Tilting Trikes Part 3 - Steering mech design and geometry for tilting trikes and tilting vehicles.

Tilting velomobile video series Part 3. This is the third video in my tilting velomobile series. The video looks at how to design the steering mechanism for tilting vehicles to give perfect wheel alignment throughout the tilting range. The video is based on using Ackerman steering geometry.
Part 1 in the series looked at designing the tilting mechanism for a tilting reverse trike.
Part 2 in the series gave an update on the design of my tilting velomobile.
Part 4 will show some CAD models of various tilting and steering mechanisms and will build on the information in Part 3.

[@kwaaaa]

Superb content all in one place. I felt a bit out of my depths trying to hunt down each aspect of steering geometry, but this video ties it together for me, thank you so much.

[@kgc2838]

It's been 7 months and god himself has blessed us with another one of this man's videos for being ever so patient

[@MetalMachineShop]

/K/ Dog sorry for the long wait!

[@jackrodgersjr]

I love the graphics that explain everything.

[@DrXupetin]

Thank you again 🙏

[@sstedman]

really great stuff, the amount of work you put into explaining the concepts is quite extraordinary

[@benjaminkarlsson6854]

This is so valuable! Open source information and design.

[@bobholt5496]

This series of videos is insanely useful for a design project I'm working on. Keep up the good work, the internet needs more people like you sharing invaluable information!

[@MetalMachineShop]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@Antiairdevil2]

do you mind if I can use your measurement as a basis? my plan is to have first draft very adjustable but would nice to have like a base to go from and like your design a lot!@@MetalMachineShop

[@nathanieldubiel3695]

I’m so glad I found this series because it helps with a design I’m working on that’s very similar, thanks for making these videos keep up the good work.

[@frankie8762]

Fantastic stuff Love your work, been searching for moons for explanations Thanking you

[@Ale_775]

Absolutely extraordinary knowledge! Great!!

[@jayspice4987]

Amazing video, so sad to see that only a thousandish people have watched this. Just keep producing content and eventually you will become an amazing and big channel.

[@MetalMachineShop]

Thanks! It’s a fairly niche subject so I’m not sure it’s going to get millions of views, but I will keep uploading videos from time to time. I’m building a prototype tilting trike so more to come in due course. Cheers!

[@jaypanchal5042]

such an exhaustive video series man. Lovely!

[@davidwielemaker]

The progress you are making on this engineering work is amazing! I know this stuff is not easy, and making excellent understandable explanation videos is even less easy. Thanks for sharing this great work with us!

[@MetalMachineShop]

davidwielemaker Hi David! Thanks for your comment. I’m hoping to start work on the prototype soon, basic design is nearly complete. Also thinking of a two-wheeled version. Cheers. A

[@HIDPCM]

your videos are excellent, thanks for create them and share your knowledge!

[@MetalMachineShop]

Thanks! More on the way!

[@naterodriguez9829]

Thnx a lot

[@jackrodgersjr]

I would prefer 2 wheels in front as I hit obstacles with the rear wheels since I couldn't see them to judge distances. Also a single wheel in from tended to cause the trike to tilt on slopes.

[@AmitsLife]

Thank you

[@MrSaemichlaus]

You are a hero!

[@creativehuman3d383]

Your video is super good, I hope one day I can use that engineering on my tricycle

[@hellopsp180]

DANG DUDE i love these videos, Even though i don't understand whats going on for now. I feel like i am learning how complicated steering mechanisms can be. I myself want to design velomobiles with a canopy and build it DIY. :D hope to learn more things from you

[@johnesmer5635]

Luv it

[@creativehuman3d383]

cool

[@cvi943]

Hello, really impressive, I have also dealt with the problem of the tilting device in three-wheelers over and over again for years and have rejected the concept with two steered front wheels, because when the inclination acts on the steered wheels, the angle of attack of the wheels in the ground contact plane changes that probably also different, because just different angles of attack from the steering - in my impression that cannot be solved without slip - but I learned a lot from your video - respect On the other hand, the rear wheel does not have a contact axis, like a four-wheeler, but a contact point, so that at least the slip problem can be easily compensated - the changed direction will have to be compensated by the rider, similar to a bicycle. Greetings from Germany Christian

[@MetalMachineShop]

Hi Christian, thanks for your comments! I am building a prototype so should be able to find out soon whether it works or not!

