robhybrid

good move putting this in a separate post as the original was relating to HW 2010. I think it is interesting to see different peoples opinions on this subject and interesting to see if people agree or disagree with me. I think the majority of people enter competitions for a competition I am not sure weather you call that pot hunting or not. I have entered winch challenge competitions regularly for the last 8 years or so and have over 35 "pots" sat on top and around the cupboard in the living room, a mate of mine takes the mickey and rightly points out that he could easily buy me all of these and more for less than I have spent in 6 months competing, yet I still want to compete to get the "pot" For me competing is not totally about your driver/co-driver doing better than their competitor but it is about your team(driver/co-driver/vehicle) doing better than your competitor. If competing was with a team of 2 (driver/co-driver) surely there would be extremely stringent rules for vehicles? The way I see it having definitive class restraints for vehicles in the the competitions that I enter allows competitors to modify their vehicles to the limits of their boundaries without passing them, is this not innovation? The nature of human beings I believe is that they will always seek to bend the rules to their limit without breaking them, there always will be the ones that have found the limit of those boundary's without passing them, along with others resenting them. I would like to think that I compete in competitions knowing the boundaries that I have to work within.

I use 2 different co-drivers and I have known them for over 15 years each. my co drivers are quite often in the driving seat and I co-drive for my vehicle, If I tell my driver to drive over a cliff and the vehicle rolls over I am the only one that can be blamed. I trust my co drivers impeccably in all ways with my vehicle and my life. I have had arguments with my co drivers as we have had differences of opinions but co driver-driver can be a serious relationship in many ways. I have co-driven for others and until you have built up a relationship where the two of you can happily swap places with each other during a competition I believe as a team you will not be at your best. I know a co-driver that is that in tune with his driver that they don't appear to talk and each one knows exactly what the other wants. On the other hand if you are ex military and are capable of running a marathon twice over caked in mud climbing trees hauling ropes through a bog or river up hill down dale there is going to be a driver somewhere that will want your number Ten or so years ago I learn t a lot by spending time watching others both seeing what teams did that completed an obstacle and what teams did that got it completely wrong. I was there watching primarily due to the fact I completed in old bangers that broke down almost immediately and I spent the rest of the day/weekend watching and I hope learning.

from my experience of awdc trials go and take part the atmosphere is relaxed and your milemaker winch will come in handy as a rescue vehicle for the modified vehicles that end up over stretching themselves or getting it wrong. If you go there initially just for the fun of it, it wont matter what class you are in. In fact if you are happy to not have your points class for any championship there is a good chance that it will be anything goes.

I thought there was pictures of them beefing up the rear axle to at least as strong as volvo portals.

hi simonr this looks very interesting. I think again you have as the main inventor in the film robots said "find a need fill a need"

Short answer is yes, braking one wheel with a fiddle brake is a crude form of the modern traction control used on many modern vehicles. I may well be using something similar on mu class 3 motor in the near future. But it could possibly blow diffs, break half shafts. It depends entirely on driving style/weight of right foot.

I didn't say a vehicle had to have mot or tax..... I think for safety all vehicles should be capable of passing an mot. I do think that a class 3 car in my opinion should be capable of getting a valid day and night mot and tax. (even more sensible if we do night stages). Without offending you. Sorry Rob B if I were to organize an event I would not want your vehicle entering against a more standard looking car, say white 90? A space frame style buggy would not be able to enter class3 but I do appreciate that some can not afford to buy winches and lockers but have the time and skill to build. I would not want to discourage that. saying that.. as the class system is at the moment I intend on entering in class 3 with a vehicle similar in style to yours if I get round to building it.

I use a kinetic rope as long as you don't hare off like a fool it is plenty strong enough and certainly doesn't have any harsh jerkiness to it.T he kinetic is also great to lower somebody down a bank with your winch it smooths off any harshness on the winch brake. I am not sure of its length, could be a bit too long. It could be a little bulky to keep permanently in the car. As with all ropes it should be checked for damage before use I know of and have heard of several accidents with kinetic ropes.

maybe as they are on Gwyn's landrover it might be worth looking on his web site :- wheels available from Gwyn Lewis or give him a ring 01938810298 He could explain to you why he prefers these wheels.

But I would like there to be a class that is a vehicle that could genuinely be driven on the road every day. I still want an open class that encourages vehicle development. I like seeing people modify their vehicle to get the most out of it whilst staying within class constraints. I would like to think that the class system we have at the moment isn't far off. my pinion is that weather taxed or not class 2 and 3 should be capable of passing an mot. I like the idea of a rtv class, I appreciate that this could open up an old can of worms. limiting Tyre size in class 2 and 3 could be good as it could stop too extreme a modification. It is a huge balancing act to try and please the majority of the people I am glad it is not my responsibility. I don't want to see a list of rules like arc has for their comps.

hope everybody has a happy new year. Plan an seeing as many people as possible on the challenge sene over the next twelve months. I intend on competing as much as possible in the near future.

bear in mind that dave bowyer runs a toyota landcruiser 80 series. these vehicles have successfully run a 24v start and 12v run system for years. I guess he is using the same principles. my thoughts are that only one battery could get charged if you run a single alternator, whilst you are winching, in boost mode? I think if this is the case that it could cause premature battery failure? I havent studied this system though and I may just be jumping to conclusions.

