Thank you all!
We are officially registered to race Crandon Labor Day weekend for the first race. Started some race prep this past weekend.
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Legends Class 4800 Build - "Tinkerita"
- Thread starter FSU Off-Road
- Start date
We are officially registered to race Crandon Labor Day weekend for the first race. Started some race prep this past weekend.
straight to the deep end, nicely done.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Nothing like a first race at "the big house"!
Keep it in one piece and participate in the 4800 Knockout Racing to win some extra $$$.
Yes, The Big House... I've definitely went to the deep end first! But better than KOH which I did in 21'. Not advised!
As we approach our first race, there are still a few things to address. #1 I don't have a winch installed. So that's where this journey begins. A few weeks back, I started working on this in preparation for another outing. Typically this would be a super quick install, however the TMR Customs winch bracket that I cut up and made work within the chassis doesn't utilize the narrower mounting points which I need. In order to use our Warn 9.0RC, I needed to add some material to make the mounting locations stronger. I predrilled my new mounting holes that way I didn't have any issues after I welded things together. Made some quick filler plates for each side and away I went. I wanted to keep the capabilities to winch directly down just in case as well. After a little welding both on top and bottom, I cleaned everything up, drilled out the small holes, and got the winch installed.
Since I pre-ran the wiring from the in-cab controls, all I had to do was hook everything up from an electrical side. This made quick work of the overall install.
Like I said, this was all done in order to take it out again. There was a small Jeep Festival locally here and I wanted to take it, and then our plans were to go riding after the event was over. So we loaded it up again and down the road I went. To my surprise (not really) there wasn't many built rigs to be used and abused. Therefore we won our first trophy with it, best off-road build!
All in all it was a great time with the family and we did meet a lot of cool people. But the true fun was ahead of us as we went back to Uwharrie to hit the other trails we missed last trip. We also met up with a Willys owner that showed us all what they were truly built for. That thing went everywhere! After multiple hours of riding, jumping, crawling, we set up camp and stayed the night.
Once I got back home and got everything unloaded, I officially started the countdown to Crandon. One of the biggest hurdles was/is TIME! After taking Tinkerita out a couple of times, I knew I needed to act fast to get everything prepped and 100% ready. Before starting the race prep, I needed to focus on the fiberglass. I also needed to have access to the brake reservoirs, so I cut out the fiberglass to make a secondary panel. I then finished the bondo work on the corners, middle and on the hood. After a few hours of sanding, I primered over the bondo, and finish sanded everything. Not being a body panel guy, I surprised myself.
All of this was in order to get this thing wrapped. So after getting the body work done, I called in reinforcements to help with the race prep. Of the list, we were able to knock out a few important things. Although I have a few additional things to address, we're on our way to getting this thing 100% ready for The Big House.
As we approach our first race, there are still a few things to address. #1 I don't have a winch installed. So that's where this journey begins. A few weeks back, I started working on this in preparation for another outing. Typically this would be a super quick install, however the TMR Customs winch bracket that I cut up and made work within the chassis doesn't utilize the narrower mounting points which I need. In order to use our Warn 9.0RC, I needed to add some material to make the mounting locations stronger. I predrilled my new mounting holes that way I didn't have any issues after I welded things together. Made some quick filler plates for each side and away I went. I wanted to keep the capabilities to winch directly down just in case as well. After a little welding both on top and bottom, I cleaned everything up, drilled out the small holes, and got the winch installed.
Since I pre-ran the wiring from the in-cab controls, all I had to do was hook everything up from an electrical side. This made quick work of the overall install.
Like I said, this was all done in order to take it out again. There was a small Jeep Festival locally here and I wanted to take it, and then our plans were to go riding after the event was over. So we loaded it up again and down the road I went. To my surprise (not really) there wasn't many built rigs to be used and abused. Therefore we won our first trophy with it, best off-road build!
All in all it was a great time with the family and we did meet a lot of cool people. But the true fun was ahead of us as we went back to Uwharrie to hit the other trails we missed last trip. We also met up with a Willys owner that showed us all what they were truly built for. That thing went everywhere! After multiple hours of riding, jumping, crawling, we set up camp and stayed the night.
