Adding Rear Steering to Your Rifton Tricycle

Transcript

The components in your rear steer retrofit kit include the rear steering handle, the front and rear guide bars and the attachment pins, the steering linkage that holds the guide bars and the bolt with which to attach it, the front plastic guide and two screws to attach that, the front attachment pin that goes on the headset, the safety bolt to attach the handle with the provided tools, and other tools needed to do the job.

The first step is to remove the rear end cap or the straight push handle, depending on how the trike was configured. On the front of the trike you’ll find a black plastic cap which can be removed and discarded. Push on the bottom and then pop it out. Completely remove these two screws using the T15 driver. Insert the front plastic guide over the pedal crank and then clip it behind the plastic housing. Line the parts back up and reinsert and tighten the screws.

For the next step, set the parking brake and then simply lift the front of the trike and tip it back. Using the T40 driver, remove the bolt that is just in front of the rear fork. This is the old bolt, and you can see it’s shorter than the new bolt. Discard the old shorter bolt. Use the new longer bolt to fasten the steering linkage with the plastic part pointing toward the left wheel. Before you put the new bolt in make sure that this bottom end stop piece is fitted into the square hole at the bottom of the seat track, and that this extended part is pointing up towards the seat. It’s important that you get this bolt tight by using the tool to get good leverage. Get it as tight as possible. That’s it.

Flip the trike back onto its wheels. Take the ball stud and insert it into this plate at the front headset. It’s important that the ball points down to the wheel. Fasten it with the provided nut and tighten it on using the two included wrenches. Make sure you get this nice and tight.

Insert the rear steer handle into the end tube of the trike. Take the provided bolt and insert it into the hole and then use the provided 3/16 L keys to tighten the nut onto the bolt. Make sure you fully tighten it to a hard stop. Take the front steering bar and insert it through the front plastic guide. Attach the steering bar to the front fork by pulling down on the collar. Use a pin to connect the back to the steering linkage. Attach the rear steering rod by pulling down on the collar. Use the other pin to connect it to the steering linkage.

If you ordered a caregiver brake, it will come installed on the rear steer handle. To connect the caregiver brake, set the parking brake. Hook the ball end of the cable into the slotted metal bracket within the parking brake housing and lift the cable conduit up into the pocket in the brake housing. Release the parking brake.

Double check that everything is properly attached and tightened: the ball stud and front steering bar, the two screws on the pedal crank housing, the bottom end stop is inserted in the seat track, the bolt holding the steering linkage, pins connecting the front and rear steering bars to the steering linkage, the rear guide bar connected to the rear steering handle, the safety bolt and nut on the rear steering handle tightened to a hard stop. And if you ordered a caregiver brake, make sure the cable is connected. Your Rifton Adaptive Tricycle is now configured for rear steering.