Vehicle and four-to-three wheel conversion method
OwnerMichael S. Wardinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A three-wheel vehicle includes a single rear drive wheel, which is mounted on a suspension subframe located near the rear of the vehicle and extending between rails of the vehicle's chassis. A transfer is also mounted on the suspension subframe and drivingly interconnects the vehicle drivetrain and the rear wheel. A four-wheel to three-wheel vehicle conversion method includes the steps of removing the differential, rear axles and rear wheels of an original drivetrain and replacing them with a subframe mounting a rear wheel and a transfer. The transfer is connected to the original transmission by a drive shaft. The converted vehicle can be certified and licensed based on less stringent governmental regulations than those applicable to comparable four-wheel vehicles.
Claims5
In combination with a vehicle originally configured with:
- four wheels;
- a chassis with a pair of side rails;
- a drivetrain with a drive shaft, a differential connected to the drive shaft, a pair of rear drive axles connected to the differential and a pair of rear drive wheels each mounted on a respective rear drive axle;
- a pair of leaf springs each mounted on a respective chassis rail and mounting a respective rear drive axle;
- the improvement of a three-wheel conversion, which includes:
- a rear suspension subframe including a transverse truss with a pair of legs each mounted on a respective leaf spring and first, second and intermediate columns with upper ends;
- a crossbar connected to and extending transversely across the upper ends of said first, second and intermediate columns and interconnecting same;
- a longitudinal truss extending forwardly from said transverse truss and including a pair of arms;
- a transfer including a gear drive connected to the drive shaft and mounted on said longitudinal truss and a belt drive subassembly connected to said gear drive;
- a rear drive axle mounted on said first and intermediate columns and drivingly connected to said belt drive subassembly;
- and
- a rear drive wheel mounted on said rear drive wheel axle and located between said intermediate and second columns.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.