Once I got back home and got everything unloaded, I officially started the countdown to Crandon. One of the biggest hurdles was/is TIME! After taking Tinkerita out a couple of times, I knew I needed to act fast to get everything prepped and 100% ready. Before starting the race prep, I needed to focus on the fiberglass. I also needed to have access to the brake reservoirs, so I cut out the fiberglass to make a secondary panel. I then finished the bondo work on the corners, middle and on the hood. After a few hours of sanding, I primered over the bondo, and finish sanded everything. Not being a body panel guy, I surprised myself.
All of this was in order to get this thing wrapped. So after getting the body work done, I called in reinforcements to help with the race prep. Of the list, we were able to knock out a few important things. Although I have a few additional things to address, we're on our way to getting this thing 100% ready for The Big House.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Good to see an update and nothing like having to install a working winch for a true short course race!
There has been much anticipation around here with my buddies as I, as I dropped off the race Jeep this past week to get it wrapped. The wife and I came to an agreement long ago that she would have the final say so on what it would look like before we take it to the track. I was a little concerned, however Neil at Routh Signs did an amazing job at getting this thing all wrapped and ready for the Big House. It was one thing to see the renderings, however it's totally different seeing it in person! If you miss us, it's because you weren't watching lol.
After getting it home, the final part of the race prep was to begin. Unfortunately I didn't have the help I was expecting, so to say the least I didn't sleep much this past weekend. Aside from standard prep stuff, nut/bolt checks, fluids, etc. I had to address a few issues. 1. To date, I haven't put together any new race totes for the new build. Therefore I worked on that... prior to picking up the Jeep from Routh Signs.
2. Harness issues... due to the design of the Corbeau harnesses, I wasn't able to get them tight enough with the seats. Therefore I had to remove them and install another set where they tighten close to the buckles. I went with Zamp 2" x 3" for the hans device. After getting them installed, I had to get them adjusted. No issues now with a tight belt.
3. I needed to address the leaking brake master cylinder. It was my fault it failed since I didn't bleed them correctly. Instead of installing a rebuild, I wanted to replace it with a larger bore to get a little better pedal response. So the journey started with me replacing the masters, since I was that far, I converted my soft lines back to hard lines with -3 fittings, and finished them off with a proper bleeding.
4. After going over the U4 safety inspection, I wanted to button up a few small holes in the fire wall with the trans tunnel. Therefore I removed the trans tunnel, installed some heat shield and aluminum tape, and reinstalled everything for the last time.
5. After working through all of those issues, it was time to address the darkness to come with the night race. Although I have some KC headlights, I wanted to make sure I had some lights for the sides. I picked up some KC Flex for the A pillar. It was easy to install the one, however the hard part was getting them to match. Then having to re-wire everything because the supplied wiring loom was horrible. All in all, we'll have all the light we need.
6. After completing the light install, it was officially time to go over everything one last time as I put the skins back on. After adding blue loctite here, and a few zip ties there, putting the safety gear back on it, Tinkerita was put all back together and ready for the road.
Won't be long now and we'll be loaded up and headed to the Big House in Crandon.
After getting it home, the final part of the race prep was to begin. Unfortunately I didn't have the help I was expecting, so to say the least I didn't sleep much this past weekend. Aside from standard prep stuff, nut/bolt checks, fluids, etc. I had to address a few issues. 1. To date, I haven't put together any new race totes for the new build. Therefore I worked on that... prior to picking up the Jeep from Routh Signs.
2. Harness issues... due to the design of the Corbeau harnesses, I wasn't able to get them tight enough with the seats. Therefore I had to remove them and install another set where they tighten close to the buckles. I went with Zamp 2" x 3" for the hans device. After getting them installed, I had to get them adjusted. No issues now with a tight belt.
3. I needed to address the leaking brake master cylinder. It was my fault it failed since I didn't bleed them correctly. Instead of installing a rebuild, I wanted to replace it with a larger bore to get a little better pedal response. So the journey started with me replacing the masters, since I was that far, I converted my soft lines back to hard lines with -3 fittings, and finished them off with a proper bleeding.
4. After going over the U4 safety inspection, I wanted to button up a few small holes in the fire wall with the trans tunnel. Therefore I removed the trans tunnel, installed some heat shield and aluminum tape, and reinstalled everything for the last time.
5. After working through all of those issues, it was time to address the darkness to come with the night race. Although I have some KC headlights, I wanted to make sure I had some lights for the sides. I picked up some KC Flex for the A pillar. It was easy to install the one, however the hard part was getting them to match. Then having to re-wire everything because the supplied wiring loom was horrible. All in all, we'll have all the light we need.
