Recumbent Trike Sidecar

I like riding my recumbent trike, I also love my Border Aussies. I wanted to take my pups with me on the trike, but if you know anything about border collies, they love being as close as possible to you at all times, and riding behind in a trailer wasn’t a great option. With the sidecar, she can be right beside me as I ride.

Recycled 1.5” steel square tubing, thin wall

recycled door hinge

recycled 1” square steel tubing

recycled 1” aluminum square tubing

recycled bicycle wheel 20” BMX wheel with 14mm axle

1/8” aluminum sheet

14mm spherical ball end, 14mm bolt, 14mm u bolt from Toyota Tacoma

3/4” foam pipe insulation

I found some scrap 1.5” thin walled square tubing, welded together in a rectangular frame. 1/4” steel was welded about midpoint on the outside where the wheel bolts on. I used a 20” BMX wheel with a 14mm axle, it’s strong enough to just bolt on one side, so no need for a supporting frame on the outside of wheel.

I used 1/4” x 2” steel to make the mount for the rear of the triangle. Ground out space for the rear wheel hub and drilled holes to line up with the rear brake mount, and I other hole in the triangle. Then I welded on one half of a door hinge. I used as much reclaimed materials as possible, the door hinge was from a recycled building goods store. The other half of the hinge was welded to the sidecar frame

This is where it got tricky. The side car had to pivot up and down to allow movement over bumps, and the trike has rear suspension, and moves independently of the main frame. I needed a method of fastening to the main frame for strength and stability, yet keep movement in 2 different axis. Also, wanted to utilize the factory mounts on the frame that are used for luggage racks. This would allow rapid removal and attachment of the side car to the trike. A 14mm spherical ball end checked all the boxes. I mounted a 14mm bolt to the frame, and bolted on the ball end to the frame. Another 14mm bolt was threaded into the ball end, and then I made a mount out of 1” square tubing that was welded to the bolt. The square tube was notched so it would fit onto the QR mount for the luggage rack.

The walls for the sidecar were made from upcycled aluminum square tubing. I wanted the walls to come apart easily for transport, so I welded short pieces of steel square tubing to the frame, then made the walls from aluminum tube that slid inside the steel tube. I drilled holes for pins that can be pulled out, and walls removed.

The frames for the walls and rear gate were filled up with thin sheet aluminum from my local metal supplier. They used a water jet to cut paw prints in the rear gate for me, just for fun. The floor is also aluminum, bead rolled for extra strength. I bent all the edges 90 deg. And used tech screws to fasten to the aluminum panels to the floor and walls. The rear gate slides in/out to load the pup.

Painted the floor and frame with black epoxy paint, added some foam pipe insulation to the top of the walls, and bolted on a couple straps to hold the pup securely and ready to ride!