Adjusting Your Wheelchair Center of Gravity

In this video I explain what wheelchair center of gravity is and how it effects the stability of the chair. I also show how to adjust the center of gravity to make the chair less likely to tip backward and provide confidence to practice and maintain a wheelie position for tackling uneven surfaces such as curbs.

[@billyhalleck9375]

Not a wheelchair user but I find Brian's videos very interesting ... The car rental one showed me how wheelchair users can convert pedals to hand controls ... Very cool! Thx Brian !

[@fuzzybuddybay]

Having been a paraplegic for some 35 years, I have to say I'm probably getting more information on wheelchairs than I ever did in rehab back in '81. I really enjoy your videos and look forward to each new one. Keep up the good work. We gotta help each other out as a group. Peace, and have a Fantastic 2016!

[@NotAnotherKuromi]

+fuzzybuddy I get more useful info from this guy & others on KZbin than I have got from wheelchair services right now. Their lack of knowledge shocked me, especially as I knew nothing a couple of years ago & wanted their advice. I wish you a great 2016 too!

[@fuzzybuddybay]

+Sammy Ariel Yeah, I hear ya. If my old urologist had kept me catheterizing I wouldn't have a messed up bladder. Found out about 7 years ago I have diverticulae of the bladder. It ain't nice, and I pretty much have a bladder infection continuously because of it. I now use a balloon cath most of the time, and give it a day off when I change them about once a week, and just clean-cath on that day. They let me leave rehab in 81 and told me to just cath in the mornings, and not worry about it since I had an active bladder. Now it's all messed up. But, I still have an active and fairly healthy life. You guys/gals do your future selves a favor and don't stop catheterizing. You'll save yourself a lot of hassle further down the road for it. And stay positive! Good and Happy New Year to all of you!

[@NotAnotherKuromi]

Ah man, that sucks. My gran had diverticulitis & that took years to get diagnosed. Don't get me started about urologists! I have a chronic kidney infection that didn't get diagnosed for 5 years & because it went untreated I had tonnes of kidney stones. Thankfully on top of it now. Good advice cheers, shame you get better advice form other patients than the medical professionals! There is always something good in this world to smile about, even with all the rubbish, I still get enjoyment out of the little things :)

[@ParalyzedLiving]

+fuzzybuddy Thanks for your feedback! I too was a little shocked at the lack of information I received overall through rehab. Much of what I learned has been through trial and error just as I'm sure you have had to experience yourself. I'm glad the videos are helpful. Sorry to hear about the bladder issues. There is nothing worse than dealing with bladder infections. You have a great new year as well and stay tuned! - Brian

[@fuzzybuddybay]

+Sammy Ariel Yeah, it does stink that the community of para's and quads have better advice, for the most part, than the "Professionals" who we trust with our lives and body parts. The only reason I even found out about the diverticulae in my bladder was because I was having persistent bladder infections for about a year. I was doing what I thought was right, drinking water (but more colas really) and taking cranberry pills and eating fruits high in C and citric acid. Finally cornered my MD and he sent me to a GOOD urologist who had me scanned and X-Ray'd until he found a Real Diagnosis that he could help me deal with. He consulted with me, told me what I Needed to hear, scared the crap out of me when he said I could DIE if I got another UTI, since I have Type 2 Diabetes, and told me I could either have my bladder taken out, OR I could Cath every 2-4 hours every day or wear a Foley and Drink Water, water, Water. He was genuinely pissed that my old urologist allowed me to not cath and even quit catheterizing completely -since I felt that my bladder was doing the work it should have been. Boy was I wrong. So, I'm really happy to have found a network of people that I can identify with. Happy to have met you here as well. Stay healthy and Happy -and I hope you have a Wonderful 2016 !!! Be careful on New Year's eve lol.

[@machinegunkyle948]

I love watching your videos. I’m a t5 paraplegic and have been in a chair for 18 years. I’ve picked up a few new tips from you.

[@AtNewDruid]

Glad to see a new video. just found your videos a few day ago, and love them.

[@jacobchilton188]

awesome video man its little bits of info like this that help me every day I have watched alot of your stuff it's been very helpful and I just wanted to say thank you

[@CokeCheese]

The back seat angle will also indirectly have a great effect on your center of gravity. The greater the angle of your backrest, the easier your chair will be to tip/wheelie. Often by a surprising margin.

