idea for preventing body sag on Max iv with big frame

[kghills]

Picture of the support bar/hand rail I bent up for the Max IV last night. I have it positioned with the body lifted. Just need to fabricate the uprights and cross brace to tie it into the front seat.



Keith.

[kghills]

Here is a shot of the body support bar tied into the seat.

Here it is installed in the Max.

And here is the bar with the body being supported by it ready for testing. I now have 3.5 inches between the body lip and the top of the AquaTorques.

I can still lay a 2x4 on the top of the tires with room between it and the body. Should be more than enough room for tracks.

Keith.

[kghills]

Here is a quick video Jason shot this morning of the Max IV running on his old RC track. The jumps for his RC cars try to twist the Max up pretty good and so far I still have over 3" of body clearance over the 25" AquaTorques and nothing seems to have moved. Driving the Max IV even feels different now, like I eliminated a bunch of body flex. The bar also works out awesome when getting in and out and for holding on if your a passenger. I am super happy with this modification.

Keith.

[kghills]

Well I bought a set of 26x12-12 Super Terra Grip tires and mounted them up. Inflated to 12PSI and took it straight to the pond. What a blast. Need to get that boat license before the weekend. Here are a couple quick pictures.

There is 1.5" between the body and the Terra Grips at 12PSI with the support bar. Rides a little rough but swims like a fish. Will probably only use the tires for swimming so the ride from the trailer to the boat launch should not be that bad. Keith.

[hydromike]

12 psi?! Why so much? 3psi should do the job just fine, and will improve ride quality (even if you *are* only using them for swimming). 3 psi should be enough to keep them on the rims in most situations without any issue. If you're running the Recreatives "K-locks", you can use 1psi without much worry.

[kghills]

I was told by inflating them to a higher pressure they stretch or grow in size and then displace more water. The greater Buoyancy then makes the tires sit higher giving you more speed in the water. Given that they say 20 PSI max inflation on the sidewall I was even thinking of taking them to that if what I understand is true. Maybe someone can chime in who has experimented with this. Right now the tires tape just a tad over 26 inches across with 12 PSI.

Keith.

[techfx]

Not sure if there is a good "sag" solution for the RIM racer... I thought of a few, that would also mean adding more weight.

[hydromike]

Believe it or not, I've been mulling over RIM racer body supports. Since they tend to sag right in the middle, I think you could get away with adding a couple pieces of plate from the frame, up the inside of the body, and over to the outside body-band area in the middle of the machine. My Attex 8x8 has something like this (I think they're 1/4" thick, 4" wide) and it's worked wonders for it. My RIM (as a trail machine) has the supports going from the frame up/over to the roll cage supports. Since I don't really use it as a trail machine (almost never....) perhaps a revamp is in order.

Here's a shot of the RIM's supports...



Here's a shot of what I did on Big 5.

[kghills]

The Max IV is on the trailer and will head to Adair for tracks in the morning. The support bar seems to be doing it's job. Tomorrow I will find out if it lifts it enough to put Tim's tracks over the 25x12x9 Rawhide IIIs I have mounted.


I will try to take pictures of the process. Keith.

[brushcutter]

Just curious and don't want to get off topic or hijack a thread, but did the aqua torques not swim well?

[kghills]

Just curious and don't want to get off topic or hijack a thread, but did the aqua torques not swim well?

I run the AquaTorques with no air in them now. 0psi. Not inflated they are completely under water on the Max IV as the tub design seems to need some floatation from the tires to sit high in the water. They swim at a slow rate of speed if you are just off idle. If you give it moderate throttle they stall in the water. They worked much better on my Argo Bigfoot as the Argo seems to gets a fair amount of its floatation from the hull and the tires were about a quarter of the way out of the water. It should be noted that the AquaTorques out performed my factory rubber tracks in the marsh but I could get it stuck where the Adair tracks on the Argo Bigfoot would crawl around with ease. When not tracked, my Max will be wearing AquaTorques.

Keith.