ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
It was super fun to watch. My little dude (3yo) picked the “Monster Buggy” as his favorite and to win too.
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Project: Midnight Panic
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Skipped_Link
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I missed this post earlier,
Yes the Axletech 4000 have quite a bit of camber in them,
Very noticeable with the bigger tires.
For those interested YT is up to speed as of today too.
Wisconsinite
Red Skull Member
This thing is so insane. Absolutley killer job. 
Skipped_Link - Thanks for passing along the vinegar trick to remove mill scale!
Will Scarlet
The universe is vast...
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Does this mean you're going to update your own thread soon...Skipped_Link - Thanks for passing along the vinegar trick to remove mill scale!
This thing is so insane. Absolutley killer job.
Even the fawkin recovery point is a work of art!
WaterH
Well-known member
I hate to bring this up because I don’t have a lot of room to talk, but you really should be waring safety glasses when drilling with a drill press. Those are hot sharp shards coming off a nearly eye level.
Anyways, the receiver is fabulous as usual and the trick with the apple cider is cool. Watching you drive that in to the show had me wondering, do you have a back up camera on that thing? Was that indoor car show air conditioned? Is it hot enough to need it there yet?
Anyways, the receiver is fabulous as usual and the trick with the apple cider is cool. Watching you drive that in to the show had me wondering, do you have a back up camera on that thing? Was that indoor car show air conditioned? Is it hot enough to need it there yet?
Firstram
Well-known member
I love the "Mini Me" Ag transport tires, they are trying so hard to look grown-up 
Beautiful truck, thanks for sharing the build!
Beautiful truck, thanks for sharing the build!
Skipped_Link
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Actually if you look closely I was wearing them, 😉
No backup camera,
I did install some $8 bicycle mirrors, almost more for comedic factor, but turns out, there really pretty functional,
I believe that building may be climate controlled, but it certainly wasn’t warm enough to need AC that weekend.
Pony_Driver
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That thing is nasty. I love it.
Skipped_Link
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Sooooo,,,,,,,,
It looks like I'm going to make a pretty major change in direction,
Or at least I'm about 98% sure that the project is going to change course,
It's getting really close to being finished, so now is the time to find a reason to drag the project out longer, before my wife decides I have time to build a porch or something,
This might be a little long winded, but I'll try my best to explain myself here,
After the local monster truck show here in March, & talking with a few independent owners/drivers, the gears upstairs have really been turning,
I've always been a fan of Monster trucks, not really a "super fan" that knows every driver, who they're driving for, or stats on every truck, Heck I can't even say I take every opportunity possible to go to every semi local show,
But I can pretty easily get locked into MT videos on YouTube, especially behind the scenes stuff, & the thought of driving one on the regular sounds like a dang good time,
I will say that I am not really a huge fan of most of the Monster Jam stuff, there is some wicked talent behind the wheel there, & they do bring the entertainment, but if I have a choice, I'd rather binge watch 90's Penda points racing, (I'm sure this is the unpopular opinion, but I'm just not into the circus tricks)
After the local car show deal I decided I was going to look into sourcing parts, Since the truck was basically built to a form of MT standards & rules, I really mostly just need to upgrade parts, like differentials/planateries/knuckles, steering at the axles, (cylinders & tierods) & obviously tires & wheels,
Standard MT tires are 66x43-25, with 25 inch wheels in an accommodating width. Brand, tread, & ply vary pretty widely
Axles used in a competitive MT are almost always a hybrid axle of some form, consisting of a center chunk much like an over grown Ford 9" that is placed steel housing, either a trussed & reinforced factor housing, or a custom fabricated piece, on each end of the housing is a "flange" where the planetary assembly, or "corner" bolts on, these "corners" are almost always from some form of heavy exuipment & have approximately a 20 ton rating, either Rockwell PS250, Pettibone Super 20 "Pie Pans" or 20 ton Clarks,
The factory housing these corners would come on are normally a very heavy cast part, & I'm willing to bet the gear ratios are very limited, hence the reason for a different center section & housing,
From what I've seen, the most common combination would be, F106 center, in a fabricated housing, using 20 ton Clark corners,
The Clarks seem to be everywhere, & there are even companies making aftermarket parts for them, the down side is they are desirable, so they are expensive, best deal seems to be buying a complete machine for $6-10K, four corners alone average $10-12K
To be honest I do not know much about the Rockwell PS250, other than some people use them, & they are pretty stout,
The Pettibone Pie pans, From what I've read & been told these are the strongest of the three with little modification, the down side for myself is they are not as common on the west coast,
There have been advancements in center sections over the last couple years as well, The F106 has been a staple in the monster truck & pulling community for decades, Unfortunately it has become a weak link when coupled with modern abuse,
Several teams have been switching over to the Rockwell/Meritor 20145 (or one of its interchangeable sisters)
I'm actually surprised I learned about this before having a pair of 106's & housings sitting here,
I believe the best fit for this project & my budget would be a couple 20145 centers, trussed factory housings, & Pettibone Corners,
Within a few hours I had found that the 20145 is readily available on eBay for $750 each in a wide variety of ratios, My local tow company/salvage yard had housings, & Facebook market place alone had 5 sets of Pettibone axles or machines on the west coast ranging in process from $5K to $6500, One seller was even interested in trading for a pair of Axletech 4000 axles!
