Cargo Pod with Stand Build

[LI-ghtcycle]

As mentioned, I am posting this to share my idea, and get input.

I have never liked any of the off the shelf options for kickstands for my recumbent, and now that I have a delivery business, it's not just annoying to have a rickety stand, it's bad for business.

SO! I have been playing around with some designs in my head, and first thought of how simple a card table's legs deploy, and wanted something similar, and I have finally found a simple common product that I can buy used to re-purpose for my needs, and I got a steal on these two walkers at Good Will with virtually identical parts!

The nice thing about the walkers is that they have that same principal of the simple locking join as a card table, but it's a medical device designed to be strong enough bear the weight of a large older person, while remaining light and the controls for the locking mechanism are very simple, easy to use and reliable.

In the initial pics I was still conceptualizing how I would do this, and at first I thought I would try and use much of the structure intact and have it up high, but this presented too many problems and eliminated the all the side "pannier" storage, and would have the stands too long (one on each side) to be practical.

So, I totally re-built the shape into something that will support the cargo pods in a practical way from the parts and pieces from the walkers in a completely different configuration:

The other thing that is great about using the walkers, is once I decide on a length that I like, I can incorporate the telescoping feature of the adjustable legs just by drilling a hole into the piece that I want to use! 8)

I'm also liking the mix of aluminum and steel parts, and the heavy duty paint on the steel parts.

 

[TonyReynolds]

EXCELLENT use of found hardware! And just think, as the boomers age, there'll be a never ending supply of spare parts! I love repurposing stuff...

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

EXCELLENT use of found hardware! And just think, as the boomers age, there'll be a never ending supply of spare parts! I love repurposing stuff...

Thanks Tony!

I'm really pleased how much like "legos" these things can be, I actually used that cross brace in a totally new place than it was designed, I took the two "upside down U's" of the handles and cut them at the far bend making two "L" shapes, and just drilled some holes in the tubing after straightening the cross brace that anchors the folding lock's pivot (I will make pics of the next one for each step so what I just tried to write will make sense ... :lol: ).

I'm terrible about taking pics step by step, as I tend to get an inspiration and excitedly go to work building once I have a solution in hand.

 

[amberwolf]

i like thr idea.

my own plan for a walker was as fold-down cargo rails. would need to add a wire/cable for supporet of outer ends, as triangulation brace when deployed.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

i like thr idea.

my own plan for a walker was as fold-down cargo rails. would need to add a wire/cable for supporet of outer ends, as triangulation brace when deployed.

Hey! That's a great idea too, but I must confess, I am never NOT hauling cargo, I have spare parts, tools and tubes and such so I'm always in need of cargo space, so for me, better to have them fixed. :wink:

The only tricky part so far has been re-cutting the tubing to have the right angle "saddle" where a horizontal piece mates with a vertical, I really could use a mill, but so far even though it's labor intensive, but my hand file & sand paper wrapped around the right sized tube has done pretty good. 8)

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Ok, got some more pics, right side finished, and now for the left side! (this time I will show the individual steps)

 

[999zip999]

I love the way you used the walker. Just gave one to the S.A.. Wish I had it now. Hay what grandma going to do now. She's going to find out.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

I love the way you used the walker. Just gave one to the S.A.. Wish I had it now. Hay what grandma going to do now. She's going to find out.

Hehe ya, grandma's gonna be outta luck, until I build one for her too!

I just realized that if I replace the legs with the wheeled attachments, that I would have a good emergency solution for when I am too tired to balance while going up the big hill!

I might just try it out with the wheels after a while to see how well it works.

One thing to note, even though these two walkers looked identical, and 90% of their dimensions were the same, they were not completely the same, and the legs aren't exactly the same length, one is 1/4 inch longer than the other, however, they both fold out and the bottom rail to the ground is exactly 17 1/2 inches!

 

[amberwolf]

if you were to use the exensible button-lock sections for the legs, then it would give two options:
--be adjustable down for either normal stand or motor off ground test stand
--be removable in-field to have wheels inserted and locked in for outriggrs

now i wanna do this to creazybike2

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

if you were to use the exensible button-lock sections for the legs, then it would give two options:
--be adjustable down for either normal stand or motor off ground test stand
--be removable in-field to have wheels inserted and locked in for outriggrs

now i wanna do this to creazybike2

Thanks AW!

That's a huge compliment, especially from you! I wish I had half your re-purposing skills.

