Removing the Tri-Glide Body - Photos & Video

[DK Custom Products]

Before our upcoming summer trip I wanted to replace the heim joints on my panhard rod. To do this, removing the body is required.

There are only 8 bolts and some wires that need disconnecting.

Here are some photo's from yesterday-



...body sitting on some sawhorses...yeah, it's filthy, needs a good cleaning, and some wax.



Here you can see one end of the panhard rod, where the dealership sprayed some sort of lubricant that really attracted a lot of road dirt.



Panhard rod removed-



Panhard rod reinstalled with new heim joints.



The old heim joints had quite a bit of play in them, so it will be nice to ride it without that slack in them.

I also left the body off, sometime in the next few days I'll be mounting the video camera to the rear of the frame and taking some video to watch the 14" Trike Series Shocks in action while riding. Will post it up here when done.

Kevin

[MDF48]

Kevin, as usual a very good and useful post. I think the video from the rear with the suspension working will be very interesting and informative.

As you said, good time to give all that rear area a good cleaning and wax on painted stuff. It does appear that changing the Panhard bar is very easy with the body off. Do the heim joints come installed on the rod? I suppose they are easy to adjust?

[ultrafxr]

Kevin, as usual a very good and useful post. I think the video from the rear with the suspension working will be very interesting and informative.

As you said, good time to give all that rear area a good cleaning and wax on painted stuff. It does appear that changing the Panhard bar is very easy with the body off. Do the heim joints come installed on the rod? I suppose they are easy to adjust?

Kevin, how heavy is the body? I'm assuming Devin helped or did you recruit Mary!

Jerry

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, as usual a very good and useful post. I think the video from the rear with the suspension working will be very interesting and informative.

As you said, good time to give all that rear area a good cleaning and wax on painted stuff. It does appear that changing the Panhard bar is very easy with the body off. Do the heim joints come installed on the rod? I suppose they are easy to adjust?

Yeah, I think it'll be a fun video.

I used the same panhard rod, just replaced the threaded in heim joints on each end. Taking apart and putting back together is simple. The manual outlines a relatively simple method for adjusting it to the proper length, via how far the heim joints are threaded in.

Kevin, how heavy is the body? I'm assuming Devin helped or did you recruit Mary!

Jerry

I would guess less than 100 lbs. Devin and I carried it, but Mary and I would have no problem. Did not even bother emptying the Tour-Pak.

Kevin

[Jack Klarich]

Good info Kevin

I have not heard the word pan hard rod for a long time

Moog engineering wanted us to call it a trac rod BUT I am old school like you

[arnie]

Hey Kevin I replaced my heim joints on my 2011, & 2014 before & never removed the body. I don't really remember but it was less then an hour todo. I'm sure it's easier to get to though by removing the body.

[Capt.Bob]

Kevin, Those rear tires look a bit worn or maybe it is an illusion of the camera angle? I have a Panhard rod (bar or stabilizer) that is used both in my Tri Glide and also have one in my kit-built street legal race car. It will be interesting to see a video on how those shocks work without the body structure to obscure the movement.

I didn't know until I looked it up that the Panhard automotive group in France was the developer of the device to reduce lateral longitudinal movements of the rear axle in coil spring applications and so it is named after the company that invented it.

[hocnsoc]

Thank you Kevin, for posting the photos. Made me think twice about lifting the trike from the cross members.

That frame appears to be marginal as far as supporting the weight. We all do it for lift kits but those photos

make me wonder.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Dang Kevin .... the old girls naked. Gonna be an interesting video.

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, Those rear tires look a bit worn or maybe it is an illusion of the camera angle? I have a Panhard rod (bar or stabilizer) that is used both in my Tri Glide and also have one in my kit-built street legal race car. It will be interesting to see a video on how those shocks work without the body structure to obscure the movement.

I didn't know until I looked it up that the Panhard automotive group in France was the developer of the device to reduce lateral longitudinal movements of the rear axle in coil spring applications and so it is named after the company that invented it.

Yeah, tires are worn...near the wear marks. Dunno if I'm going to replace them before the trip or not.

Thank you Kevin, for posting the photos. Made me think twice about lifting the trike from the cross members.

That frame appears to be marginal as far as supporting the weight. We all do it for lift kits but those photos

make me wonder.

They're pretty stout. I've lifted mine there, well over 100 times (testing different prototypes). Never heard of them failing or bending.

Dang Kevin .... the old girls naked. Gonna be an interesting video.

Yeppers!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Duplicate post

[DK Custom Products]

Triplicate post.

[Capt.Bob]

Kevin, I think the reason that you have not had a crossmember deform is that you put your scissor jack under both crossmembers. I used a hydraulic jack on only one crossmember and slightly bent it when I was putting on my DK Customs Custom Lift Kit on my 2017 TGU. I also had not used a block of wood which I subsequently did after calling you about the slight deformation of the crossmember. I think the trick is to use both pieces of metal and I would agree that then and only then can the whole back of the trike be supported by crossmembers without any concern for deformation.

