BUILD YOUR OWN "ROCK-CRAWLER"

Calbro2 · Post by **Calbro2** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:22 am

Mark,if its possible,would you pm me your address in Vereniging so that i can come and see you regarding my old SFA?

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:06 pm

Got all my spherical plane end bearings this week, so this coming weekend is D-Day for the Crawlers 4-link.

Hopefully theres enough time to do the front and rear ! The rear control arms need to be located and temporary air-bag mounts need to be fabbed up for the trial. Will then get out the old calculator and bang on some numbers to get the correct mount points and lengths for My setup.....I'm going for Gold in the Flex department so there's going to be a couple of things to check out before the welds get laid down. The worst thing you can do is be in a hurry as these overlooked issues can come and haunt you at a later stage of the build. With alot of flex theres often always a problem with binding of the joints......so geometry needs to be spot-on ,all the calculations need to be checked and re-checked and it's also a good idea to make some 1:1 scale layouts before you start cutting the final brackets.....this usually saves time and material.....I have always liked the 3:1 ratio....3 hours of planning and 1 hours work. I hate doing a thing twice!

With Portal axles the ground clearance is a massive advantage and also the track width......My Crawler measures 2350mm from outside of wheel to outside of wheel......this seems big but it gives the Rig great stabilty with a wheelbase of 2850mm. Theres 440 mm of clearance under the diff centre to the ground and 600mm under the gearbox guard to the ground with the 39.5"x15"x15" tyres. ROCKS is what it's going to eat for breakfast !!!!

Heres a pic of what the links on the Mog diffs will look like.

ChrisF · Post by **ChrisF** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:10 pm

WOW !

Nou al n paar keer hier gekyk, maar die wa bly indrukwekkend !

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:27 pm

Here's a front-end view of the Rig.....theres plenty of width and more than enough ground clearance ......gotta get this Rig finished soon!!!!

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OOOOMS · Post by **OOOOMS** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:00 pm

Looks impressive Mark

When you taking her out?

Post by **Mud Dog** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:19 am

Those Mog axles are something else!

bosjakkals · Post by **bosjakkals** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:15 am

Jinne ma :wth:
Dit lyk lekker

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:17 am

I have had most of the parts I need for the 4-link machined already , the bushes for the spherical bearings have been 'Roughed' only as the welding of the M30 threaded bar on the bush will change it's dimensions so final work like adding the circlip grooves will be done at a later stage.
I hade some high misalignment bushes turned as well just for some added flex of the suspension as it phases to ensure no binding at the bushes. I'm using a 48mm schedule 80 seamless tube for the links as they won't be living in a happy place under the Rig taking all the flack from the Rocks.

Traveler · Post by **Traveler** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:14 am

Mark, you are building a monster.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:46 am

Hell Yeah ! It will be a monster when it's done. A Rock-crawler has to be built tough or else you'll be busy every other weekend fixing it ....basically Build it,wheel it, break it,fix it ....repeat, I do that on my Hilux at the moment so I need a break !!!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Sun May 01, 2011 9:59 pm

Thought I was going to get some work done on the Crawler this weekend but my 9 year old had other plans for his father....a while ago I bought an old motor-less quad frame just for the front and rear suspension. I then got an old 3-wheeler( Baywatch type) bike from a friend of mine for a bargain price just to yank the 175cc pull-start 5 speed semi-automatic 4-stroke motor out for the project.
We wanted to build a single seater that would be strong and quick and father friendly

.....after-all some-one has to test drive the thing the first time to check if everything works properly.

So far theres about 3 days invested in time alone.....thats with 2 apprentices that want to tack weld everything in site made from metal. The best part of the build is letting the boys learn with a hands-on aproach.....that way they'll both appreciate what it takes to build a Rig from scratch.
So far this is where we are in the build.......
This was yesterday afternoon after we got the front-end tacked together

Heres the quad front suspension mounted

This is todays work done

Heres a look from the front .....

From the side.... theres a lot of triangulation to give the cart strength and make it safe in case it ever rolls.

OOOOMS · Post by **OOOOMS** » Sun May 01, 2011 10:06 pm

Jippy....daai gaan mos 'n leekker speelding wees vir.....my....wil jy nie nog kinners aanneem nie?

Lekker om die kinners van vroeg af te leer, well done :wink2:

Post by **Mud Dog** » Sun May 01, 2011 10:08 pm

Cool! Looking good, and it's great to have the 'apprentices' standing by / getting involved.