[@cvi943]

@@MetalMachineShop I'm sure it will work, you are doing an impressive work, this little slip will not make your prototype not working, hope we'll seen it soon! kind regards Christian

[@MetalMachineShop]

@@cvi943 you will!

[@jiroyamamoto2878]

MMS, you have some heavy hitters following you! Starting with Kyle Towers, moving on to Carolina/Pushyhog and ending with the grand finale Wayne Soohoo! Very impressive. So, the question I have is, why not use a leading arm suspension? Not commonly used on cars, but it looks like it would be much much simpler.

[@nathanieldubiel3695]

Hey, I’ve been working on my own trike for a while and I’ve been trying to fix the same issues you’re have and I am planning on cutting the spokes out of the front two wheels to make it more centered to the point of rotation. I’m not sure if this will help you but if it does it would be a great way to fix some of the problems you had in part one.

[@antoniskaloterakis7996]

Hello , I am watching your videos again and again and everytime learning something or to be more correct I understand that there are more things I dont understand if that makes any sense , so far while I thought I would have ackerman I have antiackerman cause of the crank bell setup . I will short it out eventually but need time , How are you doing are you making progress ?

[@Paul-lt2fl]

Very interesting videos thankyou. mMay I ask what cad program did you use for making these drawings. its very useful to be able to link objects and rotate them

[@MetalMachineShop]

Thanks, I used the free version of Onshape.

[@Paul-lt2fl]

@@MetalMachineShop thanks

[@northernskunkworks]

Ah the ackermann argument - i wonder if its as important with comparatively skinnt tyres and a high COG? Great vid!

[@MetalMachineShop]

Good question! It’s probably not critical for this application, but it can’t hurt and is easily addressed so why not!!

[@nicodanger13]

@@MetalMachineShop Your video is so interesting. For my fun, sometimes i think about a kind of tilting quadricycle... it's a mindblower hard game!! It's a shame i don't understand english so well, because there are a lot of variables to calculate. Thanks, anyway for your videos.

[@serdarozdemirkan8428]

Thank you very much for sharing this valuable information.... When using equal length wishbones, the steering arm should be placed at the front of kingpin axis. Because if it is located at back side, tie rod lenght must be shorter due to Ackermann angle of steering rod. Is there any method to use "back side" steering rod for this configuration?

[@MetalMachineShop]

you are right, the steering rods must be the same length as the tilting arms or the wheels will steer when tilting. If the tilting arms are split, it can be possible to place the steering rods behind the tilting arms, depending on how much separation there is between the inner pivots of the tilting arms.

[@MetalMachineShop]

I think I mentioned this in Part 4 of this series if I remember correctly.

[@serdarozdemirkan8428]

@@MetalMachineShop yes you are right. I saw that later :). Again thanks very much for these very informative videos...

[@autotuningkmv]

Класс!!! Еще бы на русский перевести!!! Было бы круто!!!

[@jayspice4987]

Just wondering, what kind of engineer are you? And did you learn this information through college or was it learnt from personal research and work experience.

[@MetalMachineShop]

I do have a degree in marine engineering, but all the stuff in this video is from my own research and contemplation!

[@jayspice4987]

@@MetalMachineShop Thank you so much for the reply. As an aspiring engineer, it really helps me out.

[@IggyRaymond]

Hello, I need to make this work for a real project I've been working on for EV transport. I would like to include you in the project because you really understand this type of tilt steering and, well, I don't. So please reply to me as soon as possible. Thanks.

[@lamafd2274]

Hello, would you please include an Arabic translation with the video?

[@Pushyhog]

U ever study the velotilt?

[@MetalMachineShop]

Yes, it's one of my main inspirations for my project!

[@Pushyhog]

Metal Machine Shop : l bought the company. You can join the team. waiting on parts tuesday and friday this coming week. Recumbents dot com forum, l am carolina there. velosRus.com is mine. mike mike lecka on fb/messenger. The front is complete with schlumpf/gates/pinion gearbox. Gates sponsors me. Rear tilt should be working this week, locking oil struts from bansbach. Rear tire width around 25” c to c.. Running 3 gocycle tires.