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Amphibious HEMTT

So I installed some more sound proofing in the cab.

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I got some SS return springs from McMaster to complete my electric E-brake.

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I havent tested the E-brake on a grade yet, but it seems to really lock up the tires. If I have the diesel shut down where I can hear this actuator, it makes a normal sound while it tightens up. The tires can’t be turned by hand fairly early, then it makes different sound while it bears down on the cables. Once it gets to that point, you can’t move the cables. (That are normally flexible)

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Got some rubber mat for the front foot wells. I figured carpet would get wrecked there.

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I had a setback on installing the seats. I have to install the seatbelts first and found the mount tabs were bent the wrong way. I tried to bend them back and they broke off. Grrrrrr. I bought them years ago. I called and the manufactor Said they would fix em. Off in the mail. Still need to get some Velcro to stick the carpet down some places.
 
So I took the truck out yesterday for a New Years drive. I stayed mostly on the dirt roads and just had some fun.

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Tested a couple things. One of the main things is the electric E-brake. I parked on this hill and switched it on. Put it in neutral and got to take this pic.

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Then I left it in neutral and just switched off the brake and back I rolled. That’s probably not a legal grade, but I’m calling it a success.

Driving around, I found that the AC can freeze you out on full blast. (It wasn’t real hot out, though) The EGT would hang out around 800 while just cruising and would go up to 1000 on exceleration. If I floored it, it would go to 1300. Don’t think that’s good, but it gets going pretty fast if I do that, so I have to back off. The boost was between 20 and 25 most times. With all the sound proofing it’s not too bad, but you’re not going to forget there’s a Cummins back there.

My water temp gauge was reading around 205, but when I got out and checked the fans, only one was on. (Both should be on if the water is over 200.) So I’m guessing my sender is in the hottest part of the cooling system. The fan switches are on the exit of the radiator. As I recall, one turns on at 190 and the other at 200. Maybe if one fan is on, the other will never see 200. not sure if this is good or not.

Oil pressure is 60 psi driving around, but goes down to about 20 at idle. Not sure if that’s good either.

My steps stayed up, so I guess the furniture snaps work.

It felt very controllable on the dirt road as long as nobody was coming the other way. I had to slow way down when passing because the steering is not so precise when there’s not much room. Most times I ended up putting two tires in the ditch or even up on the bank. I’m sure the people passing me thought I was nuts. All and all, it was a fun day.
 
So I installed my “billet” trac bar mount. You can see my old fabbed one next to it here. The welded one would probably be ok, but didn’t trust my welding for that part. The new one took me awhile to machine, but I like it.

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I installed some snaps on the rear of the old canvas cover to finish off the back. I was thinking of making some kind of zipper in panel on the back, but too much work for something I’m probably going to have remade by a professional later.

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You can see the snaps from the outside.

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First pics with the paint and canvas.

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I drove it some and didn’t have any problem seeing out the center rear view mirror. I should say, I didnt see any worse out the mirror. (You can’t see shit with or without the canvas.

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I thought about painting some green on to tie it in, but I think not.

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I only got a few more things to do on it.

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The build turned out so sick. Thanks for taking the time to document and share!

Please post your next build too!!:beer:
 
gt1guy said:
It looks fantastic. You've done a great job.
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rattle_snake said:
Great finish to a long build.

What's the next project?
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Wisconsinite said:
The build turned out so sick. Thanks for taking the time to document and share!

Please post your next build too!!:beer:
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Thanks guys. I’m not finished yet, but dam close. Of course, after I drive it some, I would like to get back to the amphibious part. Not sure though. Also not sure about the next project either. I wouldn’t mind getting on this.

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It’s just a lawn ornament now, but it would be fun to make it run.
 
WaterH said:
Thanks guys. I’m not finished yet, but dam close. Of course, after I drive it some, I would like to get back to the amphibious part. Not sure though. Also not sure about the next project either. I wouldn’t mind getting on this.

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It’s just a lawn ornament now, but it would be fun to make it run.
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Do eet. Off-road Batmobile.
 
You have great taste in yard art.

The cab doesn't appear to be much different than what you've built.

Or is that an actual HEMTT? I honestly don't know.
 
gt1guy said:
You have great taste in yard art.

The cab doesn't appear to be much different than what you've built.

Or is that an actual HEMTT? I honestly don't know.
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An actual HEMTT is much larger. (like20,000 lbs.)

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A friend of mine found it sitting on the side of the road next to a five ton. (Both yard art) It turned out to be owned by a woman that I knew. (She was a widow, her husband owned it) I was able to buy it at scrap prices.

It is a prototype weapon carrier. It use to carry a Vulcan anti aircraft gun. I Believe they only made around 20 of them. The military ended up not buying them in bulk. I’m sure the military paid millions for this. It is very high tech and Has several patients. The main claim to fame was that it is “skid steer” , but more controllable so it can be driven at high speed on roads safely. Of course, someone took the steering system out. So if I want to make it run, I will have to make it conventional skid steer.

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There was a lot of junk in the field behind the five ton. I looked all through it and didn’t find one of these.

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If it had the steering that made it road drivable that seems like it would be a badass little truck for within "not too much highway" distances.
 
So today I got plates and insurance. Took my first legal drive on road. Woohoo.

First stop, gas station.

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First problem, a diesel fuel nozzle will not fit in my filler neck. The neck is from a boat and has diesel cast right in. I could only insert the nozzle about 3/4”. Took awhile to fill like that and I still spilled a bunch. I only put in a $100. I guess it will take $200 to fill. I’m going to modify the filler neck or make something to attach on the nozzle in the future.

