The suburban Hustler

[SeanD]

I'd like to take this space to recap where we've come from in the last year, since Photobucket sucks now and shut me down.

"...Previously, on the Suburban Hustler..."


This is where we found the Hustler. It has 4 flat tires, one control stick, and doesn't run.


Day two of the Hustler. Big plans. Big motivation.


After fighting the rusty axle battle, the whole 6x6 was taken apart, sandblasted, and epoxy primed.


Fitting the Harbor Freight Predator 670. 22hp Vtwin. It should scoot through the neighborhood.


Building the new handle bar control sticks and pushrods for smooth operation and low tolerances. Rigid.


26" tires, 12" wheels, and some bass boat seats.


Stuff it all back into the tub to build the rear seat brackets


Building the exhaust with scooter mufflers.


Building the body band and bumpers assembly. Reciever hitches on the front and back, all 1/8" angle iron. It's just itching to ram a Camry in a driveway.


Take it all back apart in a day to start paint and body work on the tub.


Rebuilding the transmission.


With new paint on the tub inside and out and new paint on the frame and controls, reassembly begins. My favorite part.


With the wheels back on, the Suburban Hustler is ready to get back on the ground and get the engine in for that last time.


And this is where we picked up a few weeks ago.

[allwheeldrive]

WOH! this thing is B@D @SS Man if a 6x6 company could manufacture these SxS would actually have some competition (from a buyers point of view) cool mix of old school and new school.

[Da Duke]

Fantastic machine. Done yourself proud. I did notice your fuel line on your header. Could melt or have problems with vapor lock.

[SeanD]

Thanks!
I know it looks like it's practically laying on the exhaust, but the fuel line is actually about 10 inches from the exhaust, bundled with the choke and wiring. I've not experienced problems so far. Well, not with that anyway!

So, the Suburban Hustler is back together! The body band came back from the bedliner shop looking great. I had a hard time finding a belt that would fit. Of course nobody locally has any fat belts like that, so I had to special order two that were too short from Auto Zone, one that was too short from Napa, and then got one really close but 1/8" too wide from Amazon. That one at least worked, but it kept the trans spinning all the time.

I had alignment issues with the trans as well, and it turned out that when I had the Hustler in mock up I was using a trans clutch that was stuck halfway open, and the mounting holes I reinforced were wrong. When I put the trans in with the new clutch, that clutch was making contact with the chain to the left rear wheel. So, back out it came and holes opened. I slammed it all back together that night and was battling fuel issues with air in the line confusing the fuel pump (not vapor lock though, haaaha).

There is a video stuck on Instagram that I wish I could report here of the maiden voyage. It was great. The Hustler is just as fast as I was hoping. My friend was cutting grass with the 13mph Dixie Chopper so I went out and raced him. he just gave up. I'm guessing the Hustler goes about 30+. Within 10 minutes, though, the front left axle snapped right where I welded it. The next day a fabricator friend of mine made that right.

I was also battling the trans not shifting into reverse on the right side and forward on the left side. I made some linkage adjustments but couldn't fix it. I made some brackets to give thte arms more travel but that still wouldn't work. It's binding inside the transmission I think. Also, with that belt that is 1/8" too wide and the trans always spinning it's making it extra difficult. I don't want to force it and eat teeth off of something. Well, I took it out one night after poking at this shifting problem, and ended up doing some donuts in the shop, aaaaaaand that new belt blew up while I was looking at it. MAN, talk about being grateful that it didn't go like it could have!!! It just exploded and piled up at the back of the tub.

So... there it sits.

Pics:

Broken axle. That was exciting.


Exhaust turning copper after 10 minutes. You get what you pay for.


New stickers. Yes, I like them.


Looks so good. Going out for a night ride.


Headlights are SO bright. This is just the halo rings.


Made these brackets to relocate shifter arm attachment points. It gave the linkage about an inch more travel, but didn't do what I wanted.


ATF leaking out the top of the F-R shifter holes. And into the clean tub... Ugh. Again, I think this is also related to the trans spinning all the time.


The $100, 20-minute belt. Uhh, whoops.

[Noel Woods]

The last time I had a belt do that was with my Super Swamp Fox diesel. I thought I had the clutches lined up perfectly, but my old belt just shredded in pieces. assumed it was just a dry rotted belt so put an expensive new belt on, and within an hour it did what your belt did. Then I used a straight edge and checked clutch alignment, I was just a hair off on alignment and was maybe 2mm off. Once I corrected that, I never had another belt issue.

