Yep the Orange rig is due for a makeover. The rockstar project has kind of kept me out of my orange rig all summer. Im bored with the orange rig. I know the rockstar will spank the orange car all day long on the trail. The way I look at this is I need to make the orange rig good at some thing the rockstar is not good at.

  The rockstar cannot rally or jump. CANNOT Its flat out dangerous. My thought is to build the orange rig into a rally/jumper that can still trail ride. 

The project will be a Zukiworld artical. I will start the project the first week of January and would like to have it finished by Febuary 3rd.

Im looking for ideas, prerunner pics, links to prerunner parts websites, or anything else that may be of help.

All I know for sure is that It will remain streetable, and will retain trackick steering Knuckles. I already have a centermount diff with long travel Cvs capable of 18 inches of travel. Keep this in mind.

I have a plan in place but its not written in stone. I dont want to say what it is as not to influence any possible ideas. I also would like to keep this project in as tight of a budget as possible. The artical will not be a "how to" but a overall what happened type of thing.

Mike

Good to see you in the forum Mr Hagen. Been a little quite lately.

Please help us to help you by letting us know what "Rockstar" does so well. Don't hold back, please tell all

You have been wheeling it for a while now and must have a list of its strong points and its weakness's.

ZeusZuki

Should be very interesting, keep us updated. I can't wait to see the pics.

Good to see you in the forum Mr Hagen. Been a little quite lately.

Please help us to help you by letting us know what "Rockstar" does so well. Don't hold back, please tell all

You have been wheeling it for a while now and must have a list of its strong points and its weakness's.

ZeusZuki

 The rockstar works well in very off camber situations, very steep inclines, sand, snow, mud.... pretty much everything that does not include going fast. It does drive down the road great at speed but as soon as it gets bumpy the ass chases up the nose. I like the balance if the orange rig, it jumps great but the struts limit my adjustability and dampening. I feel I need more travel to ease the landings. The orange rig weighs a hefty 3500lbs.  Trackick coils are to weak for this much weight. I have tried to think of where to shave the weight but I am not willing to loose any of the things I have added to gain this weight. Bumpers, cage, rockerskids, bellypan, winch, ect. I feel by building an upper and lower controlarm setup I could possibly double the travel in the front. Im hoping that this would ease the landings and reduce things from bending.

Mike

Ahhhhhh I see grasshopper.

Check out this site and see if it gives you any ideas

http://www.git.com.au/~theedge/buggies_ballistic.htm

Maybe independant suspension front AND rear

I particularly like the half shaft solution - 300 Subaru WRX Hp and it stays together - this is what I plan on building for my V6 kick project.

ZeusZuki.

I already have a centermount diff with long travel Cvs capable of 18 inches of travel. Keep this in mind.

Tell us more. Is that 18" of up and down movement at the wheel? I know the stock Track/Kick hits the bump stops with the axle horizontal so it only uses half of the available travel. The Calmini set up is better. How much wheel travel do you reckon on getting? are you going to lower the diff further?

 The orange rig weighs a hefty 3500lbs. 

How did it get that heavy?  That like 1300 pounds over stock.

Sounds Sweet Mike! I have wanted to do this for a bit also. But not having a runnin kick kinda stopped me so far. I agree with your idea for the upper and lower A arms to start. I think a shorter coilover would be cool but may be hard to fit in there. Do you have any plans for the back yet? Are you keeping it stock? Maybe some longer arms? Here is a pretty cool prerunner site with lots of detailed pics.http://www.desertrides.com/
Maybe something similar to this car but not as extreme.

more pics here
[url]http://www.desertrides.com/features/vehicles/trophy_bug/index.php[/ur

My thought is to build the orange rig into a rally/jumper that can still trail ride. 
Mike

Mike you hit the nail on the head for me, this is exactly what I've been researching ever since I joined this forum.  I like the looks of the channeled, streched, and chopped Tracker, but soon realized that the single arm front suspension is just not going to cut it.  Even if T100 axles could be fitted the next limit is the length of the T100 axles and the strength of a single arm IFS.  So far on Toyotas, they can get a max of 12-13 inches of travel out of 4x4 IFS.