In terms of tires, I find them to be relatively cheap insurance and replace them before I see any wear bars. How many miles have you gotten on this first set of rear tires? You ride pretty aggressively and sometimes two-up for long distances with Mary and a fair amount of gear. Having a blown tire on a long trip would be a real bummer. Bob

[DK Custom Products]

Too bad it is so dirty...

Here are the photos of the mounting points for the body.

Four on the bottom of the trunk, under the liner-



Two more against the front wall of the trunk-



One on either side of the Trike, under each side cover-





Photos from different angles coming soon.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, I think the reason that you have not had a crossmember deform is that you put your scissor jack under both crossmembers. I used a hydraulic jack on only one crossmember and slightly bent it when I was putting on my DK Customs Custom Lift Kit on my 2017 TGU. I also had not used a block of wood which I subsequently did after calling you about the slight deformation of the crossmember. I think the trick is to use both pieces of metal and I would agree that then and only then can the whole back of the trike be supported by crossmembers without any concern for deformation.

In terms of tires, I find them to be relatively cheap insurance and replace them before I see any wear bars. How many miles have you gotten on this first set of rear tires? You ride pretty aggressively and sometimes two-up for long distances with Mary and a fair amount of gear. Having a blown tire on a long trip would be a real bummer. Bob

Hey Bob,

Yes, thank you. Got to use a piece of wood, between jack or jack stands and the cross members. We do have that in the instructions, but I forgot to mention that above. Most of the time I jack it up and then use jack stands, under just one cross member (with wood), but for this project we did it this way.

Yes, I probably will do the tires....I have 50K miles on those tires...was thinking to go another 8 or 9k, then decide if I am going to trade it in. (they still have 1/32" before hitting the wear bars. )

But, you are right, they are relatively inexpensive and will make for a safer trip, and better traction in the rain & possible snow. Plus, one of those tires has a plug in it that has close to 25K miles on it...and I've never taken the time to remove the tire and patch it from the inside....ok, you talked me into it.

Kevin

[Capt.Bob]

Kevin, You are a smart man!!! I will feel better about Mary being on the back of the trike. You are too grizzly to get too hurt but she is a more delicate flower

Additionally, what came to mind was that if a rear tire were to shred on a blowout say from hitting a bad piece of metal debris that there is very little clearance as you know between the tires and the rear fenders and substructure of the trunk and I would think that a shredded tire could really do some significant damage to the body. That probably wouldn't do your trade-in any good

Last month, I was going down I-75 in South Florida and saw a newer model Jeep Wrangler hit a large piece of debris (looked like about a 3 foot 2x4) and it literally instantly ripped off the guy's left rear fender which sticks out from the body. I had never seen that happen before and wonder who may have had to dodge or hit his big ass plastic fender assembly and/or block of wood travelling at about 80 mph?

[DK Custom Products]

Pics of the Tri-Glide from different angles with the body off.

Couple shots of the reverse motor-





Various angles-















Photo's of removing the axles, replacing the bearings, and a few other things we discovered in the process....all coming soon.

After all that is done I'll be mounting the video camera and going for a ride. Video should be fun/interesting!

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

What strikes me from all the angles ... how vulnerable the drive belt seems. If you guys remember I had mine replaced under warrantee because a rock "pushed through it".

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, You are a smart man!!! I will feel better about Mary being on the back of the trike. You are too grizzly to get too hurt but she is a more delicate flower

Additionally, what came to mind was that if a rear tire were to shred on a blowout say from hitting a bad piece of metal debris that there is very little clearance as you know between the tires and the rear fenders and substructure of the trunk and I would think that a shredded tire could really do some significant damage to the body. That probably wouldn't do your trade-in any good

Last month, I was going down I-75 in South Florida and saw a newer model Jeep Wrangler hit a large piece of debris (looked like about a 3 foot 2x4) and it literally instantly ripped off the guy's left rear fender which sticks out from the body. I had never seen that happen before and wonder who may have had to dodge or hit his big ass plastic fender assembly and/or block of wood travelling at about 80 mph?

Thanks man! Mary was happier too when I told here I was going to go ahead and replace them.

Tomorrow am getting the Goodyear Comfortreds installed, along with Dyna Beads for balancing. Will be interesting, have only run the factory Dunlops up to now.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

What strikes me from all the angles ... how vulnerable the drive belt seems. If you guys remember I had mine replaced under warrantee because a rock "pushed through it".

Yeah! How open the belt is really stood out to me when I first got my 2011 TG. I've ridden a lot of gravel, and my driveway is gravel. Knock on wood, not had an issue to date. Luck of the draw I reckon.

Kevin