I am posting this for my dad, it is his project. Some people in General showed some interest in a write up on these things, so here it is. He is attempting to build some tracks for his samurai. It currently has a 4.5" spring under lift with 30s. THe frame is 2.5" and 2" hitch stock. the rollers are 6" x 2" wheels frrom the local metal and industrial supply place. it uses a 3500# trailer bearing to support the track. Currently we just go the first one constructed and bolted on. THe drive hub is temporary, the design will be revised.
Pics:
NO Track
With track
its gonna be wide:
Side shot:
If you have any questions feel free to ask. Hopefully it should be up and running by new years.
Maybe i missed it somewhere but: What is everyone using for the rubber track? I called up mattracks and its $2600 just for one track! He said they have some type of poly cord and composite gear lugs(very vague) Do yours have steel cords? I was thinking about using heavy duty roller chain, conveyor belts, tire treads, anything but $2600(x4) I am not familiar with snowmobile tracks but that looks like it might be what some are using. How strong are they?
snowmachine tracks - they are very very strong, with cording etc in them. More like $500 per track new, sometimes much cheaper if you can get some "take offs" from new machines getting upgraded tracks.
Well since I cant post on the other forum I will throw my idea out here, on bending the steering to clear the pumpkin, would it be possible to run the "mercedes highsteer" setup without frame contact?
tracks are 2nd fiddle to tires on rocks. Tracks are good on snow. Maybe mud or bog too but they just don't climb rocks or wrap around stuff like big tires and low pressure. A set of 49's would be about as good on snow. But tracks can bolt on a much smaller rig and get the foot-print of 49s in the soft stuff. Different comprimises. If you think you'll see occasional rocky areas, but the rest of the terrain is snow or mud, then you might go ahead and run the tracks anyway if you think they get you the advantage you need.
Tracks would also suck if you drop into unfrozen streams and have to climb up ice ledges and steep snow banks, too.
Thanks for that input, thats an interesting thought about falling thru the ice, but that would be much less likely to happen with the tracks. I am for sure doing tracks for this little project, my problem is finding a happy medium between skidsteer tracks(350lbs) and snowmobile tracks(50) that I can pickup for a reasonable price. It won't be crawling boulders but I want to use it in the foothills in the summer and am worried about the snowmobile tracks holding up. However I could carry TWENTY FOUR SPARE snowmobile tracks for the same weight and price as one pair of skidsteer tracks. There has to be a happy and common commercial/Industrial medium I just haven't stumbled across them yet. The tracks mattracks use are a little more then twice as heavy(not sure about 2x strong) as snowmobile tracks but they're even much more expensive then skidsteer tracks. An Genius Ideas?
......It won't be crawling boulders but I want to use it in the foothills in the summer and am worried about the snowmobile tracks holding up. However I could carry TWENTY FOUR SPARE snowmobile tracks for the same weight and price as one pair of skidsteer tracks......
I think your biggest problem with snowmobile tracks is going to be friction if you use them on anything but snow. The two most commonly replaced parts on these are the sliders and the bogey wheels, both of which do not last very long unless they are constantly getting cooled down by snow. When snowmobiling on groomed trails I frequently skirt off the trail into softer, deeper snow to cool my tracks.
you shouldn't use sliders on a track for a rig. I have some on my tracks - I will be adding enough bogies to pick the track up off the sliders - they can stay and help guide the tracks but no weight. They'd melt in a mile. The tracks themselves are tough enough, like tires are. I would not expect thousands of road miles but they are very durable. The homebuilts in this thread don't have sliders, and likely will not have any friction problems.
Those old tracks look huge :smokin: I bet they'll look even bigger on a zuk.
There's plenty of snow around here but I'm in the process of swapping my tranny and my dad's buggy is still in progress so there isn't much wheeling right now for us.
Hey guys, this is some great stuff. I love the tracks, and if you still need a way to get reverse for the cycle buggy, message me. I know a guy that commisioned lenco transmissions to custom build a reverser for his motor cycle powered bantam streetrod. might be a little spendy but I know they would work for your application and be strong enough. Once again EXCELLENT FAB SKILLS!
He's working on putting in a fuel injected 1000cc honda cbr1000rr engine right now. That will have tons of power and should run better on angles.
From email on wheels:
"I bought them locally at Blue Collar Supply, but I had found the same ones online later for less money. Obviously the major thought was load capacity and some level of rubber wearing surface. You can let them know that I bought the smallest Campolast snow mobile tracks that were available from a placed called denniskirk.com for about $325 each."
Online where? I keep finding Chinese suppliers that don't do small quanitities or even post prices. The big black bogies look like some casters I saw at Home Depot - for about $18.95 each - I was hoping for about $5 for Chinese stuff
yeah - I think I have some that MIGHT work for my tracks - I never did the repair I told Snozuki to do, I just let them sit while I tore my rig apart instead - I bought 8 heavy duty casters from Home Depot while they were mispriced for about $5 each - but I don't know that they will last, and I'd like to add more rollers to the tracks, like Snozuki's, rather than depend on skids that could melt. So maybe 36 casters? Hence "I'd like to spend about $5" lol even then it's not that cheap. I saw some online in the $30/$50 range but that adds up pretty fast. Maybe I'm just too cheap :flipoff2:
i am going to build a set getting the materials together and will start a new thread on them... cant wait, they will be for a 1988 chevy 4x4 similar set up to the amer track truck
here are some picts of what i got going on... i had some thought about where to put the drive ass if i should center it over the weight on the grouund or if i should center it on the total length so i ended up going on the total area on the ground, makes it look like it is driving near the rear of the assebbly, will know how it works next weekend.
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