Neck height?

[LarryA]

Pic orientation good here. Is the smaller wheel from the 89 olds? At any rate, the Jeep wheel does look good. Wondering about final drive ratio, with the larger wheel? Then again there are 40 and 50 series tires and various wheel offsets to consider. Anyhow an interesting subject!

 

[stacebg]

Hmmm, none of them look upside down to me. Maybe turn your screen 180 degrees?:laugh:

Which ones?

all but 15

 

[Eggman]

The small one is a 17x8 rim with a 275/40 tire on it. The heep wheel is a 16x7 with a 245/75 all terrain tire on it.

The original 89 olds rim was a 15x6 with a 215/65R15 on it.

 

[Eggman]

The tripletrees and front forks are going together. Will be doing the leading links later this evening. Corners still need to be chamfered or rounded over and a general cleaning and final shaping. I don't want to spend tons of time on something that gets scrapped so we are in "pre-assembly" mode.



20334

 

[Eggman]

A bit farther ahead. At least it's sitting on three wheels. I won't be using the MC rim/tire combo for anything but rolling in the garage. Still haven't figured out which wheels I want. Not too sure about the vw shocks, I don't think they have stiff enough springs at this point. When my gf and I are on it the shock springs are gapped about an 1/8". Not quite far enough for my liking. There is a FS grain elevator a couple of blocks from the house, may have to take the trike over there to get it weighed after I put some bars and some brakes on it.

Here's a pic of the garage dog...after fighting with the broom, truly a funny sight.



Still need to weld the cross bar for the leading links. Now that the width is set, I can do that.



It may be sitting on three wheels, just not ready to ride.....yet.



21079

 

[Eggman]

Exhaust is on. Will add a clamp or two if needed.



Tail pipes, short and sweet.



21283

 

[Eggman]

For 30 seconds of your time.

​22330

 

[Eggman]

Front wheel, 16 x 5.5, finally came in. Correct hub 3 days later. New P235/70R16 All-Terrain tire is mounted.

Fuel tank tigged and in place, not tied down yet. Need one more fitting for the vent line.



​23613

 

[stacebg]

Still need to weld the cross bar for the leading links. Now that the width is set, I can do that.

View attachment 78909

when u get that far .. use round or square tube but not flat bar

 

[Eggman]

Still need to weld the cross bar for the leading links. Now that the width is set, I can do that.

View attachment 78909

when u get that far .. use round or square tube but not flat bar

Sure will. I have a piece of 1x3 rectangle tube, either 1/8 or 3/16 wall, for that. The round bar that is there won't actually be the front axle. I'll be using a piece of 4130 for it. Didn't want to do things twice, but until I was sure about which direction I wanted to go, I just did the minimum on the front axle and the steering neck rod. Will be making the new parts this week.

 

[LarryA]

lots of progress made...like the looks of that new wheel and tire!

Having a live engine gives a project a big boost also!

 

[stacebg]

lots of progress made...like the looks of that new wheel and tire!

Having a live engine gives a project a big boost also!

i bet you yelled "its alive" like dr Frankenstein when it lit

 

[Eggman]

Sure did. Finished the fuel tank/pump on Friday. Will start adding fuel to it this weekend. Started taking the front end apart to fine tune it and clean it up for the last time. the new rear rims came in on Thursday, tires were supposed to be on Friday. Thanks to UPS not being able to read, I got one tire on Friday and one on Saturday. Then we got shitty weather on Sunday and local tire shops were closed. Getting closer to what I'm thinking I want the body to look like.

 

[grandpanystrom61]

It has been interesting to watch you get things together and done. It does seem to be rolling along and soon the trike should roll around for you, so much work of love goes into these projects. Thank you for sharing, oh and love how beefy all is looking.

 

[Eggman]

Currently awaiting front shock springs and disc brake spacers for the front end. Will be making the new brake pedal and shift pattern this evening on the plasma table. Should be able to ride it two blocks to the grain elevator to get it weighed (maybe around the block once, or twice ). Going to weigh the front wheel, all three wheels, then just the back wheels. There is about 4 gallons of fuel in the new tank, works great.

Made the handle bars yesterday and wired them with harley style switches. Picked up a 2 channel momentary relay board for the turn signals and a couple of terminal boards from Amazon yesterday. It's looking like a busy night tonight.

 

[Eggman]

Damn, it is a fun ride!! Rode it down the street on 1 Jan for the first time. Had to re-bleed the brakes, much better for the second ride on the 3rd to the grain scale.

Steering is still harder than I'm thinking it should be. So I measured the trail and I'm around 5/8-3/4". Not what I was expecting. Since I now have the front coil-over springs it may make a difference. Up till now all I've had is 2 pieces of 1" square tube welded to the back of the links for the front suspension.

Questions:

1. Will the steering get any easier with the coil-over shocks in place?

2. I know the steering will be more difficult due to the tire I have on it by nature, would adjusting the trail make it easier as well?

I'll post up pics/video either later today or this evening.

Thanks.

 

[LarryA]

I doubt the coil overs will make any difference regarding steering effort. when you post the pictures, also post the frt/rear axle weights. If that front is heavy, that much trail could make for heavy steering. Then again, people pay good money for gym memberships just to build upper body strength!

 

[Eggman]

Front axle is 500#, rear axle is 1620#, and both axles are 2120#. Those were taken with me on the trike going across the scale. I'm about 210#.

 

[Eggman]

 

[LarryA]

The only experience I have is with my own trike, which may not be enough to be giving advice. But I have 370# on the front wheel, with me on the seat. 2 inches of trail. I would not want the steering much lighter, but surely

would not want it any heavier. That said, I have never ridden another trike, so at this point do not know what is normal.

With your #'s I would be looking at ways to reduce trail.

Hopefully others will chime in with possible solutions....make sure to post a side view to show front frame/neck/trees and rockers, for those thinking of raked trees, rocker lengths etc.