Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Let's say I pull one back wheel off a Metro to make a trike like this one. Let's say the empty car had 60% weight on the front axle and 40% on the rear, stock. Let's say it weighs 2000 lbs; there is 1200 lbs on the front axle and 800 on the rear. Definitely a huge forward weight bias right? As a four-wheeler each front tire has 600 lbs on it and each rear tire has 400. When we remove one back wheel, the remaining back wheel now has 800 lbs on it- MUCH more than each front at 600 lbs even though it "still has more weight on the front"! When the rear contact patch(es) are more heavily loaded than the front(s), it is easy to get oversteer.
. |
ahhhhh..... I hadn't thought about that. but, now that I have, I'm not overly worried.
In rainy or snowy conditions, it is actually entirely possible the more heavily loaded single tire will have more "traction" then dual rear tires, just like narrower tires are better then wider.
Also interesting is to look at roll centers - pretty hard to have a roll center for a single rear tire anywhere but at the ground, which makes the front roll center fairly interesting if your goal is "straight down the road with side winds and pavement grooves".