Guy goes into a garage to grease bearings.....

[mfenmor]

Did some dismounting of old tires and mounting of new ones.
Couldn't get beads to seat for the life of me. Used 2 ratchet straps.
Bought an air blaster to seat beads.
Too nice outside today on this first day of spring. Went outside and breathed fresh air.
No other work today.
Tomorrow, after more Advil.

[john swenson]

onlyonce ( again ) ? sorry you won't be there . it may be the smallest group ever , but never the less a muddy mess . what ever happened to scott and john ? j.b.

[onlyonce]

Sorry to hear it will not be ready for Busco as we all know how hard you were working on it for that goal. Just keep on putting it together with the care you have up to this point and we will see it on the trails. Please post some video of it when it is moving under its own power.

[mfenmor]

Really good craftsmanship, I don't know where you find the time, I am always busy.

Yeah, I might be neglecting some other things this week.
Was going for the marathon finish, but never thought these boxes would take so long to assemble.
Moving on....

[mightymaxIV]

Really good craftsmanship, I don't know where you find the time, I am always busy.

[john swenson]

thats o.k. mike ...take your time , it's a really cool project . the portal extensions look good mounted up. nice tub clearance . you got more parts on there than mcmaster -carr stocks !! you still have another machine to bring to busco ? johnboy va.

[mfenmor]

Holy cow, what a week.
I'll break it down by the numbers.

50 hours installing six axles, well seven... because of the whole, forgot to install locking collar deal.
6 axles.
6 drive shafts.
34 sprockets.
2 disc brakes.
96 1/2-20 grade 8 bolts,
torqued to 85 ft/lbs.
96 cheap keyways that all needed to be sized because of poor manufacturing. (I'll never buy those again)
148 set screws.
6 aux chains.
6 double lip seals.
6 box covers sealed on.
18 axle ends sealed up.
34 sprockets aligned.
1 striped thread.
1 head smash.
2 finger smashes.
1 Homer bucket collapse.
countless second guessing as to what the heck I got myself into.
A lot of Advil.

OK, crappy part done. Onward.
tomorrow get tires mounted and installed as well as chains.
Then engine mods and installed.

Not gonna make it to Busco, I see it now.

IMG_0637.jpgIMG_0638.jpgIMG_0639.jpgIMG_0640.jpg

[mfenmor]

your doing a great job...and there should be plenty of mud to play in at busco no matter what machine you bring . in terms of your lifted machine floating , that was the only thing i found out about my max 2 highboy .. in deep water it's pretty tippy cause the tub does'nt get low enough in the water to provide stability . but i can go in some pretty deep water with the tires still touching bottom. it's o.k for me ..no water around my area and at busco i just go around the swamps . j.b.

Guess I'll have to come up with some sort of prop drive.
Hmmmm..........I have an idea.

[john swenson]

your doing a great job...and there should be plenty of mud to play in at busco no matter what machine you bring . in terms of your lifted machine floating , that was the only thing i found out about my max 2 highboy .. in deep water it's pretty tippy cause the tub does'nt get low enough in the water to provide stability . but i can go in some pretty deep water with the tires still touching bottom. it's o.k for me ..no water around my area and at busco i just go around the swamps . j.b.

[mfenmor]

Got two more axles completed today. the first this morning took 4 hours, and the second took 2 hours. Got a process down now. Good thing, because I have to take the first one I installed yesterday back out. Forgot to put the bearing shaft lock on FIRST!!
Got the rear two tires on and down on the ground, couldn't trust the homer bucket to stand up too much longer.
Tomorrow should see all axles done.
Then engine time.

My back hurts. too much desk flying lately at work.

[mfenmor]

That is some awesome work and some awesome engineering. I have several comments and some questions.

1st: those look like Terra tires on your other machine, where did you get them?

Next: I have seen these closed box lubricated gear reduction boxes on over 500 lifted side by sides. They can't turn the large 35" plus tires without these reduction boxes without breaking an axle or smoking a belt. You spent a lot of time and effort building this project and I am sure your frame has additional support to handle the increased stress this lift kit is sure to induce.

Could you possibly adapt some of the current commercial gear reduction boxes to a max or and Argo?

Next comment: the benefits of a 6x6 with more ground clearance are obvious but I am wondering if the machine will swim with the tires going deeper into the water before the tub provides flotation? We will have to wait for that one but an added benefit might be that you can keep in touch the the surface under the water while other AATV's have to swim. This could be a great advantage under certain circumstances.

Hey Dan,
The terras came with the rig when I bought it several years ago as a roller from Patb069.

Yes, plenty of frame reinforcement. Pretty much all 3/8" plated on the entire perimeter of the frame and extra cross bracing. If I were to do another one I would build a new frame, ............and I will.

I'm sure I could adapt anything, but I was being cheap and using what I had lying around. Those commercial boxes are expensive. I'm not reduced at all, in fact I made my gearing a little higher to take advantage of the low end torque of the diesel, bigger tires didn't hurt either.
If I were to adapt the ATV portals, I would go with SuperATV 8" portals for Can AM with 45% reduction, then increase the gear ratio of the T-20 to rear axle by installing a smaller sprocket on the rear axle. Still, biggest tire would be a 29". I would get 6 hubs for the CanAm then redrill or convert to five lug. Maybe when I win the lottery.

I'm not sure she will swim, not only because the tires will be submerged deeper, but it's getting pretty heavy also, but look out mud!

[mfenmor]

That is some awesome engineering.

Thanks Dan.

[mfenmor]

mike...beautiful job !! you and i will be sitting up eye to eye .... it looks plenty strong too. what size are the portal chains ? looks like it must have been a tight fit to get the master links on. there really is'nt much need for chain tensioners in the boxes is there ? are you running 26'' or 28 '' tires . looking forward to seeing it in person . hope it's ready for busco . johnboy va.

Hey JB,
The portal chains are #50-H as I have a huge roll of it. I installed both the sprockets with the chain on it, but then got to thinking about if I have to replace it. No problems, the link will come off.
I do not need adjusters, you guessed it! Because the length is so short will not wear much, but just in case I do have a plan to make very small adjustments.
Tires are going to be 28", see pics in earlier posts.
I'm kinda wondering if I'll get it done in time now.
IMG_0619.jpg
Mike.

[mightymaxIV]

That is some awesome work and some awesome engineering. I have several comments and some questions.

1st: those look like Terra tires on your other machine, where did you get them?

Next: I have seen these closed box lubricated gear reduction boxes on over 500 lifted side by sides. They can't turn the large 35" plus tires without these reduction boxes without breaking an axle or smoking a belt. You spent a lot of time and effort building this project and I am sure your frame has additional support to handle the increased stress this lift kit is sure to induce.

Could you possibly adapt some of the current commercial gear reduction boxes to a max or and Argo?

Next comment: the benefits of a 6x6 with more ground clearance are obvious but I am wondering if the machine will swim with the tires going deeper into the water before the tub provides flotation? We will have to wait for that one but an added benefit might be that you can keep in touch the the surface under the water while other AATV's have to swim. This could be a great advantage under certain circumstances.

[Dw89xj]

That is some awesome engineering.