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Drift Trike BuildChris Cao, Luu Nguyen, Anthony Vu

Jan Kmetko, PhDSanta Rosa Junior College

AbstractBuilding a Drift trike offers a recreational

approach to applying physics and the

engineering knowledge obtained in lower

division coursework. Applications including

wheel sizing, spacing, center of mass, weight

distribution, engine properties, and brakes are

main physics and engineering related

concepts to consider. However, factors to

consider when building the drift trike consist of

design, cost and the power to weight ratio. As

an example, since welding and effective part

scavenging played a key role in dictating the

quality, we needed a material that offered an

affordable cost to strength ratio and also had

no troubles with warping during welds. As a

result, we decided to go with 1 ½ “ by 1 ½ “

by 1/12” steel tubing. The results of

considering all of the above concerns can be

seen in the pictures and actual built drift trike.

The drift trike has an estimated stress rating of

571 PSI without taking into account the added

strength due to the design, and is makingapproximately 17.5 HP.

Results Cont.

Conclusion and Discussion

Materials & Methods• 1 ½ “ * 1 ½ “ * 1/12” * 20’ Steel Tube

• 1 x 212 CC Gas powered Engine

• 1 x 36” Rear Axle with a ¼ “ Keyed slot

• 4 x 1 “ axle bore Wheel hubs

• 1 x 1 “ axle bore sprocket adapter plate

• 1 x 1 “ axle bore Sprocket

• 2 x 6” diameter Wheels

Introduction

• Designing and fabrication of entire base frame.

- Cost

- Sourcing the metal for the build

- Welding

- Cutting Steel Via abrasive wheel saw

• Additional parts i.e. Axles and wheels

- Sourcing of additional parts

- Necessary modifications of addition parts

Materials and Methods Cont.

Frame

• 1 ½ “ by 1 ½ “ by 1/12” by 20’ Steel Tube

was used as the main component for

building the frame

• Without the actual frame put together, 20

ft of 1 ½ “ by 1 ½ “ by 1/12” can withstand

up to 571.2 PSI

Advantages

• Readily available, and has a great cost to

length ratio

• Ready to cut via Chop saw abrasive blade

• Much easier to weld compared to aluminum

since aluminum has problems warping due to

the heat transfer during the weld

Disadvantages

• As a result of steel being much heavier

than aluminum, unnecessary stress is

added to the engine due to the added

weight

Chris Cao Welding the connecting

bridge for the Frame

Results

Welding

• A Miller Millermatic mig welder was used to

bind all of our and steel.

• When welding, a “C” technique created

nominal beads holding everything together.

• The settings used to bind the steel frame

together was 150A @ 5V, and 150A @ 6V

for steel to cast iron and steel to aluminum.

Austin Harris

Finishing up the

welds for the frame

Welder is a

Millermatic DV-

2

Assembled Frame

• For the frame we all agreed on a

rectangular design.

• A rectangular design has fairly

simple welding points, while also

offering ample amounts of

flexibility for part placement.

Stress Test

We tested the weakest point of our frame, the

cantilever, for a rated force of 8000 lbs. The

max displacement in the z direction came out

to be approximately 0.034 in. which is

basically unnoticeable.

How the power gets to the ground

• Engine starts via recoil pull

• Drive shaft spins with the centrifugal

clutch mounted on

• @ 2000 RPM or greater, the clutch

engages, and the gear is allowed to

rotate itself and the driving sprocket

• Driving sprocket rotates the entire keyed

axle, and wheels are allowed to rotate.

Once the frame was complete, the bearing mounts

and the front fork of the bike were welded to the

frame. The bike was cut using a saw-zaw. The

bearing mounts were made of cast iron, so increased

heat and reduced cooling had to be factored in. After

all the remaining fabrication was completed, the

wheels, axle, engine, and sprocket were bolted on to

the respective places

The results of considering all of the above

concerns can be seen in the pictures and

actual built drift trike. The drift trike has an

estimated stress rating of 571 PSI without

taking into account the added strength due to

the design, and is making approximately 17.5

HP.

AcknowledgmentsThis work was supported by the Mathematics,

Engineering, Science, and Achievements

association by generous funding. Also, big

thanks to professor Jan Kmetko for

overseeing this project, and helping us stay on

schedule. We would especially like to give a

big thanks to Austin Harris, Brett Hecker and

Chris Silva for the time and effort they

invested into the build.