6. After completing the light install, it was officially time to go over everything one last time as I put the skins back on. After adding blue loctite here, and a few zip ties there, putting the safety gear back on it, Tinkerita was put all back together and ready for the road.
Won't be long now and we'll be loaded up and headed to the Big House in Crandon.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Looks awesome!
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2020
- Member Number
- 1745
- Messages
- 485
Good luck dude. Just remember, take a deep breath and calm yourself before you take off. It is insanely rushed at Crandon with all the different classes and it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not in the right headspace at the start line. Just go into it knowing it’s going to be hectic, and don’t be afraid to be cautious and slow feeling the car out. The jumps are no fawking joke out there. Doing 80+ sliding around turn 1 down the hill into the first two jumps is still one of the craziest motorsports things I’ve done to date. I’m hoping they’ve changed how that first few turns go for Ultra4 because it’s dangerous and sketchy for open wheel cars. Bring stickers and swag to the parade, they have a fantastic turnout with a TON of fans.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2020
- Member Number
- 1745
- Messages
- 485
Looks like that TMR 4800 car is working pretty good, he got 5th in practice/qualifying so far
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Pink is definitely easy to find out on the race course!
Last edited:
How’d your first race go? I only had tire contact with one car out there and it was a fellow Irate Milestar giving me the fist 👊 bump
WaterH
Well-known member
No washers under the lock washers on front two bolts. Fail.I cleaned everything up, drilled out the small holes, and got the winch installed.
Just kidding. Nice work.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
FSU Off-Road hows about an update for us?
HAHA! Had to work with what I had at the time. I have all matching bolts and washers now on there.
Bebop
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Member Number
- 1458
- Messages
- 4,847
Never put washers under lock washers. I thought that was the rule.
WaterH
Well-known member
So why the washers under the back two?
Bebop
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Member Number
- 1458
- Messages
- 4,847
I mean, people make mistakes all the time
Sorry everyone, I know this has been long awaited. A lot has happened personally since we returned from The Big House, but things have stabilized now and hopefully I'll get back to enjoying race car things and social media stuff.
Prior to leaving, I did take some pictures of Tinkerita all ready and of course, loaded up on the way! Thankful for a great support system and team that we have in place. We were able to take the toterhome and stacker trailer to have some creature comforts. Was a tight squeeze, but we made it work. Very thankful for this because this came in handy at Crandon. None the less, 18 hours later we arrived and started the unloading process.
To date, we've never had the opportunity to have these comforts, so it was a huge blessing to have at Crandon. I didn't realize how far we jumped into the deep end until we got there. If anyone ever gets the chance to go, do it! It's literally a mini Hammers and a huge event for the area. Absolutely awesome as a driver and a spectator. Regardless, we made it through tech with no issues and were tagged to go race. After doing some adjustments, we were off on our first practice session. Thankfully it started out slow, because I wasn't prepared for the full-on assault that was to unfold. The car handled very well and the faster I drove it in the rocks, the better the suspension worked. Was on the very last lap where our first issue would arise, on the homestretch rocks, the throttle cable came off the pedal leaving me stranded. Thankfully it was the last lap and an easy fix. The crew towed me back to camp so we could fix the minor issue.
Thankfully it was a quick fix as our second practice was qualifying for the Friday afternoon short course race. As posted earlier on the thread, we did well for our first time qualifying. The more seat time I got in the car, the more comfortable it became which allowed me to go faster and faster each lap. I was pleased with our standing and we as a team were excited about what was to come!
One of the coolest things about the Cradon experience was the parade before the racing started. I'm glad we decided to partake. Not only did we get to meet a lot of cool people, but we were able to make some key connections for the 2024 season!
Now for the good stuff... I wish I could say things went perfect for our first race but that was 100% not the case. At the very start of the race, we made tire contact on takeoff which punted me sideways and put me in a bad starting position right out of the gate. I wasn't able to have that desired clean space on the track with the faster guys, so we had to push pretty hard in the rocks to make up some time. As most of you saw, around lap 3 we got a rear flat that slowed us down, but I refused to stop! I believe we made it 4 or so laps on the flat before total destruction to the car. Coming out of the homestretch rocks, I nailed the lower skid plate with one of the boulders which unfortunately bent up the lower link bracket which in return bent the crossover tube up enough to crack the transmission pan, puking ATF all over the place. Luckily my spotter noticed the fumes right away and I was able to limp it off the track on the backside. The track crew towed me to the start line where we could assess the damage.
