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Amphibious HEMTT

WaterH said:
.

In other news, both relays on the AC fans fried. The fuse is good, the wires are good. The AC worked good all day and failed as we were locating a hotel. Tonite in the hotel parking lot, I wired one fan direct. Those fans are so powerful, I believe it will be fine. I have two 100 amp relays with me, but they are going to have to wait till I get to my friends house.
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OMG wow....

can you try some like this. i think its been mentioned before and there was a reason but cant remember.

1686917314845.png
 
CDA 455 II said:
What dia. is the exhaust pipe?
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3”

chaplinfj60 said:
OMG wow....

can you try some like this. i think its been mentioned before and there was a reason but cant remember.

1686917314845.png
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On this trip, I will install these two 100 amp relays because I have them. They are China made and I don’t have much confidence. When I get back home, I’m probubly going to go extra big wire, fuse and relay. I’m over this shit.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
can you try some like this. i think its been mentioned before and there was a reason but cant remember.
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terrible idea ... he has a problem that if he starts over sizing protection devices could have terrible consequences

have you measured the voltage at the fan plug? you say the wire run is only 4ft, but how far away from the battery is the relay? i suspect you are getting significant voltage drop.


 
CDA 455 II said:
Have you considered a larger dia?

4in would be appropriate.
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2big bronco said:
Id think you would want a larger down pipe, possibly ceramic coated as well as a ceramic coated up pipes
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3” was recommended by the 4BT swap guys.

mobil1syn said:
terrible idea ... he has a problem that if he starts over sizing protection devices could have terrible consequences

have you measured the voltage at the fan plug? you say the wire run is only 4ft, but how far away from the battery is the relay? i suspect you are getting significant voltage drop.


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Have not measured the voltage at the plug. The battery is probably 6’ from the bus bar. It has very large cable on that run. It was sized according to one of those kinds of charts. I’m probably going to oversize everything from that point on.

CDA 455 II said:
WaterH
Are those do-hickys just for holding the sheet metal together temporarily?
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Yes.

Edit, today, another 300 miles. The AC worked great with only one fan wired direct. It was hot, but not Florida Hot. Makes me wonder if I need two fans. The EGTs were good. They still seem high at cruise, but they don’t hardly climb when I hit a hill. I hit one steep hill and the truck slowed to about 57. The gave it some gas and it excellerated confidently and still stayed under 1200.

New problem, I pulled in a rest area to use the can and noticed the tires were hot. Real hot. The tread was kind of shaving off slivers. I checked the pressure and all was good. Kind of scared me, so I slowed down to about 56-58 the last 100 miles. On the up side, my wife and I think it rides better. I guess melting tires ride good.
 
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Pics from the hotel. They wanted me to park out front to draw business. Lol.

A4B59988-C763-41DA-9A81-255F7144DCB4.jpeg


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Got some god pics on the way up, but their on the wife’s phone. I’ll get them later.

Everything went good today. AC worked great. Fuel mileage went down some. (About 13-14 mpg)
 
The first pic is in a spot that I took a pic of my Jaguar XKE many years ago. When I get home I will post that pic.

In other news I saw my first HEMTT from mine today. I’m in up state NY and was driving on I-81 when I saw this Oshkosh truck with flashers on. I don’t know the model, but it is 6 x 6 and maybe a modern 5 ton. Anyways, I passed him and remarked to my wife it is a Oshkosh truck. Then I saw another that was held up in the front on a tow truck. They we’re all sand colored and I wasn’t really looking real close. When I got next to the “towed truck” , I noticed that the tow truck was a HEMTT. The kid driving stuck his hand out and gave me a peace sign. I was so surprised to see it, I forgot to tell my wife to take a pic. Pisses me off now. It would have been hard to get much of a pic, but maybe his cab from mine would have cool. In the front of the convoy was a HUMVEE and that driver didn’t even look at me. I wonder what they thought it was.
 
