The UFO Trike Hydraulic System Gets Real | Ian Roussel's Engineering Challenge

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:01]Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hi, everyone. I got  you a treat. That way you're protected.

[00:00:09]Space. It's your space helmet for the UFO. Our  Wheelie Poppin UFO. You're going to need solar protection. We're here again. Wheelie  Poppin trike. Not yet from outer space, but soon to be. Today we're working on hydraulics.  Remember, we want this UFO to go up, down, front, back, side to side, and spin. So, we got a  lot of that in motion. We went on a little field trip. Came back with some treasure.  Let's make this thing almost work cuz we don't have a hydraulic pump. We'll  do all the mechanics and the theory.

[00:00:54]Yeah.

[00:01:11]All right. So, check out this stash. This hoorde.  All right. Look at all this good stuff. So, protecting the innocent. We're not saying any  names, but this stuff is clean. Goten gains, but it came from a place where everything's  supposed to go in the trash. So, we got it on the hookup. Look at these hooks. Speaking of  hooking up. Yeah. So, this is awesome. Little Jewel is going to need a little accessory. And  I might just put one on the back of my truck on a trailer hitch cuz it's so cool. Just put it.  Well, you know, they have all kinds of accessories hanging from the trailer hitches lately, as you  may know. So maybe two of those big hooks hanging off the bump. Arizona is a very it's a big truck  state. Are you feeling bro? Unless you drive a giant lifted Ram with two large appendages hanging  off the rear trail. I had no idea. This is funny.

[00:02:08]Yes. So I don't know what this is, but it looks  like it does something. Um it's not a gas pedal.

[00:02:18]You'd think if it was a two-way valve like forward  and back that this would have a forward and back.

[00:02:23]I don't know. We're going to see what this is.  It may help us is what I'm get that's what I'm getting at. This might help us. Somebody should  know though. Somebody will probably know what the heck. Yeah. These came from one of those boom  trucks. So, um they were the vehicles that would grab a telephone pole with the claw. Uhhuh. Of  getting two claws cuz little Jewels going to need a claw hanging. She needs a claw naturally. So,  this was in the seat. These are cool. They're just little cast aluminum control knobbers. Very cool.  So, we'll use those somewhere. And then I got three hydraulic cylinders, which are perfect for  the lift. And there's more coming. I'm ordering a little um snowplow pump cuz we're not going  to need a lot of volume or speed. So, about 130 bucks. Neat little hydraulic unit. Today, we're  going to put these in and test the lift mechanism.

[00:03:15]We won't be able to power them because I  don't have the hydraulic pump. But again, we'll just lift it with the engine hoist to see.  We're going to try to make this lift a lot because we only have about 5 in of travel. That's the one  defining factor. Like you hear an electric car, right? Well, how far does it go on a charge,  right? So, with the hydraulics, it's like, well, how much does it lift and how far is the  reach? So, it's only a 5 in stroke on that ram, but it it it's super powerful. I mean,  the size of that cylinder. It's what I was thinking all morning. If you were to put this,  you know, your natural thought is, okay, well, you'll put it here, right? Cuz we're putting one  ram per piece. Well, we'll put it in the center, but that only gives you 5 in of lift. So,  what if we split the difference with the hinge? Because that's so powerful, we would  get 10 inches of lift. Science. If you could see the look on Jamie's face right now, she is  impressed. She's beyond impressed. That's why I get away with so much. Easy to What did you  say? That's why I get away with so much in our relationship because I just pull all the tricks  and you get impressed and gives me some leeway.

[00:04:33]It really a could really talk some game. He  really can. Very charming. Goes a long way.

[00:04:45]So, I drilled a hole pretty close to on center.  I think I offset it just a little bit. So, um that ram to get the hole in the center. So, we got  our pivot a. So, instead of putting it on the end, we're going to put this right through the center.  And I did some measuring so that that cylinder can drop down. See? All right. So, we're going to  move this more to the center of here. And we're going to tack this on. And I'm going to show you  why. Let me get that welder. We had a few people asking about uh the the height of the UFO cuz  it was going to hit the forks, etc. Um, no. Oh, no. Cuz this framework is not set in place. The  framework can still be set to any height. So, it's just tacked to the chassis now. So, once we  get all this built, we can lift the whole thing up and then put it into position. And I also just  swapped out this pair of matching tires. They're very small. Uh they're not going to be in the way.  So, it lowered the thing considerably as well. So, um they're rollers for now. We'll see. I might  upgrade to bigger tires. Just uh you know, people are like, "Dude, it hits the front forks. you're  not going to be able to steer all this other stuff. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. This is  not Ian's first crazy rodeo. This is the process.