NardusJVR · Post by **NardusJVR** » Fri May 13, 2011 4:18 pm

Eendag!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JJBotes · Post by **JJBotes** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:18 pm

OOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooMAMMA, ek wil ook een hè!!!!!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Sun May 15, 2011 9:19 am

Busy with all the caclulations on the 4-link .......taking a while as I failed maths at school

......or maybe the teacher was just a Bitc*#!*"......Bit too fast for Me to understand half the stuff

Heres what I'm aiming for and if theres more flex I'll take it with a smile as these type of Rigs need all they can get in the articulation department !!!

scooby · Post by **scooby** » Sun May 15, 2011 9:45 am

now thats supeerrrrr flex

Calbro2 · Post by **Calbro2** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:57 pm

It's been a wile since you last updated.... How is your rig coming along? And then I need to come see you sometime,please pm me your address.
Thanks

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:10 pm

Hey Calbro....thought We would meet at the Alberton Nationals ? Checkout M&PFabworx f/book got My adress there.
Been busy on 2 other Rigs but they're out so now its Crawler time.....found this cool pic that gives Me great faith in the strength of the Mog diffs for this Rig.....I don't want to play that 'landrover Game".....whats that NOISE ? I want the weakest link on that Rig to be the 40" tyres !
Heres the diff between a Dana 60 front sideshaft compared to the Mog's

witmamba · Post by **witmamba** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:00 pm

Amper so dik soos myne.......

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:24 pm

Today was a good day....at last the Crawler got the attention It deserves. I got the M&P Fab rebuildable joints finished yesterday during lunch and decided that today was D-Day for the 4-link. By this afternoon the front end was done and flexed to the Max.....

Theres a respectable amount of articulation up front with very little effect on pinion angle which is a bonus. At the moment it's only a mock-up set of bottom control arms as the Sched 80 tubes need to still be cut and TIG welded to make up the final lengths for the links. I first need to get the rear -end done and pull the complete Rig out of the shop to get at it with the forklift......this will give a chance to check for any binding problems while lifting each wheel to the maximum height possible

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M&P Fabworx Bomb-proof joints....

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Post by **Mud Dog** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:46 pm

Looking pretty awesome already!! Keep it up!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:52 pm

Thanx Mud Dog....got the complete "JIg" frame removed after work today and the rear diff has been aligned and is now ready to get the top control links fitted. The front-end gave an impressive 33 degrees of flex,with enough clearance on all the joints so I expect the rear will give about a third more,because of the fulcrum position change.....hopefully about 48 degrees.

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OOOOMS · Post by **OOOOMS** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:26 pm

Nice stuff Mark

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:00 am

Got some pics of the bottom links....the tubing is only temporary till the rear gets done and flexed outside of the shop with a forklift. Then its time for permanent tubing.....the stuff costs too much to commit to first time round

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THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:19 pm

Got some time on Friday to get some things done on the Crawler project again

. It takes a lot longer when everything you need to make must first be designed and hand-cut, to first make scketches and have it profiled would take forever and then theres that constant licking of someones Ass to get it done on time and still get shafted with the cost. First make a template from cardboard then cut from plate....measure twice and cut once ! :wth:
Now the rear control arms are mounted and can recieve the Air-bags.....then the fun starts with a rear 4-link set-up thats already been calculated to give maximum flex and control !

This will hopefully be done before the week is up.... workload permitting!

I've decided against the Corvette TPI fuel injection as this will be too restrictive and only really flows till about 4500 rpms.....dumping power after that ! Got a load of old Chevy stuff lying around so I pulled over all boxes with performance stuff in and dug out a Weiand 7546 single plane intake with divider plate that will flow and make power till the crank knocks the starter off

. I'll dump a 670 cfm Holley TBI on top of that intake with a set of Edelbrock RPM aluminium ported heads that should give me the Grunt I'm looking for ! Will keep the pics coming as I go along !!!
I went to the shop today and got an idea to close the area next to ones head in the likely event of a roll-over in a rock-garden where the rocks are able to enter the Rig. Big rocks don't come into the drivers cell ....it's the smaller ones that do ....and they'll give you a headache that not even a Panado will fix !

I'm going to use 2 x 2.5mm plates that will get 76mm holes in it....this will be Tig welded together with tubes that can get placed on either sibe of the new support gusset.....thus serving 2 purposes....1 extra protection and 2 extra strength for the drivers cell....

