I will be posting several pics as I scan them in - here is one on a ramp...

did you even get a chance to get it off the ramp and drive it, i heard it was a madhouse down at the vendor's area!! got any trailpics??!!??

In this shot, Brian got stuck really bad so Brent just drove over the top of him!

In this shot, Brent drives up the waterfall in Upper Helldorado without a winch - just a couple of guys on a strap!

Here is a sequence going over some rocks on a side trail off of Upper Helldorado.

Here Brent shows off the rear steering and does some crabbing up this obstacle!

Here is Brent doing the main drag in Upper Helldorado.

An engine pic...

Some "Befores".....

That is soooooo nice!!! Pretty cool Brent! Now tell me, what sping rate did you go with on those coils? 130 or 150? Give it up now!

NIce....

wow :D :D :D

Nice rig brent! You bringing it to SOR??

good looking rig Brent.

sorry I didnt get to hook up with you at moab but I just barely got mine finished so i could do some runs. got a few little bugs to work out ,nothing major.

Badass!!:eek:

how wide is that thing? sure is sweet!

what seats are those? I gotta get me some a dem!

You gonna bring that thing to Suzukis on the Rocks in August:question: :question: :question: :D

Hi Guys -

The spring rate is 150. Yes, we are bringing it to Suzi's on the Rocks and can't wait!! It is 82" wide with the duallys on it. The seats are Beard Suspension seats.

REALLY REALLY NICE!!!!

Looks neat, I'd like to see it. Any future trips? :)

WOW is all I can say. Can wait till I get a chance to see it up and close. :smokin:

koooool loooooking rig can't wait to see it at SOR.:p

Yes, we definitely will have it at the "Suzi's on The Rocks" event in August. We always attend this gathering at the Rubicon and we want to encourage ALL of you to come if at all possible. We will be there August 8th through the 11th and enjoy the friendly, low-key, un-structured, relaxing comeraderie of this event. If you have never been there, it is a beautiful time of year to be in the High Sierras and there are always plenty of cool rigs to check out!

Originally posted by Trail Tough
Yes, we definitely will have it at the "Suzi's on The Rocks" event in August. We always attend this gathering at the Rubicon and we want to encourage ALL of you to come if at all possible. We will be there August 8th through the 11th and enjoy the friendly, low-key, un-structured, relaxing comeraderie of this event. If you have never been there, it is a beautiful time of year to be in the High Sierras and there are always plenty of cool rigs to check out!
I'll try to make this trip, I wana see that thing;)

So the tires worked, thoughts? I assume they would not work unless you have rear steer?

Hi Chris -

The tires work incredibly well. I will NEVER change them! The turning radius is extremely sharp - much sharper than the original closed-knuckle Samurai. The rear steer - which- I only used a few times the whole week - is a bonus in some applications but is not necessary for normal turning!

I'm curious if the cops hassled you in Moab when you were driving around???

I know they were giving out warnings to most vehicles with tires outside the fenders. They could drive to the trail, but not around town.

Originally posted by Trail Tough
Hi Chris -

The tires work incredibly well. I will NEVER change them! The turning radius is extremely sharp - much sharper than the original closed-knuckle Samurai. The rear steer - which- I only used a few times the whole week - is a bonus in some applications but is not necessary for normal turning!


Interesting, that is one downside to a closed knuckle design, turning radius. You'll have to bring that beast down to Arizona for next springs Rockfest, a little AZ pinstriping would complete the image :D Nice job.

DUDE....Love the rig....
the paint and cage look awsome!
I wish you could make it to ZookiMelt in Attica. I'd love to have pic's of that thing! keep us posted on how it does!

just wondering how you did your rear steer and r you allowed to drive on streets with it how does all that work and got any pics of the rear steer up close
Thanx Chubby:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2:

I am interested in how well this buggy is obviously performing without sidewall flex. It has twice as many sidewalls to flex so this makes sense, but I thought flex tires were the key to rock?(no rock crawling 'round here, hence my tractor tires and not much flex). Is it the high contact pressure of the skinny tires or what?