With the realization of this whole deal being "doable" & even in my budget, I looked in the shop at the truck in it's current state, sitting on a set of 54" MT claws, & had a "WTF are you thinking" moment,
"This thing is perfect as is"
But just like everything else, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it,
The challenge of building the hybrid axles sounds like a fun project, everything is right at my finger tips to pull it off, & who the heck needs a mud truck in the desert?
Allison & I sat down one morning & made a pros & cons list, even though each list was about the same length, the pros really seemed to outweigh the cons,
So I started making a real effort to obtain these parts that I needed, the 20145 centers were easy, "Buy It Now" with free shipping they were on their way,
I reached out to the fella that said he wanted to trade AT4000 for his Pettibones, but I got the feeling I was being ghosted as soon as he found out I was serious,
However, I remembered several years ago when I was building the second version of "Project Pete" I had visited a salvage yard in a neighboring town about 40 miles east, at that time (5 or so years ago) there was a Pettibone crane sitting in there yard. So I paid them a visit with the hopes it was still around. "I've got two cranes getting scrapped in the next week or so"
Sure enough, one of them was the one I was after,
One week & $1100 later I had everything out from under the crane,
If you've ever seen Axletech 4000's you know they're pretty big,
20 ton Pettibones are bigger,
Not to forget the most important part, Tires,
I have a friend that had a set of 66"s on wheels that he was considering getting rid of, I reached out to him, as luck would have it he was actully looking for a set of lighter weight tires to replace his heavy 53" michelins, & I just happened to have a second set of 54" claws & a set of aluminum wheels that would fit his 5 ton Rockwell truck,
A trade was made & I ended up with the tires I need,
The wheels will need recentered, but this combo is a good start,
It looks like I'm going to make a pretty major change in direction,
Or at least I'm about 98% sure that the project is going to change course,
It's getting really close to being finished, so now is the time to find a reason to drag the project out longer, before my wife decides I have time to build a porch or something,
This might be a little long winded, but I'll try my best to explain myself here,
After the local monster truck show here in March, & talking with a few independent owners/drivers, the gears upstairs have really been turning,
I've always been a fan of Monster trucks, not really a "super fan" that knows every driver, who they're driving for, or stats on every truck, Heck I can't even say I take every opportunity possible to go to every semi local show,
But I can pretty easily get locked into MT videos on YouTube, especially behind the scenes stuff, & the thought of driving one on the regular sounds like a dang good time,
I will say that I am not really a huge fan of most of the Monster Jam stuff, there is some wicked talent behind the wheel there, & they do bring the entertainment, but if I have a choice, I'd rather binge watch 90's Penda points racing, (I'm sure this is the unpopular opinion, but I'm just not into the circus tricks)
After the local car show deal I decided I was going to look into sourcing parts, Since the truck was basically built to a form of MT standards & rules, I really mostly just need to upgrade parts, like differentials/planateries/knuckles, steering at the axles, (cylinders & tierods) & obviously tires & wheels,
Standard MT tires are 66x43-25, with 25 inch wheels in an accommodating width. Brand, tread, & ply vary pretty widely
Axles used in a competitive MT are almost always a hybrid axle of some form, consisting of a center chunk much like an over grown Ford 9" that is placed steel housing, either a trussed & reinforced factor housing, or a custom fabricated piece, on each end of the housing is a "flange" where the planetary assembly, or "corner" bolts on, these "corners" are almost always from some form of heavy exuipment & have approximately a 20 ton rating, either Rockwell PS250, Pettibone Super 20 "Pie Pans" or 20 ton Clarks,
The factory housing these corners would come on are normally a very heavy cast part, & I'm willing to bet the gear ratios are very limited, hence the reason for a different center section & housing,
From what I've seen, the most common combination would be, F106 center, in a fabricated housing, using 20 ton Clark corners,
The Clarks seem to be everywhere, & there are even companies making aftermarket parts for them, the down side is they are desirable, so they are expensive, best deal seems to be buying a complete machine for $6-10K, four corners alone average $10-12K
To be honest I do not know much about the Rockwell PS250, other than some people use them, & they are pretty stout,
The Pettibone Pie pans, From what I've read & been told these are the strongest of the three with little modification, the down side for myself is they are not as common on the west coast,
There have been advancements in center sections over the last couple years as well, The F106 has been a staple in the monster truck & pulling community for decades, Unfortunately it has become a weak link when coupled with modern abuse,
Several teams have been switching over to the Rockwell/Meritor 20145 (or one of its interchangeable sisters)
I'm actually surprised I learned about this before having a pair of 106's & housings sitting here,
I believe the best fit for this project & my budget would be a couple 20145 centers, trussed factory housings, & Pettibone Corners,
Within a few hours I had found that the 20145 is readily available on eBay for $750 each in a wide variety of ratios, My local tow company/salvage yard had housings, & Facebook market place alone had 5 sets of Pettibone axles or machines on the west coast ranging in process from $5K to $6500, One seller was even interested in trading for a pair of Axletech 4000 axles!