[00:06:04]I bet like a majority of your projects on full  custom garage that were the wacky ones was like, "How are you going to steer that thing? How are  you going to get into it? Is it road legal?" And honestly, like I haven't given up or failed on one  yet. They've all been reasonably usable. I like your new lockers. Yeah, you probably already seen  the Little Jewel episode by now cuz that's what Jamie's working on. Repurposed parts. How come I  have two lefts? Where's my rights? Somebody said I should leave my welding helmet out in the sun  cuz maybe that's why it was faltering cuz they're solar powered. But this thing's beat up. I got uh  Jamie a helmet and I got me a helmet. But let's see if this thing came back to life. It was really  messed up on the bug, but it had been in the dark for a long time while we're I don't think you've  ever set it out to be recharged. Well, it also charges while you're welding. Oh, the light. But  I weld so sporadically and while we're moving, I was barely welding. It just sat all that time. You  got to think about all the things in this world that I mean, no sun, no welding sparks. How can a  helmet survive? All right. Now, here is the point I was trying to make. This goes inside. So, I need  a little holder. You got this goes there. We have our piston. It's going to go there. Our large  bolt. It's going to hold it all in place. Y'all see what I'm saying? Kind of. So, we're letting  gravity do its work. So, we're not attaching this to the chassis yet because we're not sure of  the height all in all. But basically, when that cylinder pushes, it's pushing this up, which  lifts the whole thing. Oh, that will be quite I get it. Quite the lift. So, is this the kind of  stuff they use on the mini trucks? Oh, yeah. It's direct representation. There's a lot of different  styles and probably some trade secrets that I'm not hip to cuz I'm a first timer, but yeah, this  is kind of how it happens. theory. Theory wise, man, that helmet worked like a charm.

[00:08:25]So, see, this is the first piece.  Now, this cylinder will expand, but it's not attached at the bottom.  So, let's just go like this. So, that will lift that that much. It's pretty good  lift. I was saying for only a 5 in stroke, it lifts seven and a half. So that's better. That's  the sound we're looking for. Now we got this.

[00:08:53]Got our little holster. Let's put the other one  in place. This one I made a little bit tighter.

[00:09:08]are 10 and a4.

[00:09:15]Cool. I don't even need to put that hanger.  See how the original concept is changing a little bit and getting stronger with  all these braces. Mhm. You know, that open frame was strong, but  now it's just getting better.

[00:09:36]Okay. So now our other ram. So this ram is going  to be not pushing off the chassis of this trike.

[00:09:45]The ram is going to be pushing off of this  level. A little bit hard to describe in words, but let me explain it. It's a little  bit like climbing a ladder. You know, you put one foot on the rung above above. So, the first ram is pushing off of the base,  right? Mhm. That's going to look like this.

[00:10:13]But the second ram has to push off of this rack,  not off the base, so that it goes up and it pushes off of that. But because our ram is x amount long,  we need to drop down from this second level. and then make our bracket off of that. Does that  make any sense? No, but I trust the process.

[00:10:42]You're not the only one. Doesn't make any much sense to me either. Check  this out. Take one of these and you put that through here. So, I need  to have a bracket. I made this for the other style ram because I already created all  this in my head in my PE brain. I need to make a drop down that comes down to here  that won't be in the way cuz as this ram lifts it's going to swing over. Feeling me?  As the ram lifts, it's going to arc this way.

[00:11:24]So, I need to measure how far down  this is going to go. The top of the ram can't go any higher than that. So,  we don't want to interfere with anything.

[00:11:34]And the hole has to be well, the entire piece  needs to be 10 and 1/2 in lower than that.

[00:11:46]So, we need an angle iron exactly  like this, but 10 and 12 inches long.

[00:11:55]Got a new shipment of this  stuff. Give it a 100% thumbs up.

[00:12:07]This going to be our drop off of that surface.  And we're going to strengthen this. But again, baby steps. We're just trying to make  everything come together in the end.

[00:12:18]It's just getting I mean it's getting  heavier, but it's getting stronger also, you know, when it says it extends  the length of the tool life. A kid.

[00:12:34]And probably put a little washer on there  just to get some clearance. But for now, mockup is well underway. Let's set  this up with a square under there.

[00:12:51]See that drops this down. As long as  that cylinder isn't rising above this, they're good to go. Yeah, perfect.  Okay, so just this. I was just making uh bulk pieces. That's why there's a hole  drilled in that. I was just measuring stuff on the table. So, we'll put a strap  around this and really support all of it.

[00:13:22]So, now we're so we're lifting off this second  level. Now, we need to put something in here. So, what I'm wondering is um you know, you don't we  don't want it to hit that when it tilts over.

[00:13:39]So, I'm going to push it just a little  bit forward. Just going to go that and it'll just roll back as it give  it a little bit more lift, too.

[00:13:50]I got to get all my buckets of bolts out of the  trailer. But this little square shank will line this up for the moment. All right. So, this is  how it should work. This one's going to come Whoa. It's like a dying robot. What is that?  Hydraulic fluid. You like when robots die, they don't bleed. Hydraulic  fluid comes out of them. A stage one or stage two. See, that's  something we weren't thinking about.

[00:14:34]Look at that. When this comes up,  that hits that. It's real close.

[00:14:48]It's all about the soundtrack,  right? It sounds like Donald Duck. That's why I was like, what  is that noise? That's how he talk.

[00:15:01]Let's twist this a little bit.

[00:15:06]That ain't going to twist. That is heavy duty.  That's a different mouse trap right there. Oh, there it goes. All right, we got clearance. So,  that's stage one and stage two. Now, stage three, we have a different style ram. Going to try to get  all the sputtering and splattering out of the way.

