will love that Detroit music! got a 6v53 in a 50 chev 1.5 ton ...bunch of fun!! larry

I have considered oil pan modification. I will avoid it if I can. These engines are also put in boats. The marine versions of these engines have different oil pans, water cooled exhaust manifolds, and all kinds of stuff. Detroit has so many variations of these engines it's insane. Hopefully I'll get a detroit guru to pass on some knowledge about max allowed mounting angle for my model engine.

[BMB Guns]

So... Stewart and Stevenson hooked me up with a spec sheet... max up angle 20 degrees. Max down 30 degrees. I'm going to shoot for 8 degrees if I can and get larger diameter tires to increase my overall ground clearance. We have floods around here. I need to keep my feet dry.

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[BMB Guns]

Yes!!! I got my driveshaft and clutch!!!!! This morning I got called to go offshore.... WAh waaaa... ... well, it will he there when I get back.

[diver]

Yes!!! I got my driveshaft and clutch!!!!! This morning I got called to go offshore.... WAh waaaa... ... well, it will he there when I get back.

Nice, how long is the shaft?. ...I like it