I'm not sure how most people would react busting up their car, but I was so stoked about what we had just accomplished. The first time racing the car was and unbelievable moment and I was so ecstatic to say the least. When the team drove up, they weren't 100% sure how I would react, but I believe my smiling face said it all, which I know eased the situation. And having so many locals come up after the race praising the pink leopard print car as something I'll never forget.
The car did have a lot of damage though and we knew we only had 24hrs to get it back to the starting line for the night race. We changed the busted wheel and towed it back to camp. This is where the stacker trailer was a life saver as we winched the car into the trailer and raised it up. Once we were able to assess the damage, we strategically came up with a game plan on what we were to do. After a little bit of work to get things torn apart, we called it a night as we didn't have what we needed to fix it. The next morning came early as well all had our jobs to get Tinkerita back up and running. Half the team worked on the coilovers and the broken pieces, others chased down parts, as the rest of us focused on the transmission and getting a replacement pan in there. Was a very long exhausting day, but with just a little bit if time to spare, Tinkerita was able to make it to the starting line once more.
Our goal at this point was to go out and have fun! We started near the back due to our overall finish with the Friday night race, so we just wanted to run our race and see what would happen. Unfortunately, there was scary rollover at the beginning of the race that took place right in front of me. I'm thankful Anthony was able to walk away, however the car was a totaled mess (we saw it later). After that, the second restart was a little tougher due to watching that happen. My goal was to keep it clean and that's exactly what we did. Starting in nearly the very back we were able to work our way to 9th overall before the D300 let loose on the last lap, leaving me down on the homestretch for the last time. Luckily, I was able to drive it out in 2WD and drive it back onto the trailer. For our first race, I was so happy with our 6th in class and 12th overall finish at The Big House. We faced a lot of adversity and not once did the team get discouraged. I'm happy to have surrounded myself around a bunch of guys that are positive and love this sport as much as I do. I truly couldn't have done it without them.
There's a lot more to come, so stay tuned.
Prior to leaving, I did take some pictures of Tinkerita all ready and of course, loaded up on the way! Thankful for a great support system and team that we have in place. We were able to take the toterhome and stacker trailer to have some creature comforts. Was a tight squeeze, but we made it work. Very thankful for this because this came in handy at Crandon. None the less, 18 hours later we arrived and started the unloading process.
To date, we've never had the opportunity to have these comforts, so it was a huge blessing to have at Crandon. I didn't realize how far we jumped into the deep end until we got there. If anyone ever gets the chance to go, do it! It's literally a mini Hammers and a huge event for the area. Absolutely awesome as a driver and a spectator. Regardless, we made it through tech with no issues and were tagged to go race. After doing some adjustments, we were off on our first practice session. Thankfully it started out slow, because I wasn't prepared for the full-on assault that was to unfold. The car handled very well and the faster I drove it in the rocks, the better the suspension worked. Was on the very last lap where our first issue would arise, on the homestretch rocks, the throttle cable came off the pedal leaving me stranded. Thankfully it was the last lap and an easy fix. The crew towed me back to camp so we could fix the minor issue.
Thankfully it was a quick fix as our second practice was qualifying for the Friday afternoon short course race. As posted earlier on the thread, we did well for our first time qualifying. The more seat time I got in the car, the more comfortable it became which allowed me to go faster and faster each lap. I was pleased with our standing and we as a team were excited about what was to come!
One of the coolest things about the Cradon experience was the parade before the racing started. I'm glad we decided to partake. Not only did we get to meet a lot of cool people, but we were able to make some key connections for the 2024 season!
Now for the good stuff... I wish I could say things went perfect for our first race but that was 100% not the case. At the very start of the race, we made tire contact on takeoff which punted me sideways and put me in a bad starting position right out of the gate. I wasn't able to have that desired clean space on the track with the faster guys, so we had to push pretty hard in the rocks to make up some time. As most of you saw, around lap 3 we got a rear flat that slowed us down, but I refused to stop! I believe we made it 4 or so laps on the flat before total destruction to the car. Coming out of the homestretch rocks, I nailed the lower skid plate with one of the boulders which unfortunately bent up the lower link bracket which in return bent the crossover tube up enough to crack the transmission pan, puking ATF all over the place. Luckily my spotter noticed the fumes right away and I was able to limp it off the track on the backside. The track crew towed me to the start line where we could assess the damage.