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Post by **Mud Dog** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:27 pm

Good Idea ... might just restrict entry / exit a little, but that's a small price to pay for the additional protection.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:51 pm

Now We're cooking with Gas....fitted the rear air-springs on the control arms and tack welded it all together. Cut templates for the rear 4-link mounts on the chassis side and cut them as well today.....They were mounted and tack welded ready for the diff mount brackets that I'll fab up tommorrow after checking all the angles again. We did some quick calculations and on a layout I should get abour 950 mm of front wheel lift without the rear-end even moving a millimeter.....

Tommorrow will be a big day in this Crawler project ,weather permitting , I'll get the 4-link connected and wheel it out of the shop for the first real Flex pics......

I'm hoping for big numbers in the articulation dept ....

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JP Hilux · Post by **JP Hilux** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:20 pm

I would like to build one myself, but here in Cape Town there is no competition to use such a vehicle in, looks great, makes my fingers itch!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:54 pm

Build one ! ....The only way to get into a class is build a class...besides you guys have that nice flat mountain !

I've seen over the years how the 4x4 compertition side has grown, it will only continue growing if people go out and build new Rigs....a few years ago you wouldn't have seen a 4x4 challenge on TV and now its a regular on the sports channels. A while ago when I got the idea for a Crawler there was plenty of resistance from a couple of wankers that felt threatened in the 4x4 fraternity

The classes have changed ...and will continue changing as long as new vehicles come into being! There are more tubed Rigs than ever before ....a sign of the times !
Rockcrawling in the States started out with a couple of hardcore guys taking some hardcore lines off-road and next thing it's the fastest growing off-road sport in the world......everyone benefits in the end .....It's a multi million dollar industry from shocks to high powered motors, R&D and high dollar Rigs that'll make you drool for a week. Get Building !!!

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:56 pm

JP, maak eers daai ander projek klaar... daai rotary ding van jou...

btw looking flippin awesome Mark!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:09 pm

Today was a good day for building Crawlers....Got my 4-link sorted out and tacked together.....stuck a set of Pro Comp shocks in the rear and pushed it out into the street for some flex tests.

Big smiles all round when we picked it up for the first time....theres a respectable 1,5 meters under the wheel while the other 3 remain on the ground !

That should be enough to play with for the mean time.....

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OOOOMS · Post by **OOOOMS** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:17 pm

Black Sam........

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:35 pm

YEBO!!

Hoppy · Post by **Hoppy** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:37 pm

Very very nice Mark, want to start a similar project next year, i've got the basic frame and axles, we are not alowed to use portal axles and i want to go light, specially on the motor, Detroit iron doesn't do it for me, Lexus or 3SGTE and a rotated FWD box?

My current rig is fairly light, i run a Marlin crawler 5:1 gearset in a std hilux t Case, but i want to modify it so i can disconect my rear drive, my next rig must be much lighter, i am aiming for 700kg gross.

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:16 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6VWk3zGgY&NR=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Andre du preez · Post by **Andre du preez** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:34 am

Jis, daai wa van jou....is mooi gebou.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:13 am

Hey Hoppy sounds like You have the right combo on Your Hilux as well...I'm also in need of a quick rear disconnect .....I see trail gear makes one but I dunno if it will hold up to what we'll be giving it ? My old Cow wieghs in at 1940kgs without us in it .....way tooo much weight !

We built Leon a decent Rig a while ago with a 3sgte thats kicking seriuos Ass in the Nationals at the moment.....Its a great setup and its light. Theres some pics of what we've built on face book just look for M&P Fabworx. We are building a stong competition Rig at the moment with a Lexus and Toyota front wheel box for Ourselves running on 37" Creepy Crawlers.... I'd almost suggest going the Lexus route because of the bottom end grunt....

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witmamba · Post by **witmamba** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:38 am

insane!!!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:28 am

Got some time to punch out the side plates for the Rig. Going to laminate them and add a 42 mm tube between them to give it width then TIG weld 76mm tubes on each holes ID.

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OOOOMS · Post by **OOOOMS** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:53 am

Like your work Mark

You are certainly passionate about your hobby

witmamba · Post by **witmamba** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:44 am

Mark, will that be for extra protection? i'm just thinking, isn't it gonna obstruct your view a bit?

Gunta · Post by **Gunta** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:59 am

Mark, what does it cost to build a rig?

Hoppy · Post by **Hoppy** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:16 am

Cost in rand and cents isn't that much, +- 100K, the hours is worth more than double that, but driver satisfaction makes up every cent.

