My oldest boy broke the handlebars off of his old Radio Flyer tricycle (I’ll review that one at some point as well), so I figured xmas would be a good time to get him a new one. He’s already well on his way with his two-wheeled bikes already, but since his younger brother will need a trike soon – I felt justified in splurging on this $68 Mongoose Wrecker Trike .
I explained more of the back story here on how diapers.com saved my butt with my last minute xmas shopping thanks to their 24 hour free shipping.
Anywho, I knew right away that the boys would love this tricycle because it comes with a tow truck hook on the back! For one, my oldest is a huge fan of Mater, the tow-truck from the Disney/Pixar Cars movie – and he used to enjoy dragging anything and everything behind him on his old trike.
Sure enough, Christmas morning came, and this trike stole the show. My oldest has been tearing around the house on it ever since, and that has become his new primary activity.
Things that make this a fine purchase:
Welded steel metal frame – Mongoose is known for making BMX bikes for years.
Adjustable seat and handlebars allow for growing kids.
Tow bar and manual winch with rope and hook – a bit on the short side, but works pretty well.
Cons:
Plastic wheels and tires – they seemed cheap and fragile at first, but now I’m finding that they are very quiet indoors which is nice, and I think they are filled w/ some sort of rigid foam that will probably make them last fairly well.
Here is the assembly photo gallery:
Here’s the box it came in from diapers.com. 5 gallon paint can for scale.
Just opened box. contents appear to be packaged well enough.
All the trike parts laid out and ready for assembly.
Here is the assembly manual that came with it. The text only gets a 6 out of ten for clarity – not written very well..
Here’s the little bag full of fastners and washers, etc.
Fastners and washers laid out.
First we slide the axle through one of the rear wheels, add a washer, then carefully tap the metal end cap on w/ a hammer. I dented the hell out of the first one I tried, so be gentle, or use a pad or something.
This is the plastic washer that goes on the inside of the wheel.
Now take a look at the tread pattern and decide which way you’d like the wheels to roll – you can match it to the front wheel if you’d like. I didn’t realize this until a week later, doesn’t really matter, but I’m a nerd.
Now add the second washers and wheel and tap the metal cap onto the end. Funny how those fasteners work, but they seem to do the job.
I had this special tool left over from the cozy coupe that I also assembled this day that was perfect for tapping the axle end caps on w/o denting them. You can improvise with a rag or other pad – be creative!
Tap tap tap.
Ok, now ready to attach the rear axle assembly to the main frame.
line up the holes w/ the sticker on top.
The holes lined up nicely for me.
Grab the two carraige bolts – they have the square part that fits into the top of the frame to hold the bolt from turning.
This is how it should look once fully inserted.
I used this socket driver to tighten the nuts, but you could use whatever you have available.
Now it’s time to attach the front wheel assembly to the frame.
First we remove this plastic shipping cap from the end of the fork tube.
Slide the fork tube up through the head tube..
Put the red plastic washer over the top of the fork tube.
..like so..
Next this clamp goes on.
The black plastic gasket is there to make a nice fit with the handlebar tube that is coming next.
It just fits over the top like so.
Now take the black plastic shipping cap off of the handle bar tube.
Slide the handlbar tube all the way down inside the fork tube. I pulled mine up about an inch because our son is on the tall side. The clearance is pretty good already though so this adjustment probably isn’t necessary.
Tighten up the clamp good and tight. You don’t want this slipping as it will make it hard to peddle.
Time to put on the seat. It’s adjustable – only about an inch, but still a nice feature to allow for some growth.
The phillips head bolts go through the top of the seat and down through the holes in the frame tube.
It was a little tricky to line them up, but not too bad.
I took this pic just to show that you can adjust the handlbars pretty high if you want to. This would make it possible for a ten year old to ride this thing.
Time to attach the towing assembly. All four screws for this were already in the frame, so I had to take them out first.
The holes line up fine, and they made oblong slots just to make sure of this – I guess..
Phillips head screwdriver to tighten these small machine screws. Piece ‘o cake.
ready to do some towing!
Close up of the winch feature.
Pull up on this handle to release the winch axle and pull the hook down to unwind the rope.
Push down on the handle to snap the winch axle so that it ratchets when you turn the rope back in. It prevents it from unwinding by itself.
The tow rope is kinda short, but it works just fine.
..all the way up.
They included one extra end cap for the rear axles – probably anticipating the denting that I encountered.
Here is the finished wrecker trike with paint can for scale. Total assembly time was about 45 minutes.
I came across your page when google-ing how to tap an axle cap on. I bought an elliptical machine and have to tap an axle cap on to the handlebars. I cannot get it to stay on! Is there a trick to this I should know? Thanks!
The tap-on caps should be a very tight fit on the end.. if you’re finding that yours is falling off it could be that it is stretched out from being attached already. I’m guessing they didn’t include an extra one for you like the our wrecker tricycle had? I think the main trick is just to tap it on very gently so you don’t dent or bend it too much.. Good luck!
I have a mongoose tricycle that I need to find a replacement seat for. Would you possibly have the contact information for the mongoose tricycle company? Can’t find replacement part online. Please respond. Found a pic online; so, go to this link to see picture of the tricycle: http://s850.photobucket.com/user/bergbaugh/library/
I explained more of the back story here on how diapers.com saved my butt with my last minute xmas shopping thanks to their 24 hour free shipping.
Great blog lay out and pictures! My kids would love that wrecker trike. They too can’t get enough of Mater.
Thanks Chad – I’m glad you enjoyed the review. Steve
I came across your page when google-ing how to tap an axle cap on. I bought an elliptical machine and have to tap an axle cap on to the handlebars. I cannot get it to stay on! Is there a trick to this I should know? Thanks!
Hi There! Thanks for visiting my blog.
The tap-on caps should be a very tight fit on the end.. if you’re finding that yours is falling off it could be that it is stretched out from being attached already. I’m guessing they didn’t include an extra one for you like the our wrecker tricycle had? I think the main trick is just to tap it on very gently so you don’t dent or bend it too much.. Good luck!
I have a mongoose tricycle that I need to find a replacement seat for. Would you possibly have the contact information for the mongoose tricycle company? Can’t find replacement part online. Please respond. Found a pic online; so, go to this link to see picture of the tricycle:
http://s850.photobucket.com/user/bergbaugh/library/
Hey Mich
I did a quick google search but didn’t come up with anything either.. sorry about that and best of luck!
Steve