cawain Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 HI all, I need some help. Built a trike from a 1981 Brat have a EA-81 engine and FWD automatic in it. Runs great, But it drives like bad. I have isolated some of the problem to the front end and have fixed that. However it gets real shakie when you hit a bump at speeds over 50 mph. The back end starts wabbling side to side and up and down. Its weird. Trikes don't have tow in or camber. I have the steering locked, New ball joints, new tye rod ends, tow in set to zero, however there is no adjustment to change the camber. The suspension is stock and appeares to be too stiff for the light weight of the trike. (Wheels turn in at the bottom like a VW with the engine removed) I would like to try some softer springs, but don't have a clue what to try. I think what I need is something about as strong as VW rear coilover shocks. Also I am pretty low now and don't want to lose any ground clearance. (at approx 9" ) Any help will be appricated. Thanks, Carl (cawain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik litchy Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 a visual aid woud be nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I know nothing of Brats but have similar issues with my VW onroad dune buggy with the front end. If I can't find any worn out shocks for the front I get new cheapies and drill a pin hole in them so there is no pressure in them. Perhaps the same with the Brat struts? On the VW I didn't remove any leaf's in the front torsion tube and the shocks seem to do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Sounds like you may need an antisway bar. I don't think a standard Brat one will work with your trike, but you can try to modify a EA82 series type in there. And you most probably need softer springs. The 2WD model springs are a fair bit softer and sit about an inch lower then the 4WD and Brat ones. But I'd say you probably need softer then that. Try going to the wreckers. Find a spring with similar size and uncompressed height to the Brat springs but off a much smaller car, or the rear of a light car. I easily fitted EA82 rear springs on Brat front shocks, this won't help you but it does show you that changing spring diameter isn't hard. You just need to the top hat for the smaller spring and then drill it to fit the shockers thread on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89_Subaru_GL Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 man that's freekin sweet you should put some pix up even if its not done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cawain Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 You guys are all the greatest! Thanks loads. I would like to post some photos, but don't know how. I was thinking some softer springs would help, but wasn't sure what to use. The salvage yards around here don't want to let you on their yard. They are afried you might steal a light bulb. This unit has a sway bar(I guess it would be called a sway bar) Comes back from the front suspension to the rear (Transmission) cross member. The trike is completed. It is registered as a 2007 trike. I have completed one more VW trike, and have two more in progress at this time. This Brat trike is the only one I have had trouble with. I will build the next one differently. I used too much of the Brat frame work on this one. It is my first try at building. I used a honda 750 front end, but now I build my own leading link front ends. I will try again to post some pictures. Thanks again, Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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