[00:15:30]All right, we have relieved the excess pressure.  So, this one has a little bit of a him joint, which is cool. Those others. I'm going to have  to work with that cuz they were binding a little bit. But this one's good. And it's it's greasy,  but I think it's cuz they maintained it a lot.

[00:15:49]They got these Xerk fittings on there. So now  this one is going to lift the next level. But this one's the trickiest cuz it doesn't work at  parallel like this. It turns it to the side. And that's on that big ring. So we have to push off  of this level, which is another drop down. And we have to ensure that that drop doesn't hit  anything like the transmission or that bracket right there. So that's going to have a swing.  You know, see the way that this swings back.

[00:16:24]This one's going to have a swing and arc this  way. So, we may have to move this closer. But that's okay because that's the lightest part  of the whole thing. So, it's like number one is pushing everything. Number two is pushing a little  less. Number three is pushing a little less.

[00:16:55]You see what I'm saying? The rod and  see how this isn't perfectly square. So, that little bit of articulation  the him joints is going to help.

[00:17:07]It's actually quite a rotation. We might have  to put that on the crossmember here. That's the trickiest one. So, just to say this thing is  really long. In fact, it's too long. Uhoh. Well, we don't need to use the whole amount of the  cylinder now. Let's just let's make it go right to there. That'll be fine. Oh, we could push it  from up here, too. That's what we're going to No, that's going to go forward. It has to be  back here. Okay. Yeah. Let's drop that.

[00:17:43]And as that comes up, I think it'll clear  because the battery is going to be down there. I know. Put a square on this. And just  check it. We're thinking about this square and the angle that it's pointing. You know,  right now it's pointing straight down, right?

[00:18:04]But when we lift it, we got to think about where that's pointing to.

[00:18:12]See already that's it's going to  hit there. So you want to bring this that's pointing at that. So  it's going to hit in there.

[00:18:28]But we don't need this much articulation at  all. We might not even need a ram that big.

[00:18:51]I wonder if I shouldn't get a smaller cylinder.  I think I should get one more of these. So, let's model. Even if I don't use this one,  I'll get the same length. Let's model this on this cylinder. And we'll just use that. Now, the  downside of these is they don't have a him joint.

[00:19:13]Why can't you put the longer that longest cylinder  at the bottom? The bottom is the most weight. Oh, and these the black ones are See how these are  hitting See how these are hitting the chassis, too? Uh-huh. So, look at that.  That's right on the frame. It can't go longer. That's why I chose that  position. M I thought we could have I don't think we need this big. It's going to just  be a lot of complications. I I know this machine has one smaller than this just to say. What would  we do to just hold this up? Let me just do this.

[00:19:58]So that's as high as that can go. That's the  extension of that ram. So that's an adequate lift.

[00:20:03]So, let's see what the other one adds up to. Okay, so that scissors up adequately.  That is definitely enough.

[00:20:17]So, that's just a vertical lift right  there. It already looks cool. Yeah, it's going to work. It's just you  see it's not a textbook procedure.

[00:20:34]So that it's 10 in of lift,  which is totally cool. You know, I could just easily get in it like that. But this what we're talking about to step  in. You want it like that right there.

[00:20:58]That way you just get right in.

[00:21:02]And you know the dome that'll be hitting  the ground over there. Definitely. Mhm. So it'll be somewhere in between. You know,  maybe uh maybe that maybe this one here will be down a little bit just to tilt  it up that bit more. But uh to step in, yeah, it's totally adequate.

[00:21:33]So, that's cool. Um, you see the  process on the hydraulics. We're just going to have to do the same  thing with a smaller ram. Just want to look at these steering wheel or  this handlebars for one sec. Yikes.

[00:21:50]Serious mouse trap. So, this what  I was thinking for the handlebars.

[00:21:54]People are like, "Well, how are you going to steer like that?" So, I'm going to have to make some  custom bars. So, when you're sitting in there, it's just doing that. Oh, wow. Yeah, that'll  totally work. So, you won't use those handlebars?

[00:22:15]Those You'll make some new ones. Or I'll use these  bars and I'll just make a custom set of uh risers.

[00:22:27]In fact, I want to see these up here like this,  right? So, that's what I'm going to do. Or I could always just put the bars down there. Either way,  this is pretty pretty pretty cool. Reminiscent of Space Junkie a little bit. And I do have  those Versal lift handles. So, I don't know, maybe we could do something with these. I'm not  sure. But, uh, you know, the final look of the saucer. I'm going to have to take this ring off  now and attach that. I'm going to cut the center of that and place this. The hydraulics are cool.  We're going to get one cylinder and one pump. So, I think next time we'll be able to position  this finally and then move on to the steering.

[00:23:14]Yay. But, uh, yeah, thanks for all those  hydraulic parts. They're going to work perfect.

[00:23:21]These two rams are ideal. I'm going to get in  touch with them and try to just get one more.

[00:23:25]We're set. What's today's word? Poito. Little  by a little. Poito. Thanks, Mom. And we're out.

[00:23:48]Heat up here.