converting beach cruiser to trike help needed...

well just thought of an easyer way ...

instead of building that differential and having to build the rest around the big thing ....

i could just make the flanges that will hold the wheels on via hub adapter, free wheel!

still need bmx free wheels though. just need to weld a steel flange drilled to acsept the manic mechanic hub adapter on the outside of the free wheel sprocket, then bolt the free wheel sprocket to the axle end, and the wheel to the free wheel via hub adapter .

with this setup you could use whatever style or size tire you want and move the wheel in and out just by changing the length of the spacers and bolts to accomodate a wider tire. the hub adapter is just a thick aluminum disk drilled to fit on the hub and drilled to match the sprocket bolt patern, it uses aluminum spacers and ss bolts to mount to the flange.

each wheel would drive foward but the outside one during a turn would free wheel
 

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rogergendron1 said:
lol the ms paint one was done on my moms slow old lap top ....

my father shop computer is where the autocad and master cam programs are .

please dont mind my spelling i have adhd from chldhood, i an deaf from the army, and never learnd to spell ... 32 years old still cant spell, but i can machine up ANYTHING ! lol and math is a second languge
Click to expand...

I used Autocad when I worked both in the Pharmaceutical Industry and even more at my last job in the Window/Door industry. Loved Autocad, didn't love the price Autodesk charges for a single user license. Before I retired I got Corelcad, which is a bare bones drawing program and doesn't have all the whistles and bells. I still haven't figured out a lot of stuff on it. I've used MS Paint A Lot. I like the conversion utility in it where I can convert a BMP, PNG, GIF or TFF to a JPEG file.

As for machining, I had an acquaintance from across the river (Canada) who actually made a small diesel engine in his dad's machine shop. Talk about fantastic and ultimate cool!

"Oh yeah, I made this motorized bicycle, and I made the engine for it out of scrap stock too!" Wow.

Needless to say, I have Honda engines on the Auffenauger and Peerless Leader trike. I don't know how a small diesel would start in the winter around here. In my shop I've got a Mig and a stick welder, a lot of woodworking stuff and a couple of drill presses with a two-axis table on one so I can do some basic machine work on plastic or aluminum. It keeps me entertained.
 
small diesels start fine when the roll out your living room lol.... also just strap a warming pad to the block and plug it in over night !
 
ok finaly its here ! the trike rear end i bought !

its a heavy dutie trike rear axle conversion but the thing is its metric and not the standard 5/8 axle, one side is 16mm with a flat and the other is like 14mm or something and round. has anyone seen a conversion like this or what. i bought it cause it has a lot of cross bars and it real heavy dutie ! i can change and alter anything i need to make this work so the metric shaft is no big deal.

pics
 

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my plan is to use standared hub fron wheels and gut them and make press on bushings for the axle that will also press on through the center hole in the hub so they lock on to the axle solid, this will make it 2 wheel drive easy, then i am going to use the rear hub i have now as a j shaft and weld the 44t drive sprocket on the hub and also weld a sprocket the same size as the axle sprocket on the center of the hub to retain the standard gear ratio. then i will add a disk break set up on the rear axle itself for extra breaking and for when i can make up a free wheeling j shaft or hub for the center.
 
Wow! - that is a seriously solid looking trike axle. Unfortunately i don't know anything about the metric shaft sizes, but I would say that the hubs should be available from the makers of the axle.
 
Do you think that the 2wd will be necessary? Seems like it was designed for the "one wheel peel" with the round side just letting the wheel spin? that would also solve the problem of the tight turns, as one wheel is always free. Does that provide adequate traction in snow? idk. Obviously, 2wd is going to be better but sure is a lot more work.

No matter what, this is a cool project. thanks for sharing.
 
yeh i was thinking to swap out to a 5/8 axle but i can make bushings for 2 wheel drive pretty easy on the lathe and i believe that 2 wheel drive would be better in the snow bassed on my past experiances with 3 wheelers. 1 wheel with the standard hubs that are made for it would sufice but i am looking for all around major traction.

i would make press on bushings for ether side then press on the hollow hubs making it a solid axle, then if i find 2 wheel drive is to hard to turn or is not working out like i want i could simply cut the axle i the center to make it 1 wheel drive on the sprocket side.
 