I'm not sure how most people would react busting up their car, but I was so stoked about what we had just accomplished. The first time racing the car was and unbelievable moment and I was so ecstatic to say the least. When the team drove up, they weren't 100% sure how I would react, but I believe my smiling face said it all, which I know eased the situation. And having so many locals come up after the race praising the pink leopard print car as something I'll never forget.
The car did have a lot of damage though and we knew we only had 24hrs to get it back to the starting line for the night race. We changed the busted wheel and towed it back to camp. This is where the stacker trailer was a life saver as we winched the car into the trailer and raised it up. Once we were able to assess the damage, we strategically came up with a game plan on what we were to do. After a little bit of work to get things torn apart, we called it a night as we didn't have what we needed to fix it. The next morning came early as well all had our jobs to get Tinkerita back up and running. Half the team worked on the coilovers and the broken pieces, others chased down parts, as the rest of us focused on the transmission and getting a replacement pan in there. Was a very long exhausting day, but with just a little bit if time to spare, Tinkerita was able to make it to the starting line once more.
Our goal at this point was to go out and have fun! We started near the back due to our overall finish with the Friday night race, so we just wanted to run our race and see what would happen. Unfortunately, there was scary rollover at the beginning of the race that took place right in front of me. I'm thankful Anthony was able to walk away, however the car was a totaled mess (we saw it later). After that, the second restart was a little tougher due to watching that happen. My goal was to keep it clean and that's exactly what we did. Starting in nearly the very back we were able to work our way to 9th overall before the D300 let loose on the last lap, leaving me down on the homestretch for the last time. Luckily, I was able to drive it out in 2WD and drive it back onto the trailer. For our first race, I was so happy with our 6th in class and 12th overall finish at The Big House. We faced a lot of adversity and not once did the team get discouraged. I'm happy to have surrounded myself around a bunch of guys that are positive and love this sport as much as I do. I truly couldn't have done it without them.
There's a lot more to come, so stay tuned.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Appreciate it! Was a heck of a good time.
As of right now, we are a YES for KOH24. Working on a few updates which I'll share in the near future, but KOH24 is next on our race schedule.
Yes we were... not anymore. Lessons learned.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
put foam in between the skid and pans. this keep debis/rocks getting in there and potentially putting holes in pans when you use the skid plate.
keep up the positive attitude, excited to see you drop the hammer at KOH
Yes, thank you for the input. We had a pretty in-depth conversation with Paul Wolff regarding this exact thing after the race.
00nissanguy
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 698
- Messages
- 152
Exact thing happened to my sxs years ago. Ended up costing me a $3500 motor after the oil drained out before I knew it
As noted, there is a lot going on with the car right now. When we got back to NC, there was no rush on getting the car unloaded; we knew there was a lot of work to be done in order to get it ready again. Knowing we weren't going to race Nationals, all of our focus has been on improvements, fixing the knowns, and preparing for KOH24. We've had a couple of work weekends with the car now and have solutions for each.
First things first, we needed to go over the car and see what all was damaged and inspect everything closely. Thankfully we had a few guys come help with this, which made disassembly of the car much easier.
As you may have noticed, while disassembling the powertrain, we went ahead and cut out the mangled crossover tube. Made for an easier disassembly. We already knew this was going to be something we did as we needed to beef this crossover tube up for the future. The goal is to utilize 1/4" rectangle tubing in its place to add strength and protect everything in the future. You can see the overall idea below and to make sure everything would fit, we went ahead and put the transmission back in to verify.
Again, it's close to the pan, just as the original tube was, however I had some ideas to make this work better for us. With a solution to fix the crossover tube, we disassembled the Colossus case to see what went wrong. Didn't take long to see that the D300 gears didn't hold up to the abuse from Crandon. All of the front gears were broken, leaving us with only 2wd. So, I searched the good old marketplace for some spares. Luckily, I was able to find a replacement D300 with a spare set of gears and rebuilt the case after a good cleaning and thorough inspection.
