Thailand street legal tuktuk, samlor, 3 wheel, tuk tuk with a Daihatsu 850cc engine in it.

 In Udonthani there are many tuk tuks, they are the Issan style motorized samlor (sam=3 lor=wheel) 3 wheel trikes.  They are also known as Skylab.  They are rather flimsy and do not go very fast.  The Lifan chinese copy of a Honda 125cc to 150cc motor, has a top speed of about 40km/ph (60km/ph on the website), they use a fan belt as a braking system, and squeal very loudly when braking.  Many of these owners have straight pipes so the sound may be loud, de-tuned and not very impressive when they are driven slow and loud. 

Most car drivers see these tuktuks as slow vehicles and like to overtake them, which generates a problem for me, as I end up racing cars that want to overtake me, causing the driver to "lose face".

 

The Daihatsu engine tuktuks

There are a few 550cc Daihatsu engine based tuktuks running around and they are much different, the frames are very heavy and based on a cars frame, they have drum brakes, and bigger engines. 

 

Below is my project, I started out with 20,000 baht for the initial vehicle, and had it lowered, body worked, painted and the front of the frame extended so the front end would be lower. 

 

 

 

 

This Bangkok style tuktuk is for not for sale, an 850cc Daihatsu engine is installed, with a 5 speed transmission with reverse gear.  It has a custom made exhaust system installed and this tuk tuk will do 120km/ph* according to the gauges, it comes with larger tires & mag wheels so the speedometer* is not accurate, it can be tested with a GPS. 

This tuktuk has proven to be faster than most motorbikes, cars and trucks at low end, after 120*km/ph this tuktuk can be beaten. 

 
What has been done? 

From the front, new shocks have been installed, the engine has been rebuilt with a new head gasket, and clutch and pressure plate.  The rear shocks have been replaced and one leaf spring has been removed from the back suspension.  The tuktuk has been lowered to maximum ground clearance and is capable of very sharp turning at rather high speeds with all 3 wheels on the ground.

 
 

The full frame and iron bars around you are the things that keep you from dying on the road.

Part 2 of some of the work I have done to the tuktuk Click here
 

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