New Class 3 Build

[erikshallbetter]

I am hoping to be done for the Mint 400. Nothing fancy, just a (hopefully) quick and dirty class 3 build. I am working on the cage while I wait for my radius arms to get back from laser notching. Sorry for the poor quality pics.

[Yikes]

That's awesome Eric! Glad to see you jumping into it. We'll be waiting for the Uweld Class 3 Bronco kit. Ha!

[erikshallbetter]

That's awesome Eric! Glad to see you jumping into it. We'll be waiting for the Uweld Class 3 Bronco kit. Ha!

Hope to have radius arms soon!

[erikshallbetter]

Here is my drawing of the radius arms I am waiting to get back.

[chupakabras]

Here is my drawing of the radius arms I am waiting to get back.

cool, you did that drawing,. cool,. what software did you use? look at my ilustrations, that's what i do for living,. http://cancino3d.blogspot.com/
all done in 3dstudio max. :D

[Yikes]

Here is my drawing of the radius arms I am waiting to get back.

Those look nice Eric. I really like the concept, especially the integrated shock/coilover mount. They look race worthy for sure. Are you planning to sell them as kits?

[erikshallbetter]

Thanks guys! I use Alibre Design for my 3D design work. It is esentially the same thing as solidworks. Once I get the arms on the bronco and know they fit like I intended, I do plan to sell them as a kit. The mount on the arm is for the coilover, and the bypass will mount on the beam.

[erikshallbetter]

Tonight I got the front and rear fenders, grill, and hood all mocked up so I could plan out some more of my cage. Have the spares figured out, and got a couple more pieces of tubing put in the back. I'll try to get some pics this weekend!

[erikshallbetter]

Have the body and spares mocked up and did some more tubework through the front.

[straightaxle]

I am hoping to be done for the Mint 400. Nothing fancy, just a (hopefully) quick and dirty class 3 build. I am working on the cage while I wait for my radius arms to get back from laser notching. Sorry for the poor quality pics.

Looks good! When you said you were shooting for the Mint 400, I thought it was a little ambitious, but after seeing the progress in a pretty short time, I think you might just be able to get it done. Keep after it! "Quick and dirty build", that's the best kind! Get it out there and race it, I've already said my piece about the Garage Queen, HAHA.

I like the spare mounting, it just puts them a little close to the shackles, but it gives an unrestricted view in the mirror of Trophy Trucks about to drive up your tail pipe. Of course the next thing you will probably do is put a radiator up behind the seats!

[erikshallbetter]

Thanks! Yeah, we may or may not make it, but aim high right. I have a plan for the rear end and am not woried about the shackle, thanks for the heads up though! I hope to have it rolling by the end of the month! I'll keep posting pics as I have more to show!

[AngerIssues]

Howdy,

Is that a true fiberglass rear quarterpanel (not the bolt-on to steel frame that so many people are using?). If so, where did you get it?

ken

[erikshallbetter]

Yes sir it is. I got it from Perry McNeil of Perrys fab n fiber. It is the 3.5 inch flare. My whole body is from Perrys.

[Yikes]

More pics Erik! This is motivating.

[erikshallbetter]

Stupid real life slowed me up for a bit. :rolleyes: Should get back to it some tomorrow!

[modernchaos]

Awesome, I really enjoy seeing builds in all stages of repair (or disrepair). I hope real life cuts you a break and you get back to it..... and post lots of picsl.

[erikshallbetter]

Well....I was hoping to see my tubing back on friday but they are a day or two behind. I should see stuff the beginning of next week and try to sneak in some time over christmas. I have started working on the rear suspension now. Not much for progress pictures as it's still being laid out. Here is a sneak peak of my shackles though!

[Yikes]

Looking good! Your making me envious Erik. You've already accomplished in a few short weeks what will take me most of next year.

[erikshallbetter]

Looking good! Your making me envious Erik. You've already accomplished in a few short weeks what will take me most of next year.

If it helps.....this bronco spent the last 1 1/2 years of it's life sitting on jackstands in my business partners garage! :rolleyes:

[straightaxle]

Well....I was hoping to see my tubing back on friday but they are a day or two behind. I should see stuff the beginning of next week and try to sneak in some time over christmas. I have started working on the rear suspension now. Not much for progress pictures as it's still being laid out. Here is a sneak peak of my shackles though!

Just out of curiosity, what are you going to use as a bushing or bearing? How about the center distance?

[Ckrue689]

Just out of curiosity, what are you going to use as a bushing or bearing? How about the center distance?

On the CAD drawing it almost looks like a uniball cup...

I dont think that would even be possible?

[erikshallbetter]

The center to center distance is 1 inch longer than stock.

Yep, its a uniball cup. The plan is for it to work like I planned. We'll all just have to wait and see! ;)

[Ckrue689]

The plan is for it to work like I planned.



hahaha we all plan for that....

