The Torchiest jalopy in the universe

"tapzz" (tapzz) 08/03/2016 at 17:16 • Filed to: walker power truck

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A mid engined, front wheel drive, three wheeler. With rear steering.

Yes, really.

And we’re just getting started: the Walker Power Truck can convert from LHD to RHD by swinging the wheel over- pretty much on the fly as far as I can see.

There are two brake pedals in the middle, and throttle is a hand lever.

It’s got a three speed manual, but you have to select the gear before you set off.

Also: suicide doors

Not forgetting a cab over layout, and the crudest face in motordom.

So how do you access the engine? Well, you just slide the bed backwards:

The “power” in the name is, well, a bit of an overstatement: the engine is a 14-16hp twin cylinder industrial Onan. Not really meant for highway use, in other words.

Clearly, Jason needs to buy this thing, but !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , sadly. Whoever bought it: let Torchy drive it, pretty please!

Hat tip to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 17:18

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I think I’m in love. I want it.

shop-teacher > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 17:35

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That is amazeballs.

Cé hé sin > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 17:47

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It has something in common with some models of the previous Unimog.

Convertible steering layout.

Mondial goes to 11 > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 17:51

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Love the shift pattern and everything else. I need one.

tapzz > Cé hé sin 08/03/2016 at 17:51

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Wow- I never knew Unimogs had convertible steering. Makes sense given their street cleaning applications, though.

Cé hé sin > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 17:59

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Here we go .

Jonee > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 19:42

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I never heard of this one. What an awesomely nutty contraption.

tapzz > Jonee 08/03/2016 at 19:53

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Isn’t it just?

It pretty much inverts the entire pickup truck idea. It heroically implements the exact opposite of what an F150 does (well, short of a ‘bed first, cab later’ configuration, and, yes, such contraptions do exist) whilst still doing more or less the same job.

Jonee > tapzz 08/03/2016 at 20:40

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I didn’t realize it was the same as a Walker mower. The company’s founder seems like he was a real character. They’ve built an interesting array of stuff over the years.

http://walkermowers.com/company/our-st…

bhtooefr > tapzz 08/04/2016 at 05:42

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That sounds like they just reused lawn mower components for the powertrain, and just flipped the diff when they turned the whole thing around - plenty of riding lawnmowers had a 3-speed rear axle, with the brake pedal also being the clutch pedal (hence having to stop to change gear), the idea being that you would select a gear to limit your speed, rather than use the throttle.

There is so much wat going on here, though... there’s a reason why 3-wheel trucks tend to be delta, not tadpole layout, and rear wheel steering is almost never a good idea. (Basically, for stability in a three-wheeler, you want the most heavily loaded axle to have two wheels. A (front wheel steering) tadpole is typically more stable, so you put as much weight over the front axle as possible in a passenger trike. A cargo trike, however, unless you put the operator behind the load, will have more weight over the rear axle, so you want it to be a delta.)

tapzz > bhtooefr 08/04/2016 at 08:09

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Good point; I’d never quite realised that a delta could be better for cargo. I just assumed a tadpole would be better dynamically for all cases, but that you might want a delta for packaging reasons.

That’d also explain why autorickshaws and Piagio Apes are still so widespread; they’re not as hopeless as a Reliant Robin because nearly all their weight is further back.

As to rear steering trikes: Dymaxion. I guess the only reason this Walker works is the very low speed.

bhtooefr > tapzz 08/04/2016 at 08:14

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Another thing with the autorickshaws and Apes is that they’re fundamentally scooter-like architectures, just with two rear wheels instead of one, and are therefore mid-engine. That puts more weight on the rear axle naturally. Contrast with the Reliants, which had a front engine.

And, yes, packaging is another reason to do trucks that way. Mind you, this thing has shorter length than a delta truck (delta trucks have to have the front wheel ahead of the cab, whereas this has the rear wheel under the bed), but a delta truck will likely have lower center of gravity, as the bed floor can be lower, meaning that stability is further improved while laden. (The big problem with delta trucks is when they’re unladen, of course - then you have a heavily loaded front wheel, and a very lightly loaded rear axle...)