[@cruiserchrisworldnetwork4141]

Hi Brian my name is Cruiser Chris I just received the TiLite Aero X a couple months ago and I'm pretty happy with it so far

[@eileen1820]

Wow - your Christmas Tree is really beautiful! I found your channel bc I have more than one friend who use wheelchairs (injury and non-injury). I feel like it's helpful to know things and your channel is helpful. One never knows if we'll need to know about things. I had an aunt who lost function due to a pretty bad stroke. I looked after her, alone, and with my Mom. Knowing information would have been helpful. Her convalescence care was really, really horrible! Cannot imagine if she hadn't family to look after her - whoa, don't even want to think about it. Anyway, Happy 2016!! Cheers from San Francisco :)

[@Drew_TheRoadLessTraveled]

Thanks but you may want to try putting a light coloured sheet or something over your lounge as you have a dark lounge and chair and you can’t see what your doing.

[@stevenm6065]

something else you can do to learn to do wheelies is to back up against a wall so that you won't tip to far back your backrest will catch the wall and the more comfortable you get the further away from the wall you can move to allow the chair to tilt back more that's how I learned when I first started using a chair almost 23 years ago

[@samanthawithee2303]

you have a lovely home

[@mitchellmiller9888]

i know this is a vid wayyyy far back, but Im a c7-8 incomplete and t2 complete, all that aside, i got the standard ti lite grey non air wheels. bc we got FL to buy a titanium and emotion wheels which i don't use. I want your smaller ones like they had on my loaner, what wheels do you have on? spinergy? the tires could hold like 175lbs of pressure

[@isaurocairo1193]

Hi, what's the name of the website where I can find those wheelchairs?

[@AngloAm]

"Pretty easy" he says. Because he's what's known as "handy!" He's incredibly adept!

[@pbradford021]

Just got an TiLite Aero T. The bracket broke on both sides after going down a bump on a sidewalk. Did you ever experience this? I am used to jumping curbs all the time, but if the thing broke on the smallest bump. When i fixed it i could not believe that all the is holding wheels into the chair frame is about .5” of metal - with allen screws.

[@robuszal9948]

I go up curbs walking a dog with the tippers never touching… they don’t bother out of sight out of mind and if my ramp is slippery from our magnolia tree I have something to stop me when I have no traction and reach the bottom

[@lifeislit8650]

Will you do a video eating after a spinal cord injury?

[@justintex1]

where can you get the t handle allen wrench. good videos. I learn alot from you with your videos. keep them coming.

[@ParalyzedLiving]

Most hardware stores should have t-handle allen wrenches. You can also look them up online. They aren't hard to find.

[@paullaw6988]

@@ParalyzedLiving Hi Brian, good videos. I learn a lot from you with your videos. Keep them coming. Kind regards, from, PaulLaw.

[@Ahmad-ep6sl]

can you please make a video about bowel management and all the bathroom thing because for me it's so hard to do it alone

[@ParalyzedLiving]

+Ahmad Hijazi Yes, that will likely be one of my next videos along with bladder management and bathing.

[@ilovebrean]

Any ideas If this is as easy to change on the quickie chairs

[@ParalyzedLiving]

ilovebrean it should be just as easy if you have an adjustable wheelchair.

[@paullaw6988]

@@ParalyzedLiving Hi Brian, this chair is nice and adjustable. Kind regards, from, PaulLaw.

[@AngryHatter]

Loosen the screws holding the axle via the bracket, but why remove them?

[@AngryHatter]

Easier to propel when the cog is more forward.

[@anneharrison1849]

I've been saying I need to put my centre of gravity forward, I never have the tipping back problem and I think it's too far back because of how hard it is to go up even a slight slope. I have to bring my whole body weight forwards and I'm doomed if I'm carrying a backpack.

[@morgancalvi6675]

Brian, your video was excellent, but it was a dark wheelchair frame against a dark shirt and a dark couch. Your pants were even dark...so it was very hard to see.

[@devinmichelle6214]

+paralyzed living How did you become confident enough to take the tippers off of your chair. How did you transition from tippers to none?

[@emiliesmith5032]

I can't speak for him, but I have never used anti-tips and my center of gravity just became my chair center of gravity.