Max 8x8

[thebuggyman1]

A 52" belt is what I need for the sportster, and I've been looking with no sucess. The Gates part# was a big help, Thanks Mike
And they're not too badly priced at Rock Auto RockAuto Parts Catalog

[Robinhood02]

here are two pics i moded so that you can see the layouts i was concidering
max 4 withendtub.jpgMax VI 8x8.jpg

[hydromike]

There's not a lot to update on the Max 8x8 project. I got the tubs back from the welder, and he botched the job quite horribly. Even the job he did was one of the worst efforts I've seen for someone claiming to be a professional fabricator. Unfortunately, we both agreed before the job was undertaken by him that he'd do "the best he could". I apparently overestimated his abilities quite badly, and I've been trying to fix the tub over the last week or so. The worst part is that he charged a lot more than he should have for the product that was delivered. It's so bad, I didn't even take pictures to document it; I just went about tearing it apart and doing a better job of welding it back up.

One of the interesting lessons, is that I came to find out that the material is NOT HDPE, but rather LLDPE (Linear Low Density PE), or at least that's what he claimed. I'm tending to agree, since I can't get good results out of the HDPE welding, and LLDPE seems to be working better. Regardless, there's going to be a lot of repair to be done before the project goes much further.

The next step(s) is/are to get a skid plate and side plates fit to the machine, and either fabricate the frame extension, or do what I'd rather do, which is find a donor Max IV frame to graft on to the back of the existing frame. This would save quite a bit of effort, and likely cost associated with fabbing up the individual frame rails.

Anyone out there in Max Land have a spare 1/3 to 1/2 Max IV frame lying about?

~m

[Mike]

I was so excited when I saw an update to this thread, then I cringed when I read your post. Sorry to hear that about the bodies. That sucks.

[Robinhood02]

ahhh ,yes that is a problem that we didnt run into because i used the cut off parts of the tub that i cut into strips to use for welding, but that is interesting that High Density Poly Ethylene is not working ,i'll have to look into that, PS how did you cut it in half , i used a thin long wire conected to a 12V battery on a jig, then weighted it so that it slowly cut through, so that both halves were cut almost exactly the same (looked like a giant cheese-cutter) , then heated the two sides and fused them together in one swoop, then fill welded the seams that didnt quite fit perfectly with strips from the cut off tub, how did you cut it ??

[6X6]

Sorry to hear that Mike. I hate it when someone touts these great abilities and then performs SO underwhelmingly. I hope at least there wasn't the kind of damage that makes it hard to have a nice finished machine. I'm sure you'll get there either way though, if Big 5 came out so good after those photos of it in pieces, you'll have one sick Max VIII.

[hydromike]

how did you cut it ??

Hey Robin,

I put a laser line on each tub, and put a tape line down the laser on each tub to get a straight line. I cut them with a jig saw, and they came out just about dead on with one another. I'd say less than 1/8" gap over most of the tub, with only a couple areas that needed tweaking since each tub was sagged a bit differently.

I can only go by what he said about it being HDPE. I tried welding a bit of LLDPE to it, and it stuck quite well. I have a lot of material left over from the cut (a front and back 1/3 from each tub) and I guess I should have tried to just weld it myself. I'm going to be using pieces of the tub to plate-up the sides (interior and exterior) to provide the support I need. I also have plans to get a UHMW plate riveted to the bottom to help out, too. With enough plastic and rivets, it will be solid and waterproof; I'm just really disappointed with the work I have to hide on the tub, especially so soon into the project.

I hope to go down to RI and pick up several dozen death rivets today....

~m

[Robinhood02]

good job with the laser Mike, I don't have those high tech goodies (wish i did) I wouldn't worry too much about the apearence of the weld ,most of it you'll never see when complete anyways, just do a good job of keeping the water out ,Ps i didn't do the welding , I was just there looking over his shoulder when he did it (I think he charged extra because i was there LOL) UHMW ? is that the Puck-board stuff ?? The frame, I had two old Max IIs and cut them as you mentioned, but if i did it again i would simply cut the tail off and add a section with a hole for the 4th axle and a cross bar for the idler sproket

[hydromike]

Hi tech? Nah, it's just a picture hanging laser level from a hardware store. It's GeoJem's, but she let me use it for AATV purposes. I think it's a $10 item. It's nice if you just need a straight line. It's tough to bend light... unless of course you're a black hole or other object with extreme density. I digress, and simultaneously open the door to rude comments.

UHMW is just a type of HDPE. I get the recylced UHMW from a couple different sources. Buffalo Bearing can get it cheaply from a joint in Oregon, and there's a place right over the border in Ontario that sells is cheaply, too. The stuff is neat. It's ultra greasy, and holds up very well to just about any abuse you can dish out. It's hard to mold to things, but with patience and an acetylene torch, it eventually takes the shape of a tub. The hard part is just riveting it in place. I don't have a pneumatic riveter, so I need to use my hand riveter to get the 1" or longer steel shank rivets into place. That's after three bowls of Wheaties, two protein bars, and a good self-pep talk, and making grimmacing faces at myself in the mirror.

~m

[hydromike]

I got a good chunk of the frame extension done today. I still need to do a lot of reenforcing, and need to drill the outer frame rails for the bearings. i was successful in raising the rear of the frame up 1", which will let the long machine turn much easier (hopefully!) It's solid, and I'm pretty pleased how it came out today. Lots more fabricating to do, but it's coming together.



~m

[Robinhood02]

wow that looks really good

[Mike]

Nice job Mike! You are moving along nicely. Thanks for the update.

[hydromike]

It's been a while since I posted any pictures of the Max IV to VIII conversion, but it's coming along. I'm on a budget, so most of what gets done is manual labor, followed by brief and foolish expenditures. I threw all the axles and bearings in, and put on the five 22" Rawhides that I had to make it a roller. I bridged the horrible welding job with an interior 1/4" HDPE scab plate on each side with about 25 rivets each. The outside of each side will get an additional plate, but I need to make a few more adjustments, first. It doesn't look so bad, but I'm a bit disappointed that the plates aren't cosmetically appealing enough to leave them out in the open by themselves. The area where each Max IV body had to be cut and joined to the other were drastically different in their contours. Beneath the plates, the bodies are joined quite well. The plates don't reflect what's going on beneath, but i wanted as much material there as possible to add to the rigidity. (I want to be able to beat the crap out of this thing if I need to....)

Three new pictures in the gallery.... Bigger tires to come once I get a response from my 9" rim supplier....

Merry Christmas!



~m

[hydromike]

A huge SNAFU happened with my planned Vanguard installation, so I have a limited number of things I can do while I await the next big fabrication step (and await funds to get my upper bodies).

The Hustler is waiting on it's new bearings, so I wripped the Max 8x8 frame out and finished fabricating the back half of the frame yesterday. It seems to be plenty stout enough now. I need to get the sprockets ASAP so I can run a couple chains on the back end and get the chain adjusters fabricated and get the frame back in. Again. I figure I'll need to pull it out at least 3 or 4 more times, but I have it down to a science now.



~m

[jpswift1]

Dude, nice work! That frame looks like it came from the factory like that. I can't wait to come check it out in person.