Illegal Alien

[DMcCready]

So a couple of years ago I disappeared to Canada with dreams of buying a Rockcrawler and traveling the US hitting all the sweet spots... Some things dont always work out as planned but I did buy a rockcrawler

Fast foward to now, Im back in NZ and guess what followed me over the Pacific.



A Pro Mod Class competition truck. Came third in class in the WE Rock series just before I bought it.

Quick Specs are

Tube frame
6.0 LQ4 Chev
TH350 with atlas transfercase
Spidertrax diffs with HP 9inch diff heads and Dana 60 hubs.
37 inch sticky Maxxis Treps with Raceline beadlock wheels

Here is a shot of the day I picked it up



And a couple of vids from its competition days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fW1wrdR ... detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25hdM73J ... detailpage

Heres a short video of me dropping out of a track we had just opened. The footage doesnt really do it justice to how steep it was haha. Quite the adrenalin rush



Just before I left for home I ditched the yellow panels and 40 series bonnet. Really didnt want to do that but it had taken a hiding. I swapped out the lexan sides for aluminium and went hunting wreckers for a new bonnet. Ended up using one off a subaru.

A few photos of its last trip in canada rocking the new look








Now onto the project side of this adventure.

The buggy was only ever built for Comp running. 10min courses meant that you are never far from the trailer and there was no need to carry anything that we need for day trips. In canada I made do with a rack on the back with an extra jerry can and a chilly bin. We would usually run for a couple of hours then head back to camp so It worked ok.

The first trip here was a bit of a marathon run considering the 12L fuel cell and seeing I had never run this buggy all day without going back to camp

Rallywoods hut out to hit the 10 hour track and back showed a few things that needed to be addressed... An excuse to get back into the workshop and build stuff, something I really missed in Canada.

After Rallywoods



I started playing around with a new tray for the back. Call it Mk2









Added some tail lights and a toolbox that was sitting in the back of the workshop. The toolbox fitted so well I just had to borrow it from the old man its even stainless so I will polish it up at some stage.



So Im now caught up on this afternoons task. Adding some bumpstops to the front.

Making up the cans



hopefully mount them tomorrow.

Then its on to the bigger fuel cell... I just cant help myself

The plan is to use this chassis as a bit of a test bed for a few ideas that are rattling around inside my head then when I have a better idea of what I need I will start building a new chassis and swap the running gear over.

Cheers for looking

David

[catalystracing]

Thats awesome David, hope to see it in action one day. Super

[on2it]

Awesome! Has this got 4 wheel steering or is that a different comp type?

[Filthy4x4]

Legend... will be watching with interest....

[DMcCready]

Awesome! Has this got 4 wheel steering or is that a different comp type?

Nah no 4 wheel steer but it does have heaps more steering lock than a standard 4wd. About 50 degrees so that helps alot. Couple that with what you can do with the atlas transfercase such as front wheel drive only to drag the front of the buggy around you can get yourself in and out of some pretty tight spots

[rokhound]

way cool fella

[tomsoffroad]

[DMcCready]

Cheers guys

Tomsoffroad hope you dont mind if I steal your air filter box set up. With the perspex cover... tis a sweet idea

[tomsoffroad]

Cheers guys

Tomsoffroad hope you dont mind if I steal your air filter box set up. With the perspex cover... tis a sweet idea

That's all good..... I stole the idea off Hosehustlers weapon!!

[DMcCready]

Cheers guys

Tomsoffroad hope you dont mind if I steal your air filter box set up. With the perspex cover... tis a sweet idea

That's all good..... I stole the idea off Hosehustlers weapon!!

Haha how the world operates dude!

[on2it]

Would love to have a rock crawler, is it safe to say machines like these are rare and there is no comp here yet like they do in the states?

[DMcCready]

Would love to have a rock crawler, is it safe to say machines like these are rare and there is no comp here yet like they do in the states?

Yup... there are a few of us with rockcrawlers hiding around the place but no comps here.

[rokhound]

We tried to get it going about 10 years ago, but getting a solid following was difficult because you need a totally different driving style to anything else. We found that most of the muppets down here just want to play in mud and crap and biff out monster sized rooster tails instead of picking lines and driving over terrain that has never seen tyres before.
At the same time as we were trying to get rock crawling up and going, it was the fastest growing motor sport in the US, of course they are now into rock racing which is another level up and is what DM's machine is capable of.

[tomsoffroad]

Would love to have a rock crawler, is it safe to say machines like these are rare and there is no comp here yet like they do in the states?

Yup... there are a few of us with rockcrawlers hiding around the place but no comps here.

