Marinising the max

[Jezzah]

The Aussies have the best standard truck beds for the Amphibs don’t they. No wheel well issues.

[oztrax]

Update

So far so good.

My Max4 hull/tub doesn't leak in the water.
If u look back thru this thread u will see I added static axle seals.
When I bought my Max 6 months ago , I filled the tub up inside with a few inches of water. The water leaked out around the axle shafts and the inner race of the outer bearings.

I have machined the old bearing locking sleeves and installed lip seals with a helping of
Waterproof grease.
The axle clearances have been tightened up a bit with my paint as well.

[oztrax]

Static axle seals

Below a pic of my axle setup,
The static seals are on the far right.

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And the axle assembly

image.jpg

Wheel rims are a big corrosion concern,
Have coated with tectyl 506 in addition to red oxide primer and galv paint

image.jpg

All bolts and nuts on the outside are 316 stainless, in addition to chrome wheel
Locking nuts.
image.jpg

Regards
OZ

[oztrax]

Stuck in the mud

image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

Buzzing down the beach and I hit a section of mud,
I reversed the max back and ended in knee deep mangrove mud.
Could barely walk thru it.

A local resident helped me pull the max out, which only went down as far as the tub.
(We were over our knees).
Pulled the front with a gentle squeeze of throttle (we were outside )
And it came out slowly but made it.

In the last pic you can see the mud crabs I seek with the max.

And in the 2nd last pic the river to cross (my next challenge)
At low tide.

OZ

[oztrax]

Water speeds GPS

Had a break at a place in north Australia called Alva beach.
I go there to scuba dive Australia’s best wreck dive “The Yongala

But the beach has open ATV access and nearly every house has some sort of ATV
In their yard.
So did a swim in the still saltwater, 0.25 nm each way.
Bit scary and had to wait for current to reduce.
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For swimming I have the 26 inch terras setup with the front and middles axles running
Reverse tread, but after some experimentation now run the rear tires normal way around.

GPS speed 2.2 knots which is nearly 5 kph.

My previous post said 7 kph which may of reflected the speed as I came out of the water
Onto the sandbank.

I think it’s fair to say freshwater speed may be slightly lower.
And my speeds are just me (80 kts) and the dog 14 kgs.

Weight makes a big difference in the water
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Reading about the interco aqua torque tires, look mean but they aren’t that wide,
Seem to be not as good in the water.

My spare wheel is a rawhide III 25x12x9. ( eg argo wheel)
With that on the left front it definitely isn’t as good as as my 26 inch terras
In the water.

So IMHO the wiener is a Max with 26 inch terras, Argos (6x6) are slower in water
Because the bow points down ( more drag)

I was mucking around in a swampy water area, and to get over a fence post I got out of the Max 4 and walked beside it in waist deep water with it idling along.

Worth a try as you can get a feel for stability in water, and it creeps along without getting away on your

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Here is the max in that same swamp , freshwater , myself 2 children and the dog.
It’s actually making a small bow wave.

Wont see that on an Argo Hee hee

OZ

[oztrax]

I got the wheels and axles out of the max after 3 years of saltwater and beaches.
Am pretty impressed, no corrosion on axles, outer bearings are still good, might leave them in for now.

My static axle seals did work, but i realise now they should of been inside the outer bearing (eg in the tub) to work effectively.

will take some photos over the next few days

regards
OZ