the bottom bracket will have a trailor hitch and the 2 top brackets will have a diamond plate aluminum bed for haulling cargo. i may have to cut the 4th cross bar to allow for a 160mm disk break it loks like a close fit
 
curtisfox said:
WOW! I thought you were going to build one? Here is a home built useing handel bar tubeing, and such.


http://www.atomiczombie.com/NewsLet...3&utm_campaign=Atomic+Zombie&utm_medium=email

http://forum.atomiczombie.com/showt...n-Kit/page3&highlight=universal trike adapter

http://trikekit.blogspot.com/

http://forum.atomiczombie.com/showt...n-Kit/page3?highlight=universal trike adapter

Maybe you can just change the axels to standerd,prolly mpe work then its worth........Curt
Click to expand...


i was going to build one from scratch then my father said it would be easyer to buy a cheap used one and mod it to our needs and i decided he was right . with this axle all i have to do to make it work is make some bushings and a hub j shaft like the normal kits have, i got it used for 70$ !!!!

some one bought this brand new and could not figure it out so they sold it at nearly half price !
 
ok the axle is from a shwinn meridian and i just finaly came across bolth rear wheels open box on ebay !! they are brand new but the box was open, 25$ each so for the set of rear wheels it ran me 70$ with shipping not bad !!!

now i cant decide if i want to make my beach cruiser a trike or go with a full suspention motorized bicycle as a base for a new build.... i will probaby just add the trike rear to my cruiser and be done.

the rear axle will be sand blasted and painted black and i will runn beafy snoww tires on the rear. now i need to decide on a hub to use to transfer power, i would like a 3 speed but 1 speed geared right would save money.
 
Looking forward to a few more photos,
I've been 'considering' different differential options also.
But will try a center 'pusher wheel' for my drift trike.
Curious to see what you work out.
Solid axle might be alright in the snow, but will be a hassle otherwise.
Depends on the motor, and available Torque to be able to 'light her up' when needed.
My mate had a 351 ford with welded rear end, it drove him off a round about and wrecked the car!
 
There is some interesting brain-storming going on here about trike axels. I'm building a trike myself, and during a test ride, I noticed that it pulls hard to one side when the clutch grabs. At first I thought I would get used to it, but now I think it will eventually cause an accident. I've noticed lately that alot of shiny new stuff, right out of the box needs to be fixed, finished or modified before use. Some stuff is best thrown out, like contaminated dog food.

My trike kit is of the type described here by fatdaddy with one drive flange with 3 prongs, so I called the vendor to see if I could get another drive flange with prongs. Anyway they only have the whole axel, so I think I can make a flange with my primitive tools. Then I can cut the axel in the middle and install a couple of free wheel flanges.

I got the idea here from your excellent drawings. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Intrepid for the idea of using 2 freewheels (interesting to know that the first horseless carriages used this method). Also thanks to Curtis for the bad news that a solid axel will bind on turns. I believe it. It may not be noticeable, but then there may also be enough stress on a spoked wheel to lead to a surprise failure.

So I plan to use your design, except that I plan to use a right hand adapter and freewheel on one side and a left hand assembly on the other side, with the axel cut in the middle.

Staton-inc has the right and left freewheel flanges and adapters, but no 15mm left hand adapter. They do have a 1/2" LH adapter which I could drill out, but no broach to make the keyway, so I will try to find a somebody to do it. Most shops have a minimum, so it will probably cost about $50 to machine a key way.

Does anybody know where I can get a 15mm LH freewheel adapter? I called Staton-inc and they said I could use 2 RH adapters. I said I don't think it will work and they said to think about it for awhile. So, I'm still thinking. Stanton also has blank adapters to machine your own, but I think it will be easier to get the 1/2" LH and drill it out to 15mm.

That is a great looking trike axel you got. As you said it is heavy duty with 4 support bars. Mine only has 3 and I am thinking about adding another.

Anyway my design is similar to yours with slight mods, Sketch below. If anybody sees anything wrong with it, please let me know.

trike axel fix.jpg
 
If I understand you right, you mean one freewheel on each side of the split axle? If so, the two rh would work fine aside from the fact you will not be able to rotate either wheel backwards without turning the drivelive as well. This should not affect riding or driving at all unless you plan a reverse gear, and it would give you the differential effect you seek in the turns.
Personally, I think a live axle is fine if the rider knows how to use his body to unload the inside wheel in a turn. It is admittedly much more stressful on the rims and spinny bits...
 
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