While filling it I had my first stranger come up and say “nice truck”. He didn’t ask any questions. A short time after leaving the station, I pulled in to a lot where a guy was selling military generators and trailers. I wouldn’t mind getting one of the trailers for my generator. Anyways, this guy went bananas over the truck. He wanted to buy it or rent it to sit in front of his lot to draw people. We talked for a while and found that we knew a lot of the same people. He told me he will sell my VW bug on his lot. I’ve been trying to sell it for awhile, so that was a good contact.

Next stop, the scrap yard to weigh it.

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What a pig! I don’t know if you can see the scale, but it was 6740 lbs. with 1/2 tank of fuel. So much for building light.

I was driving around 57 mph. Most of the time. It feels like a comfortable cruising speed. The EGT was running just under 1000. If I got it up to 63, it would run almost 1200. If I put my foot in it, it would go to 1300. I’m not too happy with that. I don’t think 1300 is too high for a short burst, but 1200 is too high for cruising. I may have to keep it under 60 until I get a inter cooler installed. I have one and made some provisions for it. But it will require some fab work.

Im going to drive it more to see what else needs done.
 
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Were you using the larger high flow nozzle? I've never bought diesel in Florida, but here the larger stations have a separate area for commercial trucks with the big nozzles, and smaller nozzle diesel pumps with the gas pumps.
 
AK_F250 said:
Were you using the larger high flow nozzle? I've never bought diesel in Florida, but here the larger stations have a separate area for commercial trucks with the big nozzles, and smaller nozzle diesel pumps with the gas pumps.
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Yes, this was for large trucks. It really flowed fast for how little I squeezed the handle. I’m glad you told me. I had no idea. I’ve never had a diesel truck before. Thanks.
 
My TDI will take the big nozzle stock. 15G tank takes about 30 sec to fill LOL.
 
WaterH said:
Next stop, the scrap yard to weigh it.

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What a pig! I don’t know if you can see the scale, but it was 6740 lbs. with 1/2 tank of fuel. So much for building light.

I was driving around 57 mph. Most of the time. It feels like a comfortable cruising speed. The EGT was running just under 1000. If I got it up to 63, it would run almost 1200. If I put my foot in it, it would go to 1300. I’m not too happy with that. I don’t think 1300 is too high for a short burst, but 1200 is too high for cruising. I may have to keep it under 60 until I get a inter cooler installed. I have one and made some provisions for it. But it will require some fab work.

Im going to drive it more to see what else needs done.
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It weighs the same as my Bronco/camper :laughing::smokin:

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We’ll shit, that’s not bad then for a diesel swapped 1 ton bronco with a massive body on top!
 
vetteboy79 said:
Is it just a Bronco on paper for now?
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Yes and no. I got insurance through Haggerty. I was afraid that if I just got insurance on a 92’ Bronco, they might not pay if there was an accident. I gave them the whole story and pics.

As far as the state, the tag office told me I might have trouble with cops, but they don’t have a problem issuing plates. I noticed on my registration, it doesn’t say Bronco anywhere. It says “92 Ford”. In another area, it has a box labeled body, it says “Ute”. I need to look at my other Bronco registration and see what it says. Of course, when the cops run the plates, more info may come up on their computer.

Side note, when I was driving into town, there was a car in front of me going 40. (the speed limit is 55) A cop was coming the other way and he turned into a drive way right in front of that car. The car pulled over right away. I watched in my rear view. He turned around and passed that car and came up behind another car behind me. That car eventually turned off and then he got right on my tail. After a couple miles, the road went into four lanes and he passed me. I was going to a feed store to get some chicken feed. To get there, I go by the back side of the court house. There’s always a bunch of cop cars parked there. Wouldn’t you know it, I go by right at 5 o’clock and there’s a bunch of cops walking out to there cars. (It’s very hard to keep a low profile in this.) They were all looking, but no issue.
 
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CDA 455 II said:
It weighs the same as my Bronco/camper :laughing::smokin:
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Was that as pictured? We’re the tanks in front full?

I know my other Bronco is about 6000, but that’s with all kinds of junk in it. (Winch, tools) It also has 38’s and built diffs. I really thought this aluminum body would be lots lighter. I still plan on a basic tool kit with a receiver winch.
 
I have to say. You figured out how to make a Bronco look good.:flipoff2:

How is the interior noise while rolling down the road?
 
gt1guy said:
I have to say. You figured out how to make a Bronco look good.:flipoff2:

How is the interior noise while rolling down the road?
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With the windows up, it’s not bad. It’s amazing there’s not much tire noise, but the Cummins gets in. I don’t mind the turbo wine right now. Ask me in 20,000 miles.
 
ExWrench said:
Keeping it under 60 mph on those ginormous marshmallows likely helps also.
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I would not describe the tires as marshmallows. Since they are designed for much more weight, (9000lbs. each) they are hard with only 25 psi. But the airbags are another story. I’m not sure on my opinion yet. They definitely make it ride nice. I can glide down a shitty dirt road at 40 mph without a care in the world, but they exaggerate steering inputs with too much body roll. I might need to play with my shock settings.

I just got back from a two hour drive to no where. I checked the tranny temp with a lazar gun. The pan never got over 181 and the rear diff never got over 135. It’s about 70 degrees out today, so those numbers seem low.

I saw during a max excelleration, the boost go to 25 and the EGT go to 1400. Most of the time the boost is around 10 and the EGT is 1000.
 
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