spooner

(sorry, off topic....) Randy, that is a great Avatar picture you have there love that setup with the quad and that razorback in the backdrop ....looks like a pro did it ?!? :freakin_nuts:

WTF ? looks like he is hurling :freakin_nuts:

Daniel , great to see you back in the sand !!

great pics Pete looks like you new camera has also a lot of zoom

oh ow good thing you could help him get to the medics sounds like the quicker he got attention (and pain killer) the better

my vote goes for Gill Navarez as well he is the man ....after turdkey, redline and DanZio have been a disapointment i think i will never use anybody else for all the engine tuning . Navarez just did a fine-tune on Ryans V-Rex: he is now pushing a impressive 855 HP to the rear tires!!! ...but still with 91 pumpgas at only 10 psi boost..... makes you wonder how much HP that engine would produce if Ryan would switch to 20-25 psi and C12 race gas

People ; please recycle your beer cans :beer_bang: i need more aluminum here are some progress pics; more bulkheads.... the nice thing on this construction style is that things like the fan and radiator dont need tabs...everything bolts right up to the bulkheads

oh ow...that is bad i guess i stick with "Bad Venom" then :smoker: btw; did you see the pics on Glamis.com of the welds ....oh my god....i usually dont comment on the work of others but that is a frigging "deathtrap"

i dont know yet how much lighter it will be. i keep track of the weight of all the pieces as i build them. i think the key of building with aluminum is to spread the "load" over a larger area (when compared with steel), many high stress areas (like the mounting points of the rollcage and the sub-frames) will be very beefy. however, there are areas that will be a lot lighter; the sheet metal pieces actually replace the (heavy) cross-bracing of a steel frame construction. that is also what you see in the pic`s; i only made the bracing plates for now (the center tunnel is the "backbone " of the car; everything is made of 1/8" sheet)...the thick aluminum extrusions (a mix of C- I- and L- channel shapes) that hold everything together are not there yet. here are some more progress pic`s; braking new ground is very demanding (i dont sleep all that well lately ... there are so many details that go around in my head all night :smoker: )

:smoker:

ouch ...it is clear that this guy has no understanding of physics ..but i bet on the first sidehill he will at least discover where his center of gravity is power is kinda lame; with that engine hanging out the a$$ and sitting so high it should be easy to pop a wheelie any time.... however, would be a good looking car if it would sit at least 1' lower

love them woodblock mock-up pics it will be a 4-seater, very similar to FlyinRyans V-Rex, but with a more stylish body....and a set of angry snake-eyes (they are actually Yamaha R1 headlights)

Gerald yes, it will be very similar to a fuselage. however , airplanes use lighter and stronger aluminum alloys; the stressed outside skin used to be 2024-T3 Alclad (IIRC it got replaced in the `90 by a different alloy that offers better long-term resistance to stress failure....im sure your bro-in-law knows what alloy name that is ) Alclad can be used in very thin sheets and is extremely strong but does have a poor corrosion resistance. i mainly use the more popular alloys like 6061-T6 sheets for non-bended parts and 5052-H32 for all the bended parts in a thicker gage to compensate for the lower tensile strength.

DDR exclusive!!! : the first spyshots of Deons "Bad Venom" Sand Viper after over a year of planing ... and spending many hundred hours on AutoCAD i finaly started cutting the first pieces :freakin_nuts: Bad Venoms new "frame" design is very revolutionary; there is actually no traditional steel tube frame. the front and rear subframes are mounted to a all aluminum "monocoque" chassis tub and can be removed for easy engine/rearend access. there are no decorative body panels; all the body sheet metal will be a integral and structural stressed part of the car. the monocoque tub will be made of large heat treated 6061-T6 aluminum extrusions wrapped with "stressed skin" aluminum sheet metal parts. there will be no welding (it drastically reduces the strength of heat treated aluminum) all parts are fastened with aerospace "huckbolts" (a high tech pneudraulic fastened structural rivet) and bonded with 3M "scotchweld" 2-part epoxy aluminum adhesive. i will post more pics and info as i progress with this unusual construction