It is a shame that theres not the following here. My guess is there few who could afford it. I know its expensive and I only drive my wreakage about once a month there rest of the time it's just bloody expensive (and cool) garden art.

[rokhound]

I only drive my wreakage about once a month there rest of the time it's just bloody expensive (and cool) garden art.

Godam boy, Once a month, that's pretty damn extreme. Mine doesn't even rate as garden art anymore, it's hidden by useful machinery, (that also stays still far more than I would like).

[on2it]

It is a shame that theres not the following here. My guess is there few who could afford it. I know its expensive and I only drive my wreakage about once a month there rest of the time it's just bloody expensive (and cool) garden art.

Have you got a build thread of your garden ornament Tom?

[DMcCready]

We played around here in nz for years using what was available here , hilux diffs etc and didnt have anymore trouble than most of the guys in club trucks. Keeping things light and being mindful of tires binding under ledges etc helped alot.

As far as cost goes even with the import fees my buggy cost about the same as a decent trials truck or well built winch truck.

I have beat my buggy like it owed me money and in two years I have replaced some hemi joints and welded up a cracked front drive shaft.... the rest of the damage is only cosmetic Par for the course when rockcrawling.

It sucks that NZ doesnt have the US supply of cheap axles such as the dana 60 but I would suggest to anyone thinking seriously about building a crawler is to look over there for a set of decent 2nd hand axles and mabey an atlas tcase. The freight is worth it to have a truck that can run multiple trips without any hassle. Anything else is easily bought here. Compared to years ago there is so much more available!

[mercutio]

Also the dollar is good against the U.S. at the moment been thinking about getting some gauges out of there mainly a GPS speedo have to pay for our big trip first though

[CLUMZ1]

^

I can't understand why GPS speedos are so expensive when you can buy a $100 cellphone and download a GPS app and be done with it. I know it isn't packaged in a pretty guage tho, but the price seems excessive.

[mercutio]

^

I can't understand why GPS speedos are so expensive when you can buy a $100 cellphone and download a GPS app and be done with it. I know it isn't packaged in a pretty guage tho, but the price seems excessive.

I agree was even thinking about setting up a cheap tablet as a dashboard but I'm not enough of a geek to actually make that happen

[DMcCready]

Got the new front heim joints in finally! Had to machine up a couple of new misalignment spacers which was a bit more drawn out than it needed to be. My old man is a great teacher but Im still getting my head around what speed to have the lathe running for all the different steps Much easier to cut and weld something back together...

[DMcCready]

A wee update. Ive been playing around a bit with a few details.

Needed to fit a bigger fuel cell but no matter how I looked at the options I couldnt make anything fit. So I cut and changed a few tubes around and made one of the rear shock braces removable. Now I have a heap of room to make a nice fuel cell with plenty of capacity.

A pic but You cant see much...


I also made up some mounts and installed a pair of hydraulic bumpstops I had.


Following with the make more room theme I mounted an ammo can under the dash as a glovebox.


Tacked a lip into the inside to stop everything falling out


Glovebox worked perfectly and being fully waterproof helped keep the lunch dry and mud free And I really tried hard to get mud everywhere on sat at Rallywoods

Before the clean up...


Next plans are to mount the new to me winch that is on its way up from picton and build that fuel cell. I also need to sus a way to keep more mud out of my radiator.

Stay classy

[Pj_Marsh]

I like that glovebox

[DMcCready]

Thanks. Its the simple things sometimes... the ammo box can hold two powerades and lunch for two with room to spare. So nice to be able to stash things like cameras and phones close at hand and know that they will be safe and dry. I will be picking up some rubber to line the box so stuff doesnt rattle around

[shortylux]

Choice!

I assume you sold the 40 in the end? Where did it go?

What about a set of louvers over your rad similar to what half tracks had?

[Mattman]

Had the pleasure of watching the buggy in action on Saturday.

Sounds and goes awesome!

Good to meet you as well dude.

Cheers
Matt

[DMcCready]

Thanks matt was good to meet you too!

Shortylux a set of louvers would be sweet. Dont know if I have the room in there though. Nah the 40 series buggy hasnt sold yet. Still for sale just havnt had a chance to sit down and write up the trademe ad

[DMcCready]

New (to me) winch Warn HS9500. Should go well


The old one will be for sale. Anyone interested in a Warn 8000 pound with about 15m of synthetic rope PM me. It still goes well just needs a little bit of love. Will be going cheap

[Big]

could be as I love cheap .. need a backup winch..

[DMcCready]

could be as I love cheap .. need a backup winch..

I will grab some photos mate and send them to ya