help with setting rake

[escort 1]

ok good godly morning to you all. want to build a ford escort fwd powered trike. going to have 1 wheel up front. now the question is what is the steepest rake I can have to get trail of 1-2inches. I believe would need about 15degree rake. is that to little ,what are the dangers of that rake angle. have a front end off a gs850 suz. with this setup the head would be about 33-35 inches high. planning on floor pan being 8 in. ground clearance. so a tower maybe 25 -30 in. thank you for your help.GOD bless.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Ok.

Check the tech sticky above.

Rake can be anything you want it to be.

Trail is the critical number.

If using motorcycle forks and neck then you are stuck with its geometry.

Measure what you have and weld the neck in at 2 inches of trail.

Typically this is steeper ( more straight up and down) than it was on the 2 wheeler.

YOU must do the measuring and the math.

Then remember that even though it will work and drive correctly.......a steep rake is quicker steering.

Think of the crotch rockets. Super steep and quick/sporty to drive.

[grandpanystrom61]

You could mock up some of it with PVC or wood.

IF you are set on the ground clearance height of 8", than set all up and brace it so that the 8" clearance is present, than figure out your beam structure design, this point you can put the front end up and see how it looks, 30 degree's not enough, you can see about 35 degrees.

If you have hydraulic forks, they have a safe limit of 40 degrees max.

Want the front wheel out front a little more than stock, than maybe 37.5 degree rake.

Now the more rake you have, the longer the fork tubes are are if maintaining the 8" clearance.

The lower the rake angle the shorter the length of fork tubes. Need to read over the links and understand what it is about and how to measure things, than you can get all to work with what you have, or you see what you have is not going to get you what you want.

Hope you the best, it will come together as you go over the material.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

If the front is light like a vw trike you can get away with a lot of trail.

With it being light it will not get horribly stiff to steer. It will head shake a bit on decal and be a booger to back up. But you can live with that even though it is a nuisance.

If there are raked trees made for your donor bike they are a good way to cheat in some rake and out some trail. Harder to do the math for....lots of measuring to do.

Mockups do really help get your mind around all of it.