Just woundering what in the heck they are used for. Purly cosmetic or what?
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Corey previously said:
Click on my link in the reply above yours.
A mixture of cosmetic and to increase vehicle fuel efficiency and stability in high cross winds
In seriousness, the sand ladders are only still on the truck right now because I was too lazy to remove them after the Mojave Road run. We did get one vehicle stuck in sand on that trip, but we just winched rather than using the ladders. If we'd got motr vehicles stuck, I'd wanted to try out the ladders and also self recovery with the PullPal, but we never got to that (damned FJC's and their capability in deep sand). My next run will probably be rocky and so I'll probably take the ladders off for that.
You can check out this section of my writeup for my thinking on the ladders and more photos (about 7 images down).
Mark, how are the Pitbulls and Staz treating you? I can only imagine that mileage took a little dip .
Put it through the rough stuff yet?
It's been at MAF since I finally mounted them. All it's done so far is like 35 miles of freeway driving, which seems like a crime for Pitbulls. It's still in the shop (I could maybe have gotten it end of day Wed, but it was touch-and-go).
I think next week I'll pick it up - i want to try out the tires/wheels and the snorkel and I'm not sure if maybe i'll have a 19 gal tank on by then? Depends if the tanks are there and if Steve wants some testing done. I also had damaged my linkage on my tcase (just the shifter), so that was being fixed too.
I'm itching to hit something like Odessa again (I think that was why I updated the Odessa route thread). Any interest?
I'm certainly interested, but I've got to wait on skids. Only have the front skid at this point. Hopefully by next week, my wheels will be ready to be mounted. Going to check some mom and pop off road shops in my neighborhood. Mark, you're so bad for my budget! I'm drooling all over the goodies you have. That tank is a must have mod.
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Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out.
The dawn is like nothing you've ever seen before. The exploration vehicle is easily identifiable on the forum.
I've been wondering if there's madness to Mark's method in developing the ultimate expedition FJ and then it came to me - and it may be a State Secret - but what if it's the real prototype for the Mars Science Laboratory? Is this why he likes taking it to Odessa so much - matching the rough terrain in the Martian highlands?
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"DATELINE: PASADENA, Calif. -- While the Spirit and Opportunity rovers wheel themselves into the history books of Mars exploration, get ready for the next giant leap in rolling across the red planet.
The Mars Science Laboratory is an all-terrain, all-purpose machine, akin to an extraterrestrial Sport Utility Vehicle."
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Work on MSL is underway here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). And it is obvious from the get-go that just getting this mega-rover onto Mars takes a strong dose of imaginative engineering.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) would make the first wheels-down landing on the planet. No need for airbags, nor lengthy preparations to get the mobile robot "down-and dirty" on Mars.
Could you see this rig landing on the red planet? It lands on a lot of red dirt on this planet... Notice the lander/MIR207 vehicle on terrain mirroring that found near Victoria Crater on Mars. Coincidence? You be the judge.
These Hollywood astronauts would have done a lot better if they had the MIR207 Machine along with them.
That's all I have to say on the matter.
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There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unaltered, to find the ways that you have changed.
__________________ "Because in the end it has almost nothing to do with the bike and everything to do with setting
out to accomplish something that is intimidating, that is unknown to you, something you know you
have a good chance of failing at but doing it anyways and slowly but surely proving yourself wrong." Mike Ambs
www.corva.org "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
That's a beautiful artist's rendering of dawn over Olympus Mons and the Tharsis shield volcanoes.
What's kinda weird is that they guy who got me interested in four wheeling is the second-in-command on the science side for the whole Mars Science Laboratory project. I'm also one of three US-based scientists working on the MSL meteorology package. So there might be more to this than meets the eye
This thing is actually the size of one of those BMW Mini's...
(damned FJC's and their capability in deep sand). My next run will probably be rocky and so I'll probably take the ladders off for that.
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