Tell me a little more about those wheels, those are really sharp. Who makes them?

[SeanD]

They're Vision wheels' "buckshot"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-12X8-4...1ZsAop&vxp=mtr

I fought the belt alignment a while back and I think I just gave up. I'll have to check it again, it's been so long.

[SeanD]

What a day! Today was the first day that I was able to pull the Hustler out of the shop, ride it until I was done, and put it away still together. I've been working the bugs out of this thing for months. The Predator wouldn't start hardly at all, and then it would just stall out if you let off the throttle. It wouldn't idle. If the idle was high enough to keep it alive, it was spinning the trans wide open. In the gremlin-chasing I replaced the HF carburetor with a carb meant for a Honda GX670. Then I monkeyed with the mixture screws and the idle. Then I completely bypassed the HF vacuum fuel pump's vac lines and replaced the electric fuel pump and all the filters that I had already put on there. I also changed its location from the side of the tub near the switches to right under the tank. This kept my prime that I was losing. So, now it fires up pretty quickly. The charging system is still not strong enough to compensate for the lights and winch, so I added a solar panel into the frame of the engine cover, which still needs finishing. I will say, though, that the few times I have had it out have been great! Wide open it runs about 30-35 mph...? It feels just like the 6x6 on youtube with the predator 670 on the frozen lake St Clair. It's too fast for my yard for sure. The little bumps in the lawn will give it a death bounce sort of action, which is EXTRA disconcerting when you have your 7 year old riding shotgun with no seatbelts, handles, or helmets. It will run right in and out of the creek, which is cool too.
ALSO- I have -over the course of a couple months- broken the welds on all three axles that I had to cut in half when I first started the build. They were rusted to the sprockets, so I cut them, pressed the sprockets off, and welded the axles back up. Well, one by one they have snapped. This time I took them to a fabricator friend of mine who knows what he's doing!
Today it snowed really hard (well, hard for Atlanta before February), and my friend just welded up the last of the three broken axles this morning. I slammed it back together, charged the battery, and went at it. The carb still needs bigger jets, but this thing is so much fun when the tires can slip! 6 wheel drifts are incredibly fun. I'm dreading a little what my yard is going to look like tomorrow when the snow is gone! Right now I'm just glad that nothing else broke!! For that fun the whole build has been worth it.

[ARGOJIM]

Glad to hear you finally had to fun with it.

Try letting some air out of the tires for rides sake, down to about 2 psi.

[Noel Woods]

Looks like a powerful machine. I have a Hustler 950 with a 21hp motor and it always impresses me, and you have a little more power.

[SeanD]

Well... Front left axle broke again today in the snow. Much less violent this time. It just sort of... rolled away. lol. The first time it got caught under the Hustler and I drove over it, popping the whole left side of the machine up in the air. So, I'm going to just bite the bullet and get a couple new axles from the interwebs.

I haven't checked in a while, but I think I was running about 5 psi. I'll try to air down even more and hope for better cushion. Thanks.

[Noel Woods]

Hey that snow in the ATL reminds me of when I was at Fort Benning. It was frigid when I was there, and then immediately hot and humid afterwards.

[SeanD]

I've been "Hustling" to get the last things done on the 6x6 before it's ready to sell. I don't know why but I often seem to cope with the unfinished bits right until it's time to sell, then everything gets done at once for the next guy.

The gas tank bolts needed some reinforcing, and my two year old needed something to hold. I went about building a grab bar for the front.


I was very excited to finally use the pipe bender with success.



Then there was the engine cover. I started it months ago but abandoned it when it didn't go my way. In the meantime I came up with much better ideas. I added solar to keep the battery topped up, and I found a very cool 14 gauge perforated metal at HD. Way better than the expanded metal I thought I was going to have to use.



The floors were my last problem. I had done most of the cutting and mounting earlier to keep childrens' shoelaces out of chains and sprockets, but again- never finished them. I found a garage floor diamond plate looking rubber mat at Auto Zone that won me over.



And there she is, up on the Atlanta Craigslist for eleventeen gazillion dollars!

[Noel Woods]

Beautiful! Couldn't be better.

[tbone9]

Wow. Very nice work. Looks awesome!!!

[john swenson]

beautiful build...it should be on display at a custom '' street rod show '' . johnboy va.