After the rebuild, I focused on the crossover tube again. In order to create a little space, I notched the rectangular tube for the trans pan. This will allow us some extra space for removing the pan if needed in the future as well as running into the same clearance issue. Not only did the notch help with clearance, but I was also able to internally gusset this area as well making for a stronger center section. With a couple of scrap pieces, I was able to close it all back up and get it ready for the link mounts and carrier bearing mount. I reused some old link mounts for the front, grinding away a little material for them to set flush on the rectangular tube versus round tube. As for the carrier bearing mount, the original design was based off two separate round tubes, with the rectangular tube, I was able to put both mounts on this crossover tube. This allowed me to have a better gusset in between making this mount much stronger to any loads. The only thing I need to add are the tube clamps for the skid plates.
All we have to do now is install the crossover tube and get it welded in place and we'll be good to go!
Nope, not even close lol.
Now as for the other knowns and issues, we have the following that we are addressing and will need to take care of before KOH!
1. Transmission pan: With the old beaten and bent steel pan (leaked like crazy), we do have a new pan to install. However, we need to re-tap a few bolt holes in order to install the new pan. This was an issue when we installed the pan at Crandon. Simple fix, but still pressing.
2. Belly Pan Height: Unfortunately, this falls on me as I designed the ride height with 40's not 37's. Therefore, the belly sits a little lower than we want. Worked well for Crandon and the short course, however we want to add a couple of inches for the other races. This will also help us with a couple of other issues with max up-travel. Killing two birds I suppose but is going to take some time to redo the suspension.
3. Colossus D300 Case: Although we upgraded everything internally with 32 splines shafts, the gears themselves are not going to hold up. We could convert the gears to JB Conversions 4:1, however we do not need that gearing. Therefore, the D300 is out! We are now going with the Colossus NP205 (I've created a good relationship with Behemoth, and JB Conversions). We will be utilizing the new 3:1 from JB Conversions within the 205 case. All will be here December for install. Until then, we'll put the D300 back in for mobility purposes.
4. Coilovers: As you all are aware, our 2.5" coilovers are not exactly the "go to" when it comes to racing applications with single shocks per corner. They do have adjusters and worked well (I still recommend), but for the longer races and high speeds we would benefit from IBP's more. With that said, I was able to source some 3" IBP's from Fox. With the larger diameter springs, we are going to run into some clearance issues on the chassis I believe. I assume we'll be doing some more tube notching for the 3" IBP's to fit. With that said, they are a little longer than our 2.5", so we're hoping we will be able to utilize the existing mounts without any drastic changes to the mount locations giving us our additional belly height. Fingers crossed. But we will still have to change bump locations and limit strap lengths regardless.
5. Links: With the 2" lowers bananad after one race, I can only image what more races would do. In order to save the chassis alignments, I reached out to Tim at TMR Customs for their new aluminum links. Other than the rear trailing arms, we now have a full set of aluminum links on the way for both the front and the rear.
6. Spare tire carrier: As some of you pointed out, the small material on the tire carrier didn't hold up. Not a problem moving forward. We are now designing a new tire carrier that will not swivel down; however, it will be removable by utilizing tube clamps. It will be more structurally sound and allow us to build a few areas for spares and tools, which is our next big hurdle.
7. With all that KOH brings to the table, spare parts, tools, a jack, etc. are essential! To date, we don't have any of this stuff addressed. We have some good ideas on spares and a tool bag, but we need some more time to figure it all out. This is something we will be working on after we address the other issues.
8. Misc things: There are a few additional things we need to add and fix before KOH. Rock lights, a few Holley adjustments, transmission temp sensor fixed, things like that. Not super pressing, but things we do need for KOH.
YES, I know... it's a lot to address in a little timeframe. Don't remind me! But I assure you, we'll knock it out! KOH 2024 here we come!
Cheers!
First things first, we needed to go over the car and see what all was damaged and inspect everything closely. Thankfully we had a few guys come help with this, which made disassembly of the car much easier.
As you may have noticed, while disassembling the powertrain, we went ahead and cut out the mangled crossover tube. Made for an easier disassembly. We already knew this was going to be something we did as we needed to beef this crossover tube up for the future. The goal is to utilize 1/4" rectangle tubing in its place to add strength and protect everything in the future. You can see the overall idea below and to make sure everything would fit, we went ahead and put the transmission back in to verify.