With the realization of this whole deal being "doable" & even in my budget, I looked in the shop at the truck in it's current state, sitting on a set of 54" MT claws, & had a "WTF are you thinking" moment,
"This thing is perfect as is"
But just like everything else, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it,
The challenge of building the hybrid axles sounds like a fun project, everything is right at my finger tips to pull it off, & who the heck needs a mud truck in the desert?
Allison & I sat down one morning & made a pros & cons list, even though each list was about the same length, the pros really seemed to outweigh the cons,
So I started making a real effort to obtain these parts that I needed, the 20145 centers were easy, "Buy It Now" with free shipping they were on their way,
I reached out to the fella that said he wanted to trade AT4000 for his Pettibones, but I got the feeling I was being ghosted as soon as he found out I was serious,
However, I remembered several years ago when I was building the second version of "Project Pete" I had visited a salvage yard in a neighboring town about 40 miles east, at that time (5 or so years ago) there was a Pettibone crane sitting in there yard. So I paid them a visit with the hopes it was still around. "I've got two cranes getting scrapped in the next week or so"
Sure enough, one of them was the one I was after,
One week & $1100 later I had everything out from under the crane,
If you've ever seen Axletech 4000's you know they're pretty big,
20 ton Pettibones are bigger,
Not to forget the most important part, Tires,
I have a friend that had a set of 66"s on wheels that he was considering getting rid of, I reached out to him, as luck would have it he was actully looking for a set of lighter weight tires to replace his heavy 53" michelins, & I just happened to have a second set of 54" claws & a set of aluminum wheels that would fit his 5 ton Rockwell truck,
A trade was made & I ended up with the tires I need,
The wheels will need recentered, but this combo is a good start,
Skipped_Link
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All this has taken place in the last couple weeks,
In that time the center chunks have been received,
And a pair of stock housings have been located, I am just waiting on a price for those,
On my last day off I took a little time to see what the guts of the Pittibone corners consist of,
It's all big stuff too,
Rzeppa Joint (like a giant Birfield) on the left, the spindle is on the right,
I've probably got a couple weeks of small projects & parts cleaning to do now,
By the time that is done I should have most everything I need to get started on building these hybrids,
In that time the center chunks have been received,
And a pair of stock housings have been located, I am just waiting on a price for those,
On my last day off I took a little time to see what the guts of the Pittibone corners consist of,
It's all big stuff too,
Rzeppa Joint (like a giant Birfield) on the left, the spindle is on the right,
I've probably got a couple weeks of small projects & parts cleaning to do now,
By the time that is done I should have most everything I need to get started on building these hybrids,
WaterH
Well-known member
So I guess the axle techs would bust with those wheels/tires on? Hard to believe. Have you ever hurt one on the monster buggy?
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Well this thread sure just took a turn!!
Drummer79
Red Skull Member
That's awesome! I think I've maybe said this in the past, but I'll say it again. Your amazing fab skills have basically become the focus of why I watch this thread. I kinda lost track of it's intended purpose before...mud racing or something?
It's not far from a monster truck anyway, and the fab work is NASA or Nascar quality. If you make it a monster truck is there like a circuit for that or something? I'm sure I'm out of the loop but I haven't seen any like big monster truck stuff around here in forever. There's still a couple tractor pulls semi local that are part of some circuit but haven't attended in a few years.
Long winded way of asking, what will you do with this beast when it's done? It's badass either way.