[jkrell]

Well....I was hoping to see my tubing back on friday but they are a day or two behind. I should see stuff the beginning of next week and try to sneak in some time over christmas. I have started working on the rear suspension now. Not much for progress pictures as it's still being laid out. Here is a sneak peak of my shackles though!

I dig it...the old macpherson trucks had uniball shackle and leaf spring pivots. Very clean build all around. Looks like there is some stiff competition brewing for Class 3 in the future. Very cool.

[erikshallbetter]

Got stuff back today! I'll be pretty tied up over the next couple days but I'll snap some pics soon of everything broken down as it would ship out.

[erikshallbetter]

Well, it's been a pretty shameful performance over the last week or so. But it looks like the radius arms are going to work. One of my tubes that was supposed to be 1.5 OD came back made out of 1.75 so I will have to remake it by hand. This is all I have to show for now.

[Yikes]

Can't wait to see your arms finished. Once you get dialed in on a price for the kit, shoot me a pm. Would love to have those on the race rig Erik.

[broncodan74]

Great work! Very inspiring for the eventual build of my '92 (after my '74!)...:D

[PWmtn]

Eric,
Pleased to talk to you at SF. You got to see a couple of pre-runner broncos to stimulate you. Did you see the yellow one before or after he broke the new left spring?
Paul

[SickRick]

Expect new build pics starting later this week. We (Uweld.com) will be finishing this ASAP. Hoping to see some offroad time with it before the snow comes.

[SickRick]

Just some overall pictures of the build of this truck. Also some pics of the pedal mounting ect.

Please remember the idea behind this is to quickly and as inexpensivly as possible build a Class 3 racer. Our goal is to go Racing, not endlessly building a money pit we cannot afford at this time.

We will begin building the money pit as soon as this truck finishes its first desert race. The next one will also be a class 3 with everything we can think of to win. We will then sell this truck or use it as a Prerunner/Chase truck.

I hope you like it. Please feel free to lend a hand anyway you can. Advice is always welcome. I will try to answer any question as quickly as possible and update pictures often.

Thanks, Rick Snell.
Rick@Uweld.com

[SickRick]

Anyone one know how to make the pics show up large size in the post?

[Blanco]

Anyone one know how to make the pics show up large size in the post?

You have to get them hosted on another web site like www.supermotors.net

[Grimm]

Not sure if your done with the cage design yet, but i noticed you do not have a full diagonal behind the driver/co-driver (or maybe i'm missing it in the photos.) But you need one to be Legal for SCORE. Otherwise I like it!! Are those 3" c/o and bypass' or 4's?

[SickRick]

Not sure if your done with the cage design yet, but i noticed you do not have a full diagonal behind the driver/co-driver (or maybe i'm missing it in the photos.) But you need one to be Legal for SCORE. Otherwise I like it!! Are those 3" c/o and bypass' or 4's?

Cage is still being built. The diagonals will be complete.
Front Shocks are 2.5 CO and 2.5 BP, Rear is single 3.0.

[Grimm]

Man, they look bigger than that in the pics.

[Moss2]

Looks real nice. From those scuff marks around the pedals I would say it has already had a simulated Baja 1000 run?

[SickRick]

Putting in the windshield a tubes and mocking up the gauges. We will be mounting the radiator and grill on saturday and installing the mock up dash.

[Blanco]

Putting in the windshield a tubes and mocking up the gauges. We will be mounting the radiator and grill on saturday and installing the mock up dash.

Why you gonna run a windshield?
http://www.class3racing.com/showthread.php?t=625&highlight=windshield

[straightaxle]

Be careful how you do those down braces in the rear of the cage with those little bends at the top, we have seen SCORE reject those if they are not done right.

[Blanco]

Be careful how you do those down braces in the rear of the cage with those little bends at the top, we have seen SCORE reject those if they are not done right.

Can he simply triangulate them? :confused:

[erikshallbetter]

Blanco,

I think what he meant was he was putting in the a brace behind the windshield, not that he was putting a windshield in.

Moss,

Please elaborate on the downtubes.

[erikshallbetter]

Eric,
Pleased to talk to you at SF. You got to see a couple of pre-runner broncos to stimulate you. Did you see the yellow one before or after he broke the new left spring?
Paul

Hey Paul,

Sorry I missed your post. I saw your kids bronco in town when it was still on all fours. See you at the 1000?

Erik

[Blanco]

Blanco,

I think what he meant was he was putting in the a brace behind the windshield, not that he was putting a windshield in.

Moss,

Please elaborate on the downtubes.

Oh ok......
Now that I re-read it, maybe I misunderstood.
He did say "A" tubes...

[SickRick]

Be careful how you do those down braces in the rear of the cage with those little bends at the top, we have seen SCORE reject those if they are not done right.
Well its Erik Truck and he is an Engineer, I don't think they will say to much.