Again, it's close to the pan, just as the original tube was, however I had some ideas to make this work better for us. With a solution to fix the crossover tube, we disassembled the Colossus case to see what went wrong. Didn't take long to see that the D300 gears didn't hold up to the abuse from Crandon. All of the front gears were broken, leaving us with only 2wd. So, I searched the good old marketplace for some spares. Luckily, I was able to find a replacement D300 with a spare set of gears and rebuilt the case after a good cleaning and thorough inspection.
After the rebuild, I focused on the crossover tube again. In order to create a little space, I notched the rectangular tube for the trans pan. This will allow us some extra space for removing the pan if needed in the future as well as running into the same clearance issue. Not only did the notch help with clearance, but I was also able to internally gusset this area as well making for a stronger center section. With a couple of scrap pieces, I was able to close it all back up and get it ready for the link mounts and carrier bearing mount. I reused some old link mounts for the front, grinding away a little material for them to set flush on the rectangular tube versus round tube. As for the carrier bearing mount, the original design was based off two separate round tubes, with the rectangular tube, I was able to put both mounts on this crossover tube. This allowed me to have a better gusset in between making this mount much stronger to any loads. The only thing I need to add are the tube clamps for the skid plates.
All we have to do now is install the crossover tube and get it welded in place and we'll be good to go!
Nope, not even close lol. Now as for the other knowns and issues, we have the following that we are addressing and will need to take care of before KOH!
1. Transmission pan: With the old beaten and bent steel pan (leaked like crazy), we do have a new pan to install. However, we need to re-tap a few bolt holes in order to install the new pan. This was an issue when we installed the pan at Crandon. Simple fix, but still pressing.
2. Belly Pan Height: Unfortunately, this falls on me as I designed the ride height with 40's not 37's. Therefore, the belly sits a little lower than we want. Worked well for Crandon and the short course, however we want to add a couple of inches for the other races. This will also help us with a couple of other issues with max up-travel. Killing two birds I suppose but is going to take some time to redo the suspension.
3. Colossus D300 Case: Although we upgraded everything internally with 32 splines shafts, the gears themselves are not going to hold up. We could convert the gears to JB Conversions 4:1, however we do not need that gearing. Therefore, the D300 is out! We are now going with the Colossus NP205 (I've created a good relationship with Behemoth, and JB Conversions). We will be utilizing the new 3:1 from JB Conversions within the 205 case. All will be here December for install. Until then, we'll put the D300 back in for mobility purposes.
4. Coilovers: As you all are aware, our 2.5" coilovers are not exactly the "go to" when it comes to racing applications with single shocks per corner. They do have adjusters and worked well (I still recommend), but for the longer races and high speeds we would benefit from IBP's more. With that said, I was able to source some 3" IBP's from Fox. With the larger diameter springs, we are going to run into some clearance issues on the chassis I believe. I assume we'll be doing some more tube notching for the 3" IBP's to fit. With that said, they are a little longer than our 2.5", so we're hoping we will be able to utilize the existing mounts without any drastic changes to the mount locations giving us our additional belly height. Fingers crossed. But we will still have to change bump locations and limit strap lengths regardless.
5. Links: With the 2" lowers bananad after one race, I can only image what more races would do. In order to save the chassis alignments, I reached out to Tim at TMR Customs for their new aluminum links. Other than the rear trailing arms, we now have a full set of aluminum links on the way for both the front and the rear.
6. Spare tire carrier: As some of you pointed out, the small material on the tire carrier didn't hold up. Not a problem moving forward. We are now designing a new tire carrier that will not swivel down; however, it will be removable by utilizing tube clamps. It will be more structurally sound and allow us to build a few areas for spares and tools, which is our next big hurdle.
7. With all that KOH brings to the table, spare parts, tools, a jack, etc. are essential! To date, we don't have any of this stuff addressed. We have some good ideas on spares and a tool bag, but we need some more time to figure it all out. This is something we will be working on after we address the other issues.
8. Misc things: There are a few additional things we need to add and fix before KOH. Rock lights, a few Holley adjustments, transmission temp sensor fixed, things like that. Not super pressing, but things we do need for KOH.
YES, I know... it's a lot to address in a little timeframe. Don't remind me! But I assure you, we'll knock it out! KOH 2024 here we come!
Cheers!
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Cool to read through the upgrade and repair process.