My Trice is dead.

[BlackPanther]

After advice on what to do about this. On the way home, I thought I'd been caught in a big side wind, but naaaah, t'was the frame giving up the ghost. The damage looks pretty catastrophic to me, but could this be welded? I'm pretty sure that a whole new rear from Ice would cost me far more than it's worth.

 

[steve50]

A good engineer should be able to fit a sleeve over that break and weld it in place or could that section of frame be replaced with new steel / aluminium?

 

[Andrew1971]

It look's fixable. Explore every possibility first. I would not give up that easy.
Andrew

 

[young Ed]

i'm not a bad welder, by no means a pro but can get an ok weld and i should think some of the pros i have worked with could give that a damn good shot!
what is the yellowish type stuff that's in between the break?
is it ally or steel?

personally i would probably split it completely at the break, clean everything up around the break and strip the paint and put a piece of car or just thick walled tube inside the 2 tubes as a bridging piece and then slide it back together and buzz it together


your best bet is to get the trike down to a local welding specialist or small engineering firm and get one of their best welders to take a look at it
Cheers Ed

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Contact ICE and see what they say. You never know, they might replace the offending section as a good will gesture, or maybe charge a nominal sum.

 

[Ian H]

ICE are a very helpful, friendly bunch. Remember how they helped Steve Abraham out when he broke his ankle.

 

[FrankCrank]

....a quick look at ice trice images on google show that the fracture occurred directly below your butt, a point where vertical loading is concentrated. In your avatar picture you don't appear to be of the fuller figure - how much do you weigh? If you're well within the stated weight limit, then this is a either a design or material failure, and Ice do have a good reputation so ought to do right by you........

 

[ufkacbln]

 

[Ganymede]

How old is the Trice @BlackPanther?

 

[BlackPanther]

The yellowish stuff is just a plastic insert which I'm assuming is to give a better grip when it's clamped on. Looking at it in daylight, it's failed exactly where the split is where it tightens. Not sure of the age, but it's number 4130. I weigh in at 12 stone, and use a rear rack with 2 panniers. I've owned this Trice for about a year, but it was mint when I got it, so don't think it's been abused, or thrown over kerbs. I'm going to drop Ice an email, to see what my options are. Problem is that it's a QNT, as the Q wouldn't fit down the side of the house, so dropping on a cruciform may prove problematic. Plus I'm not sure if I've got the technical know how to swap everything over and set it up?

If price is too high then I'll look at the repair options. Typical, just when the weathers about to turn, the trike fails!

 

[andytheflyer]

Hi @BlackPanther

I would say that's an easy fix - you'll need a tame engineering shop. Your local back street garage will know where to find one - but don't bother with a main dealer - they only employ fitters (to fit stock manufacturer parts) - not mechanics. I'd get them to make a steel sleeve about 5mm shorter than the distance between the cruciform weld and the end of the red tube. The sleeve needs to have the ID the same (or just a tad bigger) than the red tube. They'll have some stock tube that they can machine up to suit - and leave a wall thickness of about 3mm. I'd remove the pinch bolt lugs and have them mill a slot in the sleeve to replicate the slot in the red tube, and fabricate new pinch bolt lugs. Clean all the paint off the red tube up to the cruciform weld and slide the sleeve on. You should then have about 5mm of the end of the red tube sticking out. Get them to weld the sleeve at both ends. The old tube looked to me as though it failed where the bending moment is high - so it may have been a fatigue failure. By thickening up the tube wall you can reduce the potential for another failure.

I'd go along to the tame workshop with a sketch of what you think you want, and discuss it with them - they may have a better idea. It's amazing what British ingenuity and men in sheds can come up with! Whatever, that looks eminently fixable by a man with access to metal fabrication tools and the skills to use them.

I had to get my local back street garage to separate the frame from the BB extension tube on my recumbent bike recently - it was well stuck. Took them all of 5 mins and only a minor chip in the paint - I'd struggled for days trying to get it to move. If you have the right guy with the right tools, they can fix anything.

I had a new bushing made some years ago for a yacht, where the sleeve through the mast that allowed the mast to be raised and lowered was worn. I took some measurements and found a local machine shop and he made a beautiful replacement in stainless. It needed bespoke threads and sleeve nuts as kit had to be fitted remotely (I could not bring a 30ft mast to him!) and was a real challenge to make - took me ages to work up the design! Must have taken him a good half day to make and it was very reasonably priced. Worked perfectly and got me a new 5 year insurance survey for the boat!

 

[voyager]

First contact Trice

then repair -

Personally I have seen worse things re-manufactured -only problem will be getting some touch up , you might get a can from a car rattle can stockist that can colour match - shame you are not nearer

Longer sleeve and puddle weld as well as around both ends , but care has to be taken so the inner tube will still slide
The right sort of sleeve needs to to shaped so the repair does not become another point of weakness .

regards emma

 

[BlackPanther]

Touch up paint? I have some pretty close matching red insulating tape.

 

[voyager]

rust will set in after welding so PAINT IT. !

 

[BlackPanther]

I meant after painting it I'd put the red tape over to match. Gosh I really do have a reputation for being cack-handed.