want to build a cargo trike like yours/haley/seque/bakfiets. kudos to all for having made improvements on the basic bakfiets design.

myself i would like more suspension, instead of suspending it with a through axle and leaf springs how about suspending the box by pivoting the front wheels on the front of the cart end and suspending it with a spring shock absorber on the rear. i would have to build a subframe to mount the pivot (the front half could be off a rear suspended mountain bike.) this puts the suspension off the side of the cart, rather than under the cart. the nijland is a beautiful thing to behold but it is so heavy and the center of gravity is so high. i want to make mine for a coffee/food cart so lowering the cg is a very good thing.

another thought on the steering geometry. what if a person put the center of the steering slightly forward from center and adjusted the weight accordingly. i have an idea this might give the steering some leverage. only way to see if this would really work is to try it. could get expensive.

also i see another area that could possibly be improved it to center the driving load over the back axle.
it might look like a unicycle in the back but there whould not be a balance issue. it just seems that all the designs i have seen put a lot of weight on the front wheels since the seat is ahead of the driving axle and there is the weight of the main tube as well. this could also shorten the wheel base.

thanks for sharing your thoughts, i had not thought of what i would use for the steering bearings. how big is the main tube on your trike? do you have other pictures? what wheels are you running? gearing? Load?

phranque in eugene