I seem to think the one I have is 6mm or possibly less, but the top frame is curved in towards the winch to add strength. There is a small section in line with the 8274 gearbox that is flat though.

I got one that I have cut the wings off. I was going to mount it on the front of my trailer.

It may sound strange but when the wheel is turned so that the track rod end is as far into Gwyn's track rod box as possible there is loads of room to remove the track rod from the hub taper. Gwyn's track rod guard/box I have used one of these for years initially with a std track rod then with a sumo bar after catching the vulnerable part between the hockey stick and track rod end. The current design is a slightly larger size than original to allow use with larger tube over std type bars. Gwyn also makes these to fit disco 2 as well as defender axles.

I did very similar but ended up cutting my neat welds off and re welding until I had a satisfactory compromise between diff angle,castor and steering drag link clearance, I have seen on here somewhere someone making longer than usual saddles and compensating with longer spring shackles to give clearance for the steering drag link/track rod. If I were to do it again I would love to come across a td5 front axle with mountings to enable me to move the track rod to high on the front rather than low on the rear.

I was using a scorpian racing anchor and I must say I was very impressed with how well it dug in and held but the damn thing weighed a ton I recon it must be filled with lead.

Dave llama llama hoses page can supply hoses in any length with reusable fittings for you to fit yourself. you can get a choice in plastic coated cover of various colours over the top of the braid if you want.

last year apparently 2/3 of cyber keys were set on dry sections I think I successfully managed to find none of those but all of the other 1/3

If you are using a (front) winch anyway I find that the front diff as a locker is far more helpful than a rear. The reason for this is that having the front axle locked whilst winching ensures that both wheels turn/climb over obstacles rather than one wheel acting like a bulldozer whilst the other spins. If I have a locker problem whilst during a competition I always try and get the front working again in preference to the rear. Of course front axle components need to be toughened if you have a remotely unsumpathetic right foot/driving style. I ran std 10spline rear shafts with 35" simex for 3 years before upgrading to something tougher.

Anybody want any bits from Gwyn Lewis give him a call as I shall be calling in on him Sat am before coming down, picking some bits up anyway. I highly recommend these:- Intercom sets They take a lot of stress out of off roading as you don't need to shout to each other. Gwyn was telling me this morning that the next batch of these he gets in stock will have to go up in price.

I can bring with me on Sat if required a std shock bracket and a 2" shock drop bracket (From Gwyn Lewis) if required 2" shock drop bracket

Valve vulnerability is relatively easily fixed by welding on either a small hoop of steel or piece of tube. My personal opinions for not using stauns for challenge use are:- The tyre is held against your standard rim by an inner tube that is constrained from moving up and into the tyre void by a webbing type band. This means that it is only air pressure (60psi in my case) that is holding the tyre against the rim. When you are pushing hard slowly against the sidewalls (winching sideways) dirt pushes in between the tyre and sidewall, the tyre then goes flat,(admittedly slowly but irritating.) If the staun is not fitted correctly (they can be very difficult to fit) the tyre becomes very difficult to set to your desired pressure. This type of bead lock does nothing to improve the strength of the wheel rim either. (wheel rims need to be strong on challenge vehicles when running at lower pressures due to the increased risk of the rim coming into contact with rocks and hard surfaces) I do think that stauns are however great if you do not want to drastically modify your wheels (eg alloys) or if you regularly use your wheels on the road and only occasional need bead lock type protection. I would think that rock crawling large relatively clean boulders in America with huge tyres has less chance of dirt pushing in past the bead.

This style of kit is used by a lot of off road competitors, the Americans have been doing this for years. Two of my wheels are bead locked like this done by myself. I drew up the bead locks and sent the drawing off to a laser cutting firm via Gwyn Lewis. This type of kit effectively increases the rim width outwards by 1" I have not heard of welding for this type of bead lock noticeably distorting the wheel. If you are capable of using a mig welder and grinder fitting is not technical or difficult. Fitting the tyre is a slow job though (loads of nuts and bolts to do up evenly). The inside rim is not bead locked though (usually not a problem). Having all this extra steel on the outside of the rim does make the wheel reassuringly tough.(ideal for challenge use) I would not recommend using these as an every day road use wheel rim and would not like to comment on their type approval/road worthiness regs. my rear wheels are stayn type tube bead locked and I would not recommend them for challenge style use.

I am hoping that it is not the hare that wins the race