Originally posted by Erik Dossett
I am interested in how well this buggy is obviously performing without sidewall flex. It has twice as many sidewalls to flex so this makes sense, but I thought flex tires were the key to rock?(no rock crawling 'round here, hence my tractor tires and not much flex). Is it the high contact pressure of the skinny tires or what?

From what I hear any tire works good in Moab where the rock is like sandpaper.

Moab has a variety of terrain just like most of the world. While some of the rock is quite grippy , others are dusty, silty, sandy, slippery rock and obstacles like "White knuckle" and "The Rockpile" are loose shaley-type rock. There is even some mud in Pritchett Canyon. On flat ground there is minimal sidewall flex, but on uneven terrain the tires flex just like normal tires. I ran a relatively high tire pressure all week of just under 5 lbs. With large bias ply single tires like Boggers or Swampers on a Samurai, I normally would have run around 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. We have a great deal of video from the Moab trip and our vehicle with the duallys consistently outperformed all of the other vehicles in our group especially in regard to traction issues. Our groups tires consisted of 33" Boggers, 35" Swampers, 35" Claws, and 33" BFG's. It is amazing to watch the videos of each vehicle and how they performed on each obstacle. The dually vehicle consistently made every obstacle look like a Sunday Drive. I will post some pics of the rear axle and rear steer set up tomorrow. Here is how it works. Rear steer is an option and was only used on the trail and during a few demonstrations. Steering modes are selected by switches on the dash. I can push one switch and hydraulically lock the front steering and steer with the rear only. Or I can select "Circle Steer" and the front and rear will steer in opposite directions enabling it to turn in about an 8 foot circle. Or I can select "side steer" which enables the tires to steer in the same direction and the vehicle will drive sideways. One strange thing I learned is the the "side steer" seemed to be the most benefecial when trying to scale steep, slick obstacles - it seemed to aid in the climbing ability, even though it feels a little freaky! Once I turn off the rear steering lock switch, which releases a pneumatic solenoid, I steer the rear axle toward center until the mechanical locking device locks. I now know that the rear wheels are straight. I can turn off circle or side steer and normal steering with the front wheels is resumed. As far as driving on the street, NO they did not let me but I got away with until Friday, at which time they said "No license plate, no driving on the street" Oh well, I didn't build it to drive on the street, anyhow!

I would have to say, after watching the instant replay @ brents shop that he is right, the duallys and the setup of that rig made the whole thing look like brent was sleeping thru the whole thing:D :D

it was really a sight to behold.. and I know that I wont be buying any claws anytime soon, after seeing how poorly the hooked up in the realword situations.. I am a bogger beliver ..:p ;)

any chance of posting some of the video?

I dont know about that, I don't think that brent has access to anything that could rip that from VHS? Or the High Band connection to put it up there.. but I could be wrong.. :D

Looks way awesome!

Please explain the mechanical locking device for your rear steering.

Do you have any diagrams of your hydro line setup?

Thanks,
Sean

the axles are big suzanna I think, essentially a hybrid axle, with a sidekick centersection and dana 44 knuckes.
I think that the motor is a 1600 16 valve..

Here is a close up picture of the rear steer set up that was requested. The mechanical lock is a flat bar which can be raised or lowered by means of an air cylinder. Once the mechanical lock is raised, a switch can be actuated on the dash to open a hydraulic valve allowing the steering wheel to actuate the ram. The fluid direction can be either direct or crossed for circle steer, or side steer modes. To re-center the rear steer, air pressure is released from the air cylinder and the flat bar lowers against the tie rod. The tie rod has two cone shaped ramps welded to it. By steering toward center the flat bar ramps up the cone until it falls in the channel between the opposing cones, mechanically locking the tie rod in center - at which time the circle steer or side steer selection switch is turned off, diverting fluid actuation to the front steering rams only.