Questions about brakes

[PaulfromWA]

I searched the past discussions about brakes and found a lot of good information but my setup is a little different than most. I am building a trike made from a Corvair donor car. I will use the rear portion of the car intact and fabricate the front end using square and rectangular steel.

My biggest concern is that my trailer will weigh more than half of what my towing vehicle will weigh, braking will be an issue. I can solve this by starting with either a donor trailer with brakes already or fabricating my own trailer frame and buy an axle with brakes already installed. Has anyone gone this route?


One more question, I have seen quite a few military surplus trailers on sale and they usually go very cheap. The gross weight on these things is crazy high though, I would even come close to the max, would the ride on something like that be stiff and make the trailer bounce everywhere?

[MtnDon]

New axles can be bought new with electric brakes already installed. Installing such an axle on an old donor frame is one way to get new ready to go brakes at a reasonable cost. Old trailers with old brakes usually need a lot of rebuilding of the brakes; sometimes it is smarter to simply buy new parts.


I would not buy an old mil trailer as a starting point for a TD trailer that was meant mainly for highway use, maybe a country road or two. The mil trailers are crazy heavy because they are crazy strong; meant to be dragged over whatever obstacles are in the way.

just my opinions

[KCStudly]

Wheelie machine comes to mind. Corvairs are rear engine, with a lot of weight behind the rear axle centerline.

I can imagine that the only way you will be able to keep the front (steering wheel) on the ground is to use a load distributing hitch.

[PaulfromWA]

KC, You are exactly correct, built like a standard trike they are wheelie kings. VW trikes have about 35 - 60 HP with the 1600DP and 1776 engines, the Corvair donor car I have in mind runs just under 140 HP. That's going to allow me to put in a very heavy front frame with diamond plate floorboard and actual weight ballast up front. I have built one other years ago and pulled a trailer (not a teardrop but still a trailer) and after experimenting with weight distribution settled on about 80 pounds of front ballast.

The good news is, since 1999 when I built that trike and I was younger and skinnier I have almost gained that much weight so I will be the front ballast....lol

[Shadow Catcher]

I would feel you would be money ahead building your own trailer and using flex ride axles with brakes attached, you are building an aircraft not a tank
Why Flexride, they are adjustable on ride height.

[eamarquardt]

I'm not sure how the Corvair transmission is set up but with a VW box you can reverse the ring gear and move the engine fwd of the tranny so you can have a mid engine set up. Maybe that's an option. No ballast required. Ballast, IMHO, is a compromise and no compromise is perfect.

Cheers,

Gus

[skinnedknuckles]

They do offer reverse camshafts for the Corvair so you could use it in a mid engine configuration and get some more weight up front. As for a military trailer, I have a few of the m105, m101, and m100's I have thought about building one of the m105 carpenter trailers up as a teardrop to pull behind one of my 2 1/2 ton trucks. They have a hydraulic lift gate that would work slick as a way to get to the galley. These things are sprung like an ox cart so I was thinking of cutting the sides off , and building the teardrop out of steel just to get the weight where it should be for a smooth ride ( the empty trailer weighs in the neighborhood of 2400 lbs so add another ton or so should smooth it out ). But somehow logic has won me over to building a nice lightweight teardrop to pull behind my Jeep, rat rod or 3/4 ton Dodge ....for now

Paul in Wisconsin

[PaulfromWA]

Thanks for the suggestion, mid engine is actually an awesome idea. Yes they have as reverse setup usually used for Dune Buggies or Sand Rails. If I went that way it would ride better with and without the trailer.

[eamarquardt]

Thanks for the suggestion, mid engine is actually an awesome idea. Yes they have as reverse setup usually used for Dune Buggies or Sand Rails. If I went that way it would ride better with and without the trailer.

You gotta be careful though. I did a bit of poking around and if you reverse the engine and run the tranny backwards it's putting thrust on the pinion gear in a direction opposite to what the tranny was designed for (ie not using a thrust bearing to take the thrust load).

I think there are lots of transverse engines/transmissions that could be made to work well. Seems like yer a clever guy and could make anything you desire.

Cheers,

Gus

[Shadow Catcher]

Why not use a Subaru engine, more horse power better gas mileage available parts, used a lot by the EAA folks and if you really want a screamer the WRX or 3.6L H6.

[KCStudly]

Why not use a Subaru engine...?

Water cooling and modern engine controls add complexity, but is not unthinkable.

[eamarquardt]

Why not use a Subaru engine, more horse power better gas mileage available parts, used a lot by the EAA folks and if you really want a screamer the WRX or 3.6L H6.

We put a 2.2 liter Subaru engine in my son's Baja Bug. The wiring is a bit funky but it scoots. The wiring, computer, etc. was pulled from the donor car intact and used in the VW. a special adapter plate and flywheel was also required. He got it all used on Craigslist for bout $900.

Cheers,

Gus

[angib]

There's a wonderful guy near me who builds a lot of trikes for disabled bikers and does little trailers too - you know the type, great hands-on craftsman if not the absolute best on the personal hygiene front....

He's a fan of Toyota MR-2 engines (complete with rear suspension) since they are already set up for mid-engine use, so if you want a manual gearbox, the gearchange is in the right place. But I guess MR-2s are becoming collector's cars nowadays, so cutting one up might get you lynched.

[KCStudly]

But I guess MR-2s are becoming collector's cars nowadays, so cutting one up might get you lynched.

Just wreck it first, then it is okay to cut it up.

[angib]

Just wreck it first, then it is okay to cut it up.

Is that where the guy I know gets his disabled customers from? I thought they were bike crash victims.