Now I just need to decide how to shape/design my cargo pods, the center is going to be fixed, and the sides will be removable, but I'm not yet sure how I want to make that work yet, still conceptualizing as I build. 8)

Well, lunch break over, back to work!

 

[amberwolf]

btw if you do us the stands for outriggers you need them to be on the rear bar so thart they are kept pulled open, or the stress might collapse the angle-brace.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

btw if you do us the stands for outriggers you need them to be on the rear bar so thart they are kept pulled open, or the stress might collapse the angle-brace.

Good point, I will keep a eye on that, for now, I only plan to use it as a loading/working stand.

I wonder if that same principal holds true as long as the angle of the leg is such that the stress goes more into stretching the angle brace rather than compressing it.

I might be able to accomplish this with just a different angle of the steel leg that now would probably act more to compress it rather than stretch it.

Oops! I just realized how many pictures I skipped, here are pics from the build between the earlier and final pics:

Here I have a piece of the tubing from the walker that I wanted to use as a brace to straighten out the curved section I am using for the inside of the "hard panier", I considered using some form of sheet HDPE, but it's so expensive, and I had a way to make it with just what I had laying around, so I took the plunge.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

New Pics!!!

I am particularly happy to have these cargo pods built, even in the rough state they are in, as I have been dreaming of doing this for so long!

I abandoned the idea of gluing the pieces together, for fear that stresses of the curved section from the donor barrel working against staying glued, and opted for the tried a true zip-tie "sewing" method.

It ruins the original goal of a water tight design, but I can accomplish this with hot melt glue after the fact, and I actually believe having some drain holes and breathing holes might work to my advantage, and I already plan to use zip-up water tight bags inside them anyway.

Today, after weeks of flooding rain, we had some nice sunshine! 8)

So I got to work outside and not freeze!

Here I am attaching the lid with a new method I just realized, using the hard plastic HDPE barrel, I am able to use regular aluminum rivets, however, they would rip through the coroplast eventually, so plastic plumber's tape to the rescue! 8)

This is still a prototype, but I think once I use a good amount of reflective tape to cover the seams, these lids should do a nice job of keeping things dry inside.

A little coro-gomy , making the tabs to fold into the lid and fasten with zip-ties. It's not something you can really see in a picture, but I cut the top of the pods at an angle so the lids slope outward about 3 DEG to keep water from pooling.

Attached to the rack! I fashioned hooks out of 1/4 inch thick ABS and riveted them to the inside, so the bungee that holds down the lid also secures the entire pod too. 8)

A nice feature that just happened, not planned at all, was that the lids want to spring open on their own, so this will make it easy to load while the bungee cord isn't on.

Now 90% done, I will finish with tape tomorrow, pick up the NuVinci wheel that has been build for the Cruiser E-Bike, and hopefully have time to work on the tail box too!

 

[amberwolf]

did i miss somehting, or is the bungee the only thing holding the pod onto the frame? cuz...i don't trust bungees that much, after having various ones just snap or have outer threading suddenly shear thru, showing me the several rubber straps inside that have already broken leaving only a few taking the load.

I wonder if that same principal holds true as long as the angle of the leg is such that the stress goes more into stretching the angle brace rather than compressing it.

I might be able to accomplish this with just a different angle of the steel leg that now would probably act more to compress it rather than stretch it.

i'm not sure i follow, but the only way i can see to prevent potential folding of the arm is to ensure the brace is in tension instead of compression. if what you're thinking of will do that, then sure.

even in tension, it's still only held on by what amount to soft steel rivets, if it is like the one i have here. those can bend or snap under heavy loads, even in it's original purpose. i've seen one in a goodwill bin that someone really heavy must've used, and leaned on it the wrong way, because the rivet head was folded outward almost enough to allow the brace to come off of it, and it did wiggle a lot.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

did i miss somehting, or is the bungee the only thing holding the pod onto the frame? cuz...i don't trust bungees that much, after having various ones just snap or have outer threading suddenly shear thru, showing me the several rubber straps inside that have already broken leaving only a few taking the load.

I wonder if that same principal holds true as long as the angle of the leg is such that the stress goes more into stretching the angle brace rather than compressing it.