[Tazz]

Well its Erik Truck and he is an Engineer, I don't think they will say to much.

They won't care if he is god. If they don't like the bend they won't pass it.

[straightaxle]

This was the topic I was thinking of, but after reading it again, the issue was apparently more to do with tube size than the bends. The bends I was referring to were the little bends at the top of the diagonals behind the B pillar.

http://www.class3racing.com/showthread.php?t=805&highlight=petepecas

A tube in compression will bend or collapse at many times less load than a straight tube. We have stacks of bent track bars that prove this all because of two little kinks in the bar that are required to miss the frame and pumpkin.

[SickRick]

I am not worried about the cage passing tech.
All required tubes are 4130 2" x.120 wall. Bends in the down tubes are on many trucks, even trophy trucks.

The cage is very well built, the notches are great and it is triangulated well.

Thanks for pointing out issues though.

[Moss2]

I am not worried about the cage passing tech.
All required tubes are 4130 2" x.120 wall. Bends in the down tubes are on many trucks, even trophy trucks.

The cage is very well built, the notches are great and it is triangulated well.

Thanks for pointing out issues though.

I agree that there are bends like that on a lot of high end trucks even but why? I can see it a little on a prerunner that you want a small hole in the cab but other than that it seems to serve no good purpose.

[SickRick]

I agree that there are bends like that on a lot of high end trucks even but why? I can see it a little on a prerunner that you want a small hole in the cab but other than that it seems to serve no good purpose.

Do you want your rollcage to deform during a crash and help absorb impact, or do you want yout truck to resist deforming and be as strong as possible without any movement during a crash.

Our prolites and pro2 trucks need to survive a crash and be able to compete again in hours, So they are built without any bends. All corners on the trucks are mitered. They are incredibly strong. The corners will have to break before they bend, most intersection on these trucks have four or five tubes (one intersection on the old design prolite had an eleven tube intersection). They have been endoed and rolled and flipped without being distroyed. For the job they are asked to do the design works.

For this desert truck the goal is different. The truck is built with a different set of goals in mind and races under a different set of circumstances. It is also heavier. I believe that the cage design is very safe yet will yeild and absorb impact in a very severe crash.

That all being said, the bend is not needed. We just like it there. Plus it will help protect the lights when they are flipped down.

[Moss2]

Thanks for the explanation, I know you guys build a lot of chassis and must see a lot of crash damages with all the short course cars. I like to see a strong cage design that has some weaker spots in points like the bumpers and points farther from your body too. Some of the cars seem so stout now that are fully built and triangulated all the way around. It is like being strapped to a giant tuning fork being hit with a hammer in a crash. Few other race organizations seem to build cars without crumple zones now.

[straightaxle]

It sounds like you guys have thought through the design quite a bit already, as long as SCORE tech is in agreement. We leave the bend in the track bars so that the bar bends instead of the frame or axle mount in a really hard hit. You do have to agree there is a serious issue with the design of the rear diagonals in the picture below, and that's what we worry about with less experienced builders thinking this is OK.

[erikshallbetter]

Weekend Update:

-Got seats welded in.
-Mockup dash is done and tacked in, guage layout was good and we are onto the final dash.
-Radiator mounts built and installed
-Front fender mounts built and takced on
-Body "hung" and mounts layed out and being fabricated.

Rick or I should be posting pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

[erikshallbetter]

Here are the pics...

[TotalPozerRaceing]

updates?

[TimmyD]

Very Clean and to the Point Build. Do you Have any extra pics of the Dash build? I need to tear mine out and build.

[locopny]

like the progress. enjoy the updates..

gotta keep checking in this winter as I hope to really tear into my build again.

[SickRick]

Just some overall pics.

[SickRick]

Bumpers and Light bar are next.

[fj40]

I like the dash, very clean and functional.
Great work!!!

[Blanco]

Where you mounting your GPS screen?

[SickRick]

Where you mounting your GPS screen?

Just above the Passenger side Handle Bar. We are not going to Build it into the dash.

[dhjeepgeek]

It sounds like you guys have thought through the design quite a bit already, as long as SCORE tech is in agreement. We leave the bend in the track bars so that the bar bends instead of the frame or axle mount in a really hard hit. You do have to agree there is a serious issue with the design of the rear diagonals in the picture below, and that's what we worry about with less experienced builders thinking this is OK.

Is that pic of the 8100 truck that cooked at the 08 V2R, The guys from north carolina or some place like that. Their first desert race, probably the last.

[SickRick]

Pics of the Light Bar and Engine.
Light bar will hold five 9 Inch lights.
Engine is a 351w with Victor Jr heads and Intake, Forged Flat top pistons, Roller cam and Davis Unified Ignition (DUI).

[95_FSB]

Update...it looks like its coming along great! Cant wait to see testing vids

[4x4dudester]

How is the project coming??