I think I've maybe said this in the past, but I'll say it again. Your amazing fab skills have basically become the focus of why I watch this thread. I kinda lost track of it's intended purpose before...mud racing or something?It's not far from a monster truck anyway, and the fab work is NASA or Nascar quality. If you make it a monster truck is there like a circuit for that or something? I'm sure I'm out of the loop but I haven't seen any like big monster truck stuff around here in forever. There's still a couple tractor pulls semi local that are part of some circuit but haven't attended in a few years.
Long winded way of asking, what will you do with this beast when it's done? It's badass either way.
WaterH
Well-known member
I have to say I love monster truck tech, but I can’t say I’ve been impressed by the courses they run. I wish they were bigger and had more than a hump in the middle. Basically, I like the races you run in the monster buggy. I wish they made a course like that for the trucks. But I will follow anything you build.
Levigarrett76
Zeus of the Sluice
I agree with you on the monster trucks, I really enjoyed the 90's style sxs racing, I find it to be too much of a circus now.
You do realize that they are 12,000 lbs right? Its really hard to stop/start/land that heavy of a vehicle from a 20' jump, keep the drivers back in one piece, and the crew has to patch it together for the race the following weekend. Those old drivers who raced on leaf springs and bench seats don't walk well anymore.
I definitely want my own monster truck eventually. I can see the urge to swap it up. I'm subbed for the long run, where ever you take us!
Skipped_Link
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I’ve never hurt one, big power guys break axle shafts with big tires pretty easily,
I don’t know if there’s any documented cases, but there are folks that believe the king pins in the techs won’t live with the 66” tires,
To me the biggest problem is gear ratio, 6.84:1 is not very deep when you’re talking about 66” tall tires,
Courses would be pretty cool, but it’s hard to do that & cater to the audience, & that’s where the MT industry has to focus their efforts,
Big venues do have bigger tracks, which is more fun for sure.
This was on the pros list,If you make it a monster truck is there like a circuit for that or something?
Long winded way of asking, what will you do with this beast when it's done? It's badass either way.
If I can get in with the right people/promoters, there is a lot more opportunities as a monster truck than there is a mud truck.
Nothing good,
I’ll be doing some testing & tuning in the near future with the Claws, I’ll post that footage up when we get that far.
Skipped_Link
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probably not, there’s not much reason to swap back once everything is proven,
That’s when these techs & 19.5L ags will probably go up for sale.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Been peeking at this thread every once in a while. Love what you're building. And I like the swap to MT axle sets, too.
Suppose I should keep up with about eventually getting some Oshkosh TAK4's since it looks like you've got lines on stuff like that out west.
Suppose I should keep up with about eventually getting some Oshkosh TAK4's since it looks like you've got lines on stuff like that out west.
Blacksheep10
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Will it still have front fenders and bedsides once the bigger tires are on? Or does ride height change drastically
Firstram
Well-known member
I'm sure he will re-center the Mini Me set of Ag tires for transport. Handling and loading the new MT tires just got a little harder now
The chances of me seeing this thing in person just got waaaaay better if you start running with a MT show.
FlatLander
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Just take a trip up to his shop. I'm sure he won't mind.The chances of me seeing this thing in person just got waaaaay better if you start running with a MT show.
What does the new direction mean for the power? Moar? Ditch the bottle? Blown alcohol? Need to switch blocks?
Just take a trip up to his shop. I'm sure he won't mind.
With all the cool stuff he has going on with this truck, the monster buggy and all his cool fab tools he'd probably have to throw me out to get me to leave.
Skipped_Link
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Yes, I will make sure the housings are narrow enough to fit inside the trailer,
Correct, mostly,I'm sure he will re-center the Mini Me set of Ag tires for transport. Handling and loading the new MT tires just got a little harder now
I still have to have transport tires for the buggy, so I will just build a new set of transport tires to fit the Pettibone pattern,
It will remain full bodied, I'm thinking overall height is going to have to increase some, but not as much as one would think, I'm thinking that difference could be built into the new mounts on the axle housings,
The wheel openings were cut to clear the 54" tires on axletechs, which steer a lot sharper than the Pettibones will, this resulted in pretty long wheel upenings, the height of the openings was kept in proportion to the length. I am anticipating having to trim the back of the front fender, & front of the cab, but there is room to work there,
In short, I'm sure I will have to open them up a bit, but it's more of a trim job, the major hacking has already occurred,
I do have another brand new set of front fenders on hand, I may chop them up specifically for the 66"s before modifying any of the parts that are already painted, (maybe I can do a better job matching colors on the front fenders!
This one is already blown/injected, if anything I will have to reduce power by replacing the 14-71 with an 8-71, (this is both a pro & con IMO)
I haven't kicked anyone out yet.With all the cool stuff he has going on with this truck, the monster buggy and all his cool fab tools he'd probably have to throw me out to get me to leave.