Custom made volkswagon powered 8x8 with sea doo pump

[chris davison]

I forgot to say how the brakes work now that I did all that work reinforcing the caliper plates. I havent noticed any more movement and the steering has gotten even tighter. I can push the vehicle in neutral but just as soon as I give 5 detrees of steering wheel movement the brakes begin to grip. Im not going to try it but I think I could spin sideways at 25 and just slide sideways. The foot pedal brakes work fine they can lock up all the tires at any speed. Just made some drawings for pump drive and will start soon.

[Obsessed]

Awsome job Chris!

[chris davison]

Just got back from an exploring trip up river We crossed over to the other side to a dry tributary that comes into the white river where its to deep for trucks or quads had to float from momentum than catch tires on the other side. My wife had a good time picking up fossiles found in the rocks. When comming back I wound it out in first to hit the water hard enough to float across it created a bow wave tall enough to come in over the bow. All in all we had a good time she only screamed two or three times.

[mudbug3]

chris davison

Yes, I imagine it was quite unnerving at first for her. The mufflers that you have on Walley sure sound sweet! I,m now looking foward to your next test in deep water.

[Noel Woods]

Chris thats an awesome machine you came up with. Its like the first versions of the Land Tamer, fine job on the fabrication, and I agree that motor with those headers sounds bad to the bone. The beauty of a long, fairly wide machine is that they are remarkably stable.
It just shows what American ingenuity is capable of. Rock on dude!

[chris davison]

I was very happy with the testing so far. I have plugged the first leaks from the jet pump, they leaked from not sealing permantly the pump to hull. Reason pump work is still needed. The hose connections with no hose on them actually suck water from the hull when the pump is pumping. First test today 2 cups of water in the hull. Second test 1 cup from being splashed over the fender into the hull by the tire rotation. It sat lower in the water than i expected but still has 17" inc. fender out of the water. The tires seem to add 0 to the flotation. After rocking the vehicle I tried to swim the tires in 4th gear to much motor bog then tried 3rd they did better but still boged down shifted to 2nd gear and the rpm came up just then the tires caught on the rocks and I pulled out of the deep. So you all saw that these tires do swim. (some) wound out 3 rd gear comming home and hit 30 mph. Learned to steer softly at high speed, If I just feather the steering wheel for 3 or 4 seconds it changes direction like a car. climbed out of the river in 2nd gear just feathering the gas. Took the wife for her first ride I will need ear muffs she screamed every sharp turn. She takes good videos though.

[Kohler cowboy uk]

Great, keep 'em coming.

I'd also like to see Walley driving at night with his lights on.

[Mike]

That's quite a stable ATV in the water. That's surely got to make you happy. I can't wait to see the jet pumps in action.

[amphibious drew]

Looking pretty sweet Chris!!!

[mudbug3]

I posted this video for Chris. Chris your 8x8 is really stable in the water.

[mudbug3]

chris davison

Sounds good! Looking forward to the water test.

[chris davison]

Ive noticed the extreme stress applied to the caliper mounting plates they want to move when I back down the drive out of the garage and lock up one side to swing the front end around to face in the direction I want to go. I removed the calipers and welded on brackets to mount a bar to triangulate the stress on each one. I will test these tuesday. Monday is my final for plc4 school. Since it rained there is enough water to float Walley so I will try it and film it and measure the inches it draws.

[chris davison]

It rained last night so I thought I might play in the river. The shifter worked better so I checked my tire inflation wow 0 on all tires I inflated the 4 outside corner tires to 1 lb and the 4 center tires to 5 lbs for a trial. It stands up on the knobbies without flatining on any, turns a lot quicker too. went down to the river and played in about 12" of water reving it in first so the water splashed up thru the fenders and out noticed some people had stopped and were watching. Its kind of neet to be able to turn on a dime on gravel with 70" between the outsides of the tires its in no danger of turning over it just does a sideways slide. I noticed the ride was a lot rougher with the extra air in the tires. On the way back I took it to about 27 mph in 3rd at 2500 rpm but the ruts were to much to go any faster thru the curve to home, it still climbed the hill to home in 3rd. I will test its flotation soon and still have to finish the mechanicals to the pump drive.

[Beeman]

Lookin good Chris!

[chris davison]

Every time I run Walley I bring it back for an inspection of what might of happened or did my revisions solve the problem. The jackshafts are not moving on thier pillow blocks any more now but the front seat is to high and I need to remove a frame tube between the frame rails. One of the chain tentioners pushes the chain up into this tube. Found out some shifter problems the bottom of shifter tube is hitting the bottom of the shifter box. fixed it also need a cb antenna and wire and going to make a center console from shifter to dash. when I bought the alternator I didnt realize it was an outside regulator so now I need a regulator for it. Its a motorola.