Firstram said:
You did one hell of a job on that ride, glad you're getting to enjoy it! Even seems wife approved, are you sure she's a real person:flipoff2:
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Thanks, I forgot to mention, when I was loading up at a hotel, this guy came up and started asking questions. I told him the story about the HEMTT on the highway and said I really wanted a pic next to a real one. He says meet him tomorrow outside the gates of Fort Drum and he will bring one out to me. (no pics allowed on base) Of course, I was leaving right then and couldn’t meet him the next day. So he gives me his name and number and tells me he has connections at almost every base in the country. He said if I call him when I get home, he will arrange to get me a HEMTT for pics. Can you believe it? I hope he’s for real.
 
WaterH said:
Thanks, I forgot to mention, when I was loading up at a hotel, this guy came up and started asking questions. I told him the story about the HEMTT on the highway and said I really wanted a pic next to a real one. He says meet him tomorrow outside the gates of Fort Drum and he will bring one out to me. (no pics allowed on base) Of course, I was leaving right then and couldn’t meet him the next day. So he gives me his name and number and tells me he has connections at almost every base in the country. He said if I call him when I get home, he will arrange to get me a HEMTT for pics. Can you believe it? I hope he’s for real.
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Meme caption: "Shrinkage Warning! Wash HEMTT in cold water only" :flipoff2:

But seriously, glad it's serving you well & that would be a bitchin' photo - doo eet! :bounce2:
 
I'm with everyone else. It's been a blast watching you build it. It's even better watching you enjoy it.


Well done Sir:beer:


After seeing it next to the tank.......you need a mini gun sticking out the back of yours. Don't say no too quick, let it sink in a bit.:flipoff2:
 
gt1guy said:
I'm with everyone else. It's been a blast watching you build it. It's even better watching you enjoy it.


Well done Sir:beer:


After seeing it next to the tank.......you need a mini gun sticking out the back of yours. Don't say no too quick, let it sink in a bit.:flipoff2:
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Ive seriously been thinking about making a replica mini-gun. I have most of it worked out in my head. The tough part is the ammo guides. Dam hard to make something look real there. I’ve also thought about how to make a hidden gun inside it so it wouldn’t be completely fake. Hate to have someone call my bluff and not have a gun. Lol.

I know, my brain is probably not right.
 
If you come up this way you better stop at my shithole and play with antique machine tools.
 
Grendel said:
I think you know this... I have a bunch of mil vehicles.

Including a real one.

Drive it here, you can take pics with any of mine. :flipoff2:
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Damb, I knew you had a bunch of mil vehicles. I did not know you had a HEMTT. Now I’m in South Carolina on my way back. It will have to be next trip.
 
So back home now. Have list of things to do before next trip, but truck worked pretty good. The AC works with one fan great anywhere north of GA. Once I got down off the mts and in the mid 90s, was a little lacking. I think the biggest issue is hot air leaking in the doors.

The EGTs are high, but not stopping me from going 60-65. That’s as fast as I want to go in this.

The biggest issue is the melting tires at speeds over 58 when it’s hot. Look at this.

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Not sure if you can see it. The recessed lugs are worn more than the outer lug. This is front tire, so maybe allienment is some of it. The rear is also worn, but not as bad.

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I think I lost a 1/16” or more in 2000 miles.
 
I'd cross-rotate or at least front-to-back swap the tires now and every time you reach that amount of tread wear. Running on the rear will help level out the tread blocks, and you'll have more uniform tires on the steering axle. I've seen BFG ATs wear funky beyond desirable on road when not rotated, and I'm guessing it would suck to have to replace 2 or 4 of those balloons before getting your $ worth out of them.

EDIT: can you take a shot of the entire tread width on a front tire? We might be able to hip-shot your alignment ails, or at least have a good argument about it. My wild-ass guess is those jumbo meats are forcing it to be toed out somewhat and that's scrubbing the tires. I've set my front toe out a tad in the past to prevent death wobble (it worked in that case) until I could fix a loose suspension joint.
 
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