...gota love that edit button

it is a re repost

X-man IMHO i would rather buy a used US of A made buggy . Right now the market is in a low; there are some great deals out there. China grossly disregards US copyrights :chug: ... btw just as a side note of how i feel about anything China made ; i just got myself a "new" sheet metal bender... 3000+lbs of good old American steel made by Chicago Dries& Krump. most likely the bender is a lot older then myself ....and i spend 3 days cleaning, greasing and painting....i spend about the same $$ for it as you would pay for a brand new China knockoff....but this bender will last me another 50+years and it will actually bend the rated thickness without cracking and falling apart like my last China bender (i guess sheet metal is a little thinner in China then over here )

i dont realy like slide-outs (too many problems with sand and leaks) but we are actually thinking to build the trailer partially two story with a pop-up roof...kinda a "roofgarden" like on this pusher ... ...but with a solid roof panel that seals tight for driving :beer_bang:

Travis i was just messing with you oh yes, i know what you are talking about i hate them electronic "nanny" crap buzzers .....makes you feel like a baby heck, in europa there are cars with female voice commands (the airplane pilots call them "bitching bettys" ) like please put your seatbelt on.....please put your seatbelt on.....door is open....door is open....please put your seatbelt on .... key is in ignition....door is open..... drives you completely nuts in no time makes you want to shoot the dasboard :beer_bang: and scream; YES, I KNOW THAT THE FU@*ING DOOR IS OPEN

Yeah, if you hit a kiddytrack with no seat beat you could get belt up badly :beer_bang:

he claims the trailer would be $ 550k new that guy is selling the complete Rig with the 387 Pete (550hp Cat and 18 speed autoshift) for $400k ....i guess somebody needs money badly great looking rig but IMHO you can build one similar like that for a lot less. right now im actually designing a trailer for a friend ....he has a CDL and his boss actually agreed to let him use a company truck to pull the trailer on the weekends. IMHO a WeekendWarrior style 5th wheel (sticks and staples) will not last very long behind a Semi. my suggestion is to use a air ride "Electronics" drop deck van trailer. i like the GreatDane brand (its kinda the Peterbilt of the trailers ) you can buy them fairly cheap (in the $ 5000 to 7000 range) in good shape. a double drop offers more interior height but they are hard to find . the quality and the integrity of a commercial duty trailer is nothing like any RV style trailer: large aluminum extrusions on the bottom and roof with a usually one piece aluminum roof and everything sealed and fastened together with structural rivets.....that will last you a lifetime. here is a sample at what i think would work as a base for a conversion: here are some dimensions: -a 53' would be nice but to keep it legal in CA it would be better to use a 45-48' X 102" -the inside height over the hitch (usually a ~8' area in front) is at around 108" -a single drop E-Trailer with 22.5 is usually ~ 117" inside height. -a single drop with 17.5 is at around 128" , but commercial truckers hate them little tires ; lots of high speed (heat) tire failure here in the west -a double drop with 22.5 can be ~ 136" inside height, but has fender wells cutting and framing windows and doors is no big deal (with the right tools) there is plenty of belly room for all the fuel/water/waste tanks the nice thing on doing it yourself is that you can use high quality (non miniature RV plastic :beer_bang: ) material and hardware to do the conversion. things like a real adult size shower and SS domestic style kitchen appliances. here is what it could look like when it is finished;

Sean, check this out: i just found a matching trailer for your truck @ Racing Junk :freakin_nuts:

Ahhhhhh! .... i love it ..... join the Peterbilt club :freakin_nuts: i like that color and the stainless bumper . looks to be in good shape and only 617k miles; there should be a lot of live left in that big Cat. (btw; check the upper U-joint on the steering shaft that goes from the firewall to the steering box : 387`s have a high misalignement on it and it wears out....make sure it is tight or let the dealer replace it before you buy ) it has almost the same spec like the one im building for Roland (HIturtle) it also has the big C15 Cat, but he has the pushbutton "Autoshift" automated manual transmission. here is a "photoshop" pic of how it will look like when it is finished: will be one trick truck are you keeping the twin screw or are going to single it out? did you look into registering it as a RV?

love that sound ...... BUT i like mufflers better ...so that you can use the Jakebrake without every Highway Patrol stopping you what kinda truck did you look at ? what are the specs ?