New Max II redesign?

[rcn11thacr]

During the development of the Mudd-Ox, I spent a lot of time with the Gates engineers. They were here at the shop multiple times working with the carbon chain belt along with some other belts they were testing. A lot of time and money was spent on Mudd-Ox and Gates' part to find a belt solution. In the end, there was not a belt solution that was cost effective, strong enough for a given size to fit into normal chain wells, and would give good service life. Replacement in the field was also an issue. I have quite a bit of knowledge on this subject as we spent a lot of time and built a machine for a test platform to test the belts. There are many reasons why they failed, such as the slightest twist or tension would cause the carbon to sheer. Somewhere in my prototype files I have some photos of the test machine and all of the Gates guys standing next to it. If I can find the photos I will post it up. Mudd-Ox and Gates spent a large sum of money to try and make the belts work, I wouldn't want to see an individual go through the same process to find out what we now know. Belt drive would be a fantastic replacement for chains, but it isn't effective at the moment.

Matt

Matt,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I also want to thank you for your in depth attempts to update these machines. I appreciate you taking the time to share with us. That's the Granny Smiths apples comparison I wanted..

[rcn11thacr]

Matt,
I would be very interested in seeing the pictures you have of the testing. Any and all of them would be very interesting.

[rcn11thacr]

Funny. Just speaking to my father (a retired mechanical engineer, who only gave "bits" of data to me, evidently for training purposes) about this idea I've had. His comment was "welcome to engineering 101 where 98% of good ideas fail".

[akcrawler]

Your father is right. Lots of ideas never make it past testing. The reason more folks stick with the tried and true is that they only have time and money to build something that they know will work. Research and develoment typically costs a lot of money (as Mudd-Ox attested above). Still, where would America be without inventors and tinkerers?

Now back to the original subject, what about modifying a Max II top to fit a Max IV lower? The tub is already built for larger tires. I don't know about the practicality of throwing out the back seat, but it might be a pretty nice looking machine ... and still plenty nimble. Mike seems to have an awful lot of fun in his single seat Max IV. Maybe a Max II front end (upper) could be welded to a Max IV rear? If you could find a couple of rusted out old machines for a few bucks that still had useable tubs, maybe a little bit of tinkering would get this done.

[amphibious drew]

Your father is right. Lots of ideas never make it past testing. The reason more folks stick with the tried and true is that they only have time and money to build something that they know will work. Research and develoment typically costs a lot of money (as Mudd-Ox attested above). Still, where would America be without inventors and tinkerers?

Now back to the original subject, what about modifying a Max II top to fit a Max IV lower? The tub is already built for larger tires. I don't know about the practicality of throwing out the back seat, but it might be a pretty nice looking machine ... and still plenty nimble. Mike seems to have an awful lot of fun in his single seat Max IV. Maybe a Max II front end (upper) could be welded to a Max IV rear? If you could find a couple of rusted out old machines for a few bucks that still had useable tubs, maybe a little bit of tinkering would get this done.

I believe they call that a buffalo truck

[Rusty-Gunn]

It crossed my mind to blend a II top to a IV top, keeping the engine area of the IV. It would be front bench with aluggage compartment behind where the rear bench used to be. Use the Buff roll cage.

[akcrawler]

Almost Drew.

Some folks really seem to like the look of the Max II. If a guy can figure out how to put a Max II top on for looks and keep the larger lower tub of the Max IV for tire size, he gets pretty close to what the original post was asking without compromising the lower tub. That would give him the trim looks of the Max II with the larger tub of the Max IV. The II has a raised area at the back of the lower tub which could cause problems in the matchup. If one could cut the top of the II off at that point and weld on the Max IV top from there back, it just might work. The other option might be to add a sheet metal adapter between the upper and lower in that area and just keep the entire II top. Any of this would be tough to do without making it look like a cobbled up mess (at least for me). It might just end up looking like a Frankenstien Monster Machine.

[amphibious drew]

I think want you want or would be satisfied with is buggymans big blue max II Bigfoot.

[wedge]

I always liked to look of the Amphicat. It would be COOL to buld a Max II to look like that. To bad you can't get That body & tub in the newer poly and transplant the frame and drive line !!

[thebuggyman1]

I think want you want or would be satisfied with is buggymans big blue max II Bigfoot.

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