Hi Folks,
I hope this is in the right section. I have seen a post on a similar theme come up on here but I think our Trike is that much heavier it's going to require a different solution. I wondered if anyone could give us some advice?
We have a cheap Chinese trike that we bought second hand for transporting our mobile soundsystem. The soundsystem weighs about 270kg so the total weight we are pulling is that plus an adult rider plus the trike itself. It's fitted with a 48v motor and parallel differential gear - see photos.
It's been coping okay on the flat but really struggling up hills. Recently the diff has started making a grinding noise and failing under load. An additional, perhaps separate problem, is that there is no control of the motor speed - it's either on or off and the gearing is geared for speed rather than torque so it really struggles to pull away when stopped. When it's moving it goes unnecessarily fast. Where we live is hilly and often we are using the system on demonstrations/events where people are walking - we don't need speed, just steady power.
Clearly we are overloading it. We would like to upgrade the motor and replace the diff, ideally with something that is geared for more torque, or has a higher torque motor, and which we are able to better control.
I have spoken to a friend and bike shop owner who suggests putting in a Bafang mid drive motor in and leaving the rear axel alone. My worry with this is that (a) the diff is still making a grinding noise whether or not it is engaged, (b) this would only drive one wheel since the pedal drive is connected one side of the diff (c) the chain may not cope with such high torque (total wight could be up to 400kg).
I can think of three main options:
1. Replace the motor and diff with something similar to what we have already.
- I have found some people on ebay selling this motor but no diff (and they've not replied to my questions) and on alibaba, I've found this which looks equivalent - again they have not answered my questions. Does anyone know where I could buy something that could work?
2. Install a bafang bbshd 1000w mid drive motor kit with a 40T chainring.
- Remove existing motor and diff entirely (this would also mean replacing the rear axel) - solving problem (a)
- Replace rear axels and fit a samagaga differential with sprocket (or similar) - solving problem (b).
- Run the strongest chain I can find - solving problem (c)?
3. Install a sprocket and chain drive motor (sorry, not sure on terminology)
- Rather than a motor with an integrated parallel diff like we have, we could fit something more like this.
- Obviously this would also mean replacing the rear axel and adding something like a samagaga diff.
- This option would imo be the most work as we'd need to fabricate new motor mounts etc. - but if it's hands down the best option we'd do it.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Can you advise on what we should do or where we can source parts? Our budget is around £500-1k.
Many many thanks in advance!
Nate
I hope this is in the right section. I have seen a post on a similar theme come up on here but I think our Trike is that much heavier it's going to require a different solution. I wondered if anyone could give us some advice?
We have a cheap Chinese trike that we bought second hand for transporting our mobile soundsystem. The soundsystem weighs about 270kg so the total weight we are pulling is that plus an adult rider plus the trike itself. It's fitted with a 48v motor and parallel differential gear - see photos.
It's been coping okay on the flat but really struggling up hills. Recently the diff has started making a grinding noise and failing under load. An additional, perhaps separate problem, is that there is no control of the motor speed - it's either on or off and the gearing is geared for speed rather than torque so it really struggles to pull away when stopped. When it's moving it goes unnecessarily fast. Where we live is hilly and often we are using the system on demonstrations/events where people are walking - we don't need speed, just steady power.
Clearly we are overloading it. We would like to upgrade the motor and replace the diff, ideally with something that is geared for more torque, or has a higher torque motor, and which we are able to better control.
I have spoken to a friend and bike shop owner who suggests putting in a Bafang mid drive motor in and leaving the rear axel alone. My worry with this is that (a) the diff is still making a grinding noise whether or not it is engaged, (b) this would only drive one wheel since the pedal drive is connected one side of the diff (c) the chain may not cope with such high torque (total wight could be up to 400kg).
I can think of three main options:
1. Replace the motor and diff with something similar to what we have already.
- I have found some people on ebay selling this motor but no diff (and they've not replied to my questions) and on alibaba, I've found this which looks equivalent - again they have not answered my questions. Does anyone know where I could buy something that could work?
2. Install a bafang bbshd 1000w mid drive motor kit with a 40T chainring.
- Remove existing motor and diff entirely (this would also mean replacing the rear axel) - solving problem (a)
- Replace rear axels and fit a samagaga differential with sprocket (or similar) - solving problem (b).
- Run the strongest chain I can find - solving problem (c)?
3. Install a sprocket and chain drive motor (sorry, not sure on terminology)
- Rather than a motor with an integrated parallel diff like we have, we could fit something more like this.
- Obviously this would also mean replacing the rear axel and adding something like a samagaga diff.
- This option would imo be the most work as we'd need to fabricate new motor mounts etc. - but if it's hands down the best option we'd do it.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Can you advise on what we should do or where we can source parts? Our budget is around £500-1k.
Many many thanks in advance!
Nate
