Mopar Reverse Trike

I've been checking out various three wheeled cars over the last several years and have really wanted to build one using a front wheel drive drivetrain. I'm planning on a tube chassis, single seater, center steer with two front drive wheels and one in the rear. I picked up this Dodge 2.2 with a 2.5 roller head and an auto transaxle. I'll be a few months before I start putting the chassis together but I'm calling this the kickoff. Time to try out that tubing bender I bought a few years ago.

[P [P [P
Torchie.

Is that a car or a motorcycle in Missouri?

Neto said:

Is that a car or a motorcycle in Missouri?

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It'd be a motorcycle. But that's good, the criteria for specially constructed vehicles are a little more lenient on a motorcycle.

This is gonna be interesting.[cl

falconvan said:

I've been checking out various three wheeled cars over the last several years and have really wanted to build one using a front wheel drive drivetrain. I'm planning on a tube chassis, single seater, center steer with two front drive wheels and one in the rear. I picked up this Dodge 2.2 with a 2.5 roller head and an auto transaxle. I'll be a few months before I start putting the chassis together but I'm calling this the kickoff. Time to try out that tubing bender I bought a few years ago.

Click to expand...

Are ya sayin the rear wheel will be a drive wheel too? Should be a real interesting build.

smallfoot said:

Are ya sayin the rear wheel will be a drive wheel too? Should be a real interesting build.

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No, rear wheel will be a free wheeler. Just a basic front wheel drive setup.

I'll be watching this.
I've been thinking about a rear-drive trike with a front-drive car set-up in the back. Like the old V-dub trikes.

Go For It

WOW Cool Idea[cl
I bet it will be fun to drive.
I have never owned a FWD powered car,but have driven plenty.
Some of those little dudes will fly!

Can't wait... I've got my recliner and my popcorn machine popping!

Skip said:

I'll be watching this.
I've been thinking about a rear-drive trike with a front-drive car set-up in the back. Like the old V-dub trikes.

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I'm watching this project, too.

I have also thought about using a front wheel drive in the rear of a trike, but from what I've read, the wide rear trikes don't handle as well as the wide front trikes. Again, it's only from reading - no real world experience. They say that they are more prone to tipping.

It seems that each state has it's own rules about licensing, helmet laws, etc. I read up just a bit in Ohio (where I'm living now), and they classify three-wheelers as what ever the manufacturer classified them as. So if the manufacturer's documentation calls it a car, it is licensed as a car, if described as a three-wheeled motorcycle, then it is titled that way, and the motorcycle laws apply. From the little bit I read on it, Ohio also seems to have a special driver's license for three-wheelers.

IFS?
This is gonna be good [P

Yeah, I'll have to build control arms from 1" moly tubing and I'm thinking of using the steering knuckles from an S10 4wd Blazer.

OK, not a huge start but I had my son start putting the engine together since I had all the parts sitting there and he's been bugging me to start on this. We going to put the drive train together and start tossing some ideas around for a frame design.

Neto said:

Is that a car or a motorcycle in Missouri?

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In Texas if there are 2 riders... they must be seated in front & behind each other. They outlawed a 3 wheeler where the people sat side by side! Go figure but Texas is FULL of crazy people in office!!!

BoB

Tripper said:

In Texas if there are 2 riders... they must be seated in front & behind each other. They outlawed a 3 wheeler where the people sat side by side! Go figure but Texas is FULL of crazy people in office!!!

BoB

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I think the tandem seating makes more sense on a three wheeler anyway. Narrower body, less wind resistance. The ones I've seen with side by side seating all look disporportionately wide to me.

Good Idea

But, (there's always a but) will you be seating in front of the eng. or behind it[S But like others I have had that thought a time or two [cl

I can't remember when, exactly, or where but i remember seeing a olds tornado trike, mc front fork type.

not weight and hp can be scary

[P[[P

Seating will be behind the engine, just a basic FWD setup in front with a single wheel in the rear. Kind of like that Elio that is supposed to be coming out next year.

falconvan said:

Seating will be behind the engine, just a basic FWD setup in front with a single wheel in the rear. Kind of like that Elio that is supposed to be coming out next year.

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Engine in front will be a lot safer in the event of a crash too.

I built three trikes with FWD setups, two Citation/Fiero V6's and a Toronado with a 350 horse Olds 350. They were all built as a conventional trike, with the engine and trans behind the rider. My concern with making a front-wheel drive reverse trike would be packaging all that stuff in a manner that doesn't make the rider feel like he's herding a refrigerator box full of machinery down the road. I'm sure it can be done, but I think it will take some serious thought. Good luck with your project! BTW, the rear-engine trikes handle like sports cars....independent rear suspension, big brakes, all the weight over the rear axle instead of the steering axle.