lateral thinking needed

tristanp · Post by **tristanp** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 7:59 pm

i was thinking of building a club truck (non street) with a chassis i have in the back paddock
i was going to mount a front wheel drive motor in north south and run the diffs straight off the front wheel drive diff.
problems i can see so far are

open dif in the fwd box- can be welded
adapting from cv`s to universal joints - or stay with cv joints for driveshafts?
just how low will the ratio be? a FWD car that had a top speed of 200kph through another reduction 4:1 = 50kph / 4.9:1 = 39kph
Automatic would be best for ease of shifter mount
working out rotation and mounting of engine and selection of motor type?
plenty of EFI FWD auto engines available for next to nothing

am i on to somthing or plain crazy?

hosehustler · Post by **hosehustler** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:08 pm

Excellent idea

you sure get the thumbs up from me for the idea, I'd only be guessing but strength from the FWD diff I would think could be the major issue :!:

certainly 10/10 for the idea, I will certainly watch the thread closely if you decide to put it into action :wink:

tristanp · Post by **tristanp** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:13 pm

i dont think the strength would be an issue, the diff is still putting up with the same amount of power from the same motor, just the locking might cause a bit of stress, but most of that should be absorbed in the driveshafts

hosehustler · Post by **hosehustler** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:25 pm

I see yor point with the motor=power equation staying the same, thats true if you intend to run original size tyres say like 195/60/14's.
Problems with strength occur when you run the larger tyres required for good 4dwing, say 33 or 35/12.5/15, now you got a problem not only with leverage from the big tyres, but also ratio's.
Still worth a try if you've got the time and the spare parts

tristanp · Post by **tristanp** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:36 pm

hmm,
195/60/14 = 1834mm per rotation
33" tyre = 2333mm per rotation
35" tyre = 2792mm per rotation

even with the bigger tyres 35" running through a second 4:1 ratio diff with a car that had a therotical top speed of 200kph you will only end up with a top end of about 76kph- which is about the same as the safari does in low ratio

De-Ranged · Post by **De-Ranged** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:11 pm

Like the idea...

you could center mount the motor similar to the new rock crawling buggies from the states for good ballance...

HH is right you'd still have to pick a strong axle setup eg hilux, to handle the mass and leverage from bigger tires, that extra size multiply's the force's on the axles!

As for strength of the diff

just ask a few boy racers what handles burnouts best and base your donor vehicle choice on that

Good idea... if you go for it keep us posted

Cheers Reece[/quote]

Rotazuk · Post by **Rotazuk** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:35 am

There have been a few done so far . One i saw at last years club trials etc . They had used a 4age and said they have had no problems with the auto diff . The engine was mounted a fair way back to get a drive shaft to a solid axle though . It would be a good way to keep the weight down .

Hope you work it through .

Chris

eatenfuller · Post by **eatenfuller** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:24 pm

yes its been done a thousand times that mod ......................i know at least 5 trials trucks that have done it and it works well and cheap to do aswell.

good luck mate

keen to see some pics when the ball gets rollin

DieselBoy · Post by **DieselBoy** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:29 pm

There's a 4wd drive center in Hamilton, can't think of the name of the top of my head, but will get it if your interested, but any way, he builds buggies for farmers to replace ATV's doing exactly what you are talking about.'

He's into his 4x4 trials in a big way and is an old friend of my old mans.
He's a good guy in other words.

Give him a ring, he loves to talk about his toys

4x4 Parts and Repairs
0-7-849 0964

wopass · Post by **wopass** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:46 pm

DieselBoy wrote:There's a 4wd drive center in Hamilton, can't think of the name of the top of my head, but will get it if your interested, but any way, he builds buggies for farmers to replace ATV's doing exactly what you are talking about.'

He's into his 4x4 trials in a big way and is an old friend of my old mans.
He's a good guy in other words.

Give him a ring, he loves to talk about his toys

4x4 Parts and Repairs
0-7-849 0964

Michael Sanson is the name your looking for :wink:

DieselBoy · Post by **DieselBoy** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:53 pm

Yep that's him man, thanks.

wopass · Post by **wopass** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:54 pm

no probs

MATT4U · Post by **MATT4U** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:14 am

Dont use a pre 94 mazda engina and gearbox.
the Toyota items are rather strong, maba a corona 2L would be better than a 4age, but what about a 4agZe-1600 supercharged-

lateral thinking needed

lateral thinking needed

;-p