Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Big Box Trike Steering






The only thing not obvious about building one of these is the placement of the steering pivot:
The front axle should follow the pivot point by about 2 inches or maybe little more, to help it ride in straight line without turning on it's own.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPZNOR0xZ4w








Steering Problems?

If you want to buy a large cargo trike you should understand the difference between “center pivot” steering and “akerman steering” which is a complex way to keep your two front wheels from causing a wreck, by having them move in separate planes, both 90 degrees from the same pivot point of the turn.

Bicycles are much less complex, see the illustrations on this page: http://commutercycling.blogspot.com/2013/12/leaning-cargo-trike-design.html

Big box trike steering has the front axles following the pivot point similar to a shopping cart. If both front wheels were on the same axle one of the front wheel would be moving faster than the other and make one skip. But with both wheels on the same plane there could still be problems at a fast speed, even if they are on two separate axles. So a motorized cargo trike or one just going down a steep hill with a curve could be dangerous.



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