this is what the roopod will look like: no paint on the aluminum body [slideshow=2]

My Name is Roo Trimble, I grew up in a family of 8 boys (I am second to the youngest.)  Just about all of my brothers design, build or make something or other...a couple of architects, an interior designer/furniture maker, a computer system designer, a bicycle designer/builder, a camera expert and me! (my littlest brother is disabled, if you are counting)  That leaves me, I guess,  I always did tons of art when I was a school kid.  That was just about all that I did in high school!  Then I went to a community college for a year, and got my grades up and applied to some schools that I really wanted to go to.  I got into Rhode Island School of Design www.risd.edu.  I actually was accepted for a illustration major, but quickly decided that I wanted to do Industrial design...and then there was no looking back, I just loved it!  At the time, I was addicted to everything bicycle (common in my family) and I had to work hard to explore outside of "bikedom" while I was at school.  My thesis project turned out to be a racing wheelchair made from carbon fiber (the closest RISD would ...

  Here are some pictures and drawings of ROOPOD progress: Check it out, I add new pictures often...subscribe to the feed, you will see when it is done!  NOTE: if you want to see a bigger picture of any of the pics in the blog look at the gallery at the end of the post...you can click on a thumbnail for a bigger view. 3/4/09 check out the new pictures!  I have started to mount the front suspension perches and build the arms/ spindles/ shock mounts etc the shocks are from the rear end of a Harley "bagger" chosen for their' air-adjust-ability and small size they have 3" of travel, giving me a bit over 4" total wheel travel.  The biomorphic looking suspension arms will be 3d machined from 6061 solid "hate the word billet" also look at the pictures of the windshield, this is the stock unit from a VW New Beetle and I built the frame to have about the same curves...I just have to cut the sides off!  If anyone has the "killer" way to do this without ruining the windshield, please let me know!  I am very happy with the way that the windshield looks with it's compound curves etc, ...

all the measures This page will evolve as I build ROOPOD, but I will put down what I specs there are at this point. Frame/Body: 6061 t651 aluminum throughout main tubes 1.5" X .125" wall bulkhead square tubes 1" X .125" body "skin" .060" sheet.  Frame completely joined by TIG welding using 4046 wire and 100% argon.  Whole body to be heat treated at www.countyheattreat.com after all welding is completed (to restore anealed areas caused by welding) complete body to be in the 200lb range. Suspension: Tires:145/80R 10's  19.1" diameter (used on the clasic Mini Cooper) (Khumho brand) Wheels: Douglas aluminum ATV Wheels 10"X5" 1X4 offset 4X156 bolt pattern. hubs: Polaris "Predator 500" hubs Brakes:Polaris "predator 500" 7" hydralic disk brakes. spindles/uprights: ROOPOD made: polaris spindles/6061 machined uprights-polaris ball joints. Dual A-arms: ROOPOD made: 6061 machined billit. .5" heim joint inner pivots Front shocks: Air-Coil spring adjustable shocks from Progressive  Suspension Rear Swing arm/engine cradle 6061 welded/heat treated aluminum Rear shocks: Air-Coil spring adjustable shocks from the rear of a Harley "bagger" Steering:  woodward rack and pinion manual Powertrain: [caption id="attachment_168" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Kubota Z482 with Comet 94C CVT and Comet FNR Gearbox"][/caption] Kubota z482 water cooled two cylinder Diesel engine 482 cc 12hp @ 3600rpm (I may see about adding a turbocharger to this if it is too ...

this is where I will put all the interesting pics and other stuff, and what I think of it...Roo here is a article in the New York TImes, that talks about three wheels to save gas. kindly sent to me by David and Natalie Hanna...I am not quite so regular in my 'Times reading! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/automobiles/autospecial2/30trike.html A study about transportation and it's global warming impact http://www.edf.org/documents/5301_Globalwarmingontheroad.pdf Edmunds great source for greener car info http://www.edmunds.com/green-cars/index.html a cool video about the Aptera   Here is a link to a cnn video of a car called the "Peapod" ...no more pods please!  I was first...I think...plus ROOPOD is so way much cooler... http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/04/23/nr.peapod.electric.vehicle.cnn?iref=videosearch   The one gallon challenge: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/05/22/one-gallon-challenge-sort-of-an-x-prize-lite-coming-to-massach Another NY TImes article...the real problem! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/opinion/29wed2.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

Some pics of the shops where roopod is being built  [gallery]

discussion of roopod's carbon footprint I am building roopod out of aluminum for it's durabilty and recyclabilty...and mostly trying to use as little (aluminum) as possible (by making roopod as light as possible) [slideshow]

Help support my project/ become a sponsor!  Please contact me if you would like to help prove to everybody that a great, green and efficient car can be created right here at home! HI there everybody!  (8/17/08) ROOPOD has it's first sponsor!  Ben Licata, of Northfield, MASS has contributed an old bike with a good title that will be reborn as ROOPOD!  Just so you know...it is a 1980 Kawasaki KZ44A2 (440cc) and probably the only thing that will make it onto ROOPOD will be the VIN!   Thanks Ben,  your help is really appreciated. Hi again (2/17/09) the countless pieces of advice from so many people: thanks to you all, I will mention names when I check and see if you all care!  but many thanks you know who you are... (7/30/09) REBEL WIRE (http://www.rebelwire.com/) Has contributed a complete wire harness for the roopod! many thanks to Bob Miller at REBEL WIRE!      

Why I am building ROOPOD: Disclaimer:  I know full well that the best vehicle there is to be had is no vehicle, then one that burns no fuel, but barring those options (walking and biking come hard to a lazy oaf like me)  I Just had to start thinking about this car problem! It all started one day, when I came across the sticker inside the door of my VW New Beetle...it said...3,704 gvrw...that's how much it's supposed to weigh fully loaded...3 passengers, the driver and fuel/cargo etc... Then I thought, yikes! For a small car, when I drive this car myself...I can take about 600lb off that weight and get about 3100lb actual weight ...I am dragging around just under 3000lb of car just to carry my 250lb body around...I am not so hot at math, but if you divide  say 2800 by 250 you get a ratio of 11.2:1 and then I realized, out of my 1 gallon of gas I buy for this car, I use 11 parts to carry the car around, to the one part that is used to carry my weight.  If I add a passenger, I do a little better, even another big guy like me...lets ...