The other thing I've been looking into, is building a IRS (the kind you would see in a Sand rail).  Using 4x5 trailing arms, U-joints, and plunging style axles, you could easily get over 24 inches of travel in the rear.  The key to going fast is a longer wheel base and lots of suspension travel, which the tracker suffers from greatly. 

My original goal was to build a IFS/IRS vehicle with a Cadillac ride on the bumps, but still have 4wd when needed.  And if the right Rear end is installed, you could have posi (when the rear is air or electric locked), or turning brakes when open.

Not sure what exactly you are planning for 18inches of travel for the front but I'm really interested in this build.  I've been looking at my Toyota and a friends Tracker and realize the easiest way to get a stronger IFS is use an existing Toyota truck frame (Shortened and lowered) and add the Tracker body on it.  The Toyota frame is actually higher off the ground than a tracker's frame, and would have to be dropped to get a lower COG.  And to just put the Toy IFS front end on a tracker frame, would be more work than it is worth,  (The Toy IFS alone would give the tracker a 6 to 9 inch lift, I believe). 

If you are planning on a IRS let me know and I can go into more detail on what I've found.  I'm really looking forward to what your plans are for the Long Travel front end.

How about ditching the front struts for an upper&lower a-arm setup.  You could use the front frame out off a tacoma or other yota 4x4 and add one of the several widening/long travel kits to it for some Jump-happy fun.  Would also make running yota drivetrain parts in the kick a breeze.

Even better....shorten a yota frame and plop the kick right down onto it.   

Yep the Orange rig is due for a makeover. The rockstar project has kind of kept me out of my orange rig all summer. Im bored with the orange rig. I know the rockstar will spank the orange car all day long on the trail. The way I look at this is I need to make the orange rig good at some thing the rockstar is not good at.

  The rockstar cannot rally or jump. CANNOT Its flat out dangerous. My thought is to build the orange rig into a rally/jumper that can still trail ride. 

The project will be a Zukiworld artical. I will start the project the first week of January and would like to have it finished by Febuary 3rd.

Im looking for ideas, prerunner pics, links to prerunner parts websites, or anything else that may be of help.

 

Mike

What a great idea!

-Eric

Quote from: Mikerpm4x4 on December 11, 2005, 10:05:16 PM

I already have a centermount diff with long travel Cvs capable of 18 inches of travel. Keep this in mind.

Tell us more. Is that 18" of up and down movement at the wheel? I know the stock Track/Kick hits the bump stops with the axle horizontal so it only uses half of the available travel. The Calmini set up is better. How much wheel travel do you reckon on getting? are you going to lower the diff further?

I removed the strut, and coil to simulate where an upper control arm would be. The knuckle has 18 inches of travel before it is limmited by the inner CV. Its actually 20 but I am leaving 1 inch of cushion.

For those who have forgotten or are new, I have had a custom front drivetrain for 2 years now. I got a prototype Calmini built center mount anvil front diff. It is basicly is the same as the regular Anvil but it has 2 short sides. This allows me to have 6 inch longer Cvs on each side. I have custom built longer Cvs from a Nissan Maxima. They are about the same size as the toy CVs but they can achive steeper angles.

Mike

Quote from: Mikerpm4x4 on December 11, 2005, 11:20:06 PM

 The orange rig weighs a hefty 3500lbs. 

How did it get that heavy?  That like 1300 pounds over stock.

Here is a quick estamate of how this happened.
front Bumper                       75 lbs
Rear Bumper                       75lbs
cage                                    40lbs
rockerskids                         50lbs
bellypan                              20lbs
winch                                   75 lbs
5 35 inch krawlers Additional 300lbs over stock
Trail tools                              25lbs
Sub+box                                25lbs
All steel front diff       Additional 75lbs
Front diff skidplating trussing   50lbs
Nine inch rear end   Additional 125lbs at least!
Strut brace                                25lbs

Here is around 1000lbs off the top of my head.

Mike

Hmm  getting a little chubby aren't we   

I weigh in at a thrifty 2500, including the
33 inch Swamper LTBs, no wonder I climb
sand hills like a sand rail 

They are about the same size as the toy CVs but they can achive steeper angles.
Mike

How do they achive the steeper angles, are the nissian CVs stock?  Are they shorter or longer than the Toyota CVs?