I might be able to accomplish this with just a different angle of the steel leg that now would probably act more to compress it rather than stretch it.

i'm not sure i follow, but the only way i can see to prevent potential folding of the arm is to ensure the brace is in tension instead of compression. if what you're thinking of will do that, then sure.

even in tension, it's still only held on by what amount to soft steel rivets, if it is like the one i have here. those can bend or snap under heavy loads, even in it's original purpose. i've seen one in a goodwill bin that someone really heavy must've used, and leaned on it the wrong way, because the rivet head was folded outward almost enough to allow the brace to come off of it, and it did wiggle a lot.

As to the bungee, yes and no, the 1/4 inch thick "hook" of ABS sheet (about 2 inches wide) is what supports the entire Pod, and I might end up adding more, but so far it looks like it will hold up pretty good and it's connected to the back of the pods with a 1/2 - 20 bolt, so the bungee would just be there keeping it from bouncing out of the hook.

Good point on the walker's hinge, I will see about reinforcing it with bolts in place of the rivets if it shows signs of trouble.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Today's Up-date:

Finally getting to the rear cargo pod!

It's really interesting because I design as I go, I sort of have a concept of what I want, but until I see a piece of material I can incorporate into the shape I want, I don't usually know exactly how I am going to put it together.

I really enjoy working with the HDPE plastic, it's really tough stuff! it doesn't give like most plastics, you can use aluminum rivets with it, and I have discovered a new way to attach the more fragile 4mm coroplast that rivets will tear through, by using plastic plumber's tape as a "washer".

I used the bottom & side section left over from cutting out the hard paniers out of, and it makes the shape that I have been wanting just fine! 8)

Sorry for less of the step-by step stuff, I either didn't get a good pic, or forgot to get some of the steps in-between what you see in these pics.

Some of you will recognize this thick white section of coroplast since it was from my first cargo fairing, however this time I am not using half the metal to reinforce it, so it should be much lighter, and even stronger due to components being under stress as they are assembled, making things more rigid.

The side panels are going to be trimmed down and then a few pieces on the top section added to fill in the gaps, but for now it's kind of hard to see the cargo area (this will be more clear after the next set of pictures).

The left over curved sections of barrel have been very useful in making curved frame-work to stretch the coroplast across.

That's all for today, would have had more, but my right hand is revolting, seems all the hand riveting has made my pinky finger hard to close and painful, so I quit early (only 9 hours instead of 12 lol! ).

More tomorrow. 8)

 

[amberwolf]

That's all for today, would have had more, but my right hand is revolting, seems all the hand riveting has made my pinky finger hard to close and painful, so I quit early (only 9 hours instead of 12 lol! ).

i bet it's not as "revolting" as my left hand, wiht the giant knot in it.

i'm still watching this thread, to see where you go with this, to borrow more ideas.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

New Pics!

I was going to try and get some pics in the sun, but I was too interested in riding in the sun, so I had to take these pics at night. 8)

 

[amberwolf]

Needs bigger taillight:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/RTL-2/RED-LED-TRAFFIC-STOP-LIGHT-120-VAC-USED/1.html


Turn signals 4 u 2:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/RTL-1/RED-ARROW-LED-TRAFFIC-LIGHT-120-VAC-USED/1.html

:lol:

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Needs bigger taillight:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/RTL-2/RED-LED-TRAFFIC-STOP-LIGHT-120-VAC-USED/1.html


Turn signals 4 u 2:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/RTL-1/RED-ARROW-LED-TRAFFIC-LIGHT-120-VAC-USED/1.html

:lol:

ROFLOL!! :lol: :lol:

*Crockodile Dundee* "That's not a Light, THIS is a Light!"

I can only imagine the faces of people following me at night when what appears to be a traffic signal down low to the ground flashing in front of them!

I am probably going to find a basic scooter light set, and I want mirrors with the turn signals built in for the front, and of course now I really need a Zzipper fairing too!

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Sorry no pics today, I did mount the enormous light from the trailer and waterproof the panier-pods thought!

Too tired to take pics ... throat is bothering me now too doh! Only two of us at the house have avoided this cold, looks like it finally got me too. :wink:

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Well, the cold/flu that has been passed around in the family has finally got me, so I haven't been doing much, but I should have some pics later today.

 

[REdiculous]

It kinda looks like a ship from a space movie...cool. 8)

 

[amberwolf]

Actually it reminds me more of the robots from Silent Running:
http://hacknmod.com/wp-content/old/pics/90482-3.jpg
http://www.robothut.robotnut.com/drone1p0web.html

 

[amberwolf]

How has the stand worked out?