Gunta · Post by **Gunta** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:29 am

That would be an awesome project to do.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 5:24 pm

Passion for the sport really drives me but it's also the satisfaction that it's been done right first time without having to pay someone else to cock-it up for you. I enjoy a good challenge !!!If you show pride in your workmanship,Your Rig will always stand out amongst the others !

Hansie I thought long and hard about that extra section and while taking lunch the one day at the office I glanced over at the wall of pics and could only find 3 pics of No7 with it's wheels on the ground...... :wth: the rest were all rolls so then and there I decided to add that extra bit of side protection.... especially if You wheel in "rock gardens" where the chances are great that a rock can enter the drivers cell and smack the snot out of you !

I started this Crawler project cause N07 wasn't going were I wanted to go without taking a Hammering ! The Rig already has a name and artwork as well.
I decided to name it STR8Jacket in a bid to hopefully restrain the drivers urge to always go Ape off-road !

Gunta everything costs.....when you build your own Rig the costs are more than halfed....I'm way below the 100K figure....and I also don't plan to get very close to that figure either. Take what a quad costs nowadays + Kit and a good Medical aid....add all that up and theres your Rig built....with a CAGE !!!

With age comes a Cage !!!

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:46 pm

Got my side plates tacked today and stuck the one in place for a quick fitment....should serve the part !

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Post by **Mud Dog** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:14 am

Neat, Mark!

Maybe a tube or something along the "open end" so that you don't have those sharp edges catching your shoulder / elbow.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:09 am

Mud Dog You've seen my blue prints for crawler project ....

That tube gets fitted once the plates have been positioned so there will be a radiused section when entering . This is where all the details take time ....

Post by **Mud Dog** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:34 am

legend35 · Post by **legend35** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:43 am

That is a very nice machine indeed

Planning on this is exellent.I would like to see it in action as this is going to skop g@t

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:45 pm

Made an effort today to get the side plates of the driver cell TIG welded and sanded clean .....took a while but well worth it !

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witmamba · Post by **witmamba** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:19 am

Jeeez Mark, its coming along lekker now! A rig like that deserves to be 'Outlawed!'

I'll let you know soon about those torsion bars

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:49 pm

witmamba wrote:Jeeez Mark, its coming along lekker now! A rig like that deserves to be 'Outlawed!'

I'll let you know soon about those torsion bars

Thanx Hans....Outlawed...

Just as well it's part of Team Outlaws

Let me know as soon as You have them so I can get the Anti Rock system built. Spoke to the guys in the States yesterday at Currie and they recon it's the only way to contol all the body sway without hurting the flex too much. They were also impressed with the Rigs articulation and said that the system would give a lot of stability as well.

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THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:58 am

Been busy this whole week fine tuning the Crawlers suspension and in doing this We figured out a lot about Air-ride suspension design.....Firstly there was a bit more 'Squat' that was neccesary so on Teusday I ripped our the rear links and re-did them all. I now have more anti-squat thats better for what I'm going to do .

Nobody can tell me which way to go so We put some 'Squat' in the front so it can benifit the prop angles through the flex stroke without fouling the sump and bellhousing.
Our discoveries let to some serious R+D work yesterday and after
Peter's "Brainflash"

We cut the whole Airbag system out and re-designed it ....theres now alot more stability and also control which I never had .

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Gunta · Post by **Gunta** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:29 am

Is that an american V8 you have in there?

witmamba · Post by **witmamba** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:28 am

Gunta wrote:Is that an american V8 you have in there?

Corvette!

Gunta · Post by **Gunta** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:37 am

Eish is that the 350 or 454?

Hoppy · Post by **Hoppy** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:50 am

It's a small block, can be annything from 283 to 400 CI, 350's are most popular, with those std compression heads they push about 140kw, but it makes more torque at idle than a 4y at 6000 rpm. The weight is the only disadvantage.

THROTTLE-BOY · Post by **THROTTLE-BOY** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:59 pm

It's 350 Chevy bored 030,Keith Black 119 pistons,Edelbrock Performer Rpm aluminium heads off a Corvette thats been flowed,Stainless steel valves,Weiand 7546 intake with a 670cfm Holley TBI injection system.
I've still to build the motor but have all the spares....

there's also a little 75 horse shot of throttle in a bottle on the menu just for those get outta jail free moments.....nothing like the smell of Nos and Mud to get You going !