sundog kid

Ya, I hear that. I dont think people appreciate how cold it gets here, and for how long.

I dont care who makes cv boots. Ive had them go on my vw's, my audi, my bmw, ford, etc etc. Its rubber. It doesnt take much.

And Id rather have a speared through rad, than a blown cv, in the middle of nowhere, any day of the week.

Stuwy123

iTrader: (1)

A speared rad to the boys in the south is disaster. Overheating instantly.

When it's -40C and you lose all your coolant:
A. There's plenty of makeshift coolant fluid around called snow.
B. I just take the cardboard covering my ENTIRE radiator and watch the coolant temp. needle plummet to bottom and never come back up.


Sundog,
I like your thinking. I'd build a set. A little bit of armor can go a long ways. Not to mention that no one else has ever done it before. CUSTOM PARTS WHOOO!

sundog kid

Well ive noticed a common issue on most auto forums; people would rather buy than build.

Im not cool with that. My show cars always had custom, done-by-me wrk to them, and they stood out because of it. Plus its what makes it all worth while. ANYONE can swap out parts.

I'll make a DIY if I find theres some weight to my idea.

malteserunner

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a good idea for your area. I lived in the great white north for a while, so I can relate. Since I'm back in California, frozen CV boots or a cardboard covered radiator sounds crazy to me again, lol. Post some pics of your progress, I bet it will look cool.

sundog kid

You bet Malt, and screw you for coming up here and ending back down there. I wish!

peow130

I stand corrected. In washington where i live, it only gets to around -5F (-20C)...
This is a pretty good idea if the ice gets on the CV's and freezes the boots, because then you'll have some serious issues with the rubber

sundog kid

Yeah, its hard to put yourself in my environment, but when you see how bad it gets here, you think outside the norm.

plus, even a twig can do damage, so if its cheap, do-able, and doesnt have an major dissadvantages, why not right?

peow130

Yeah, well i'm sure i felt your environment last year when we got 6 feet of snow over the course of a week lol.

If its cheap and do able, more power to ya

sundog kid

Northern states get a little of what we do. But, our beaches are frozen in the winter too lol.

peow130

._. wow.
I would love to move to canada, just for the snowboarding.
But, i like having 4 solid seasons down here in washington.
Although, this years spring was part winter too.

sundog kid

Well, i mean from june to August we get alot of 95f days. And our days have sun for 16 hours in the peak of the season (absolutely awesome for camping, paint balling, outdoor music, etc).

We just have to put up with 6 months of winter weather.

broyota

[QUOTE=sundog kid;51213880]A girl I know from another forum says they "stone" the roads in Alberta. She says windshield replacement is a yearly event.

Maybe make a rock deflector out of a piece of plastic. My Polaris ATV has these in front of the CVs.

James Dean

Main thing to make sure of is that the plate / armor does catch on anything thru the full range of motion. I would say the steering linkage wound be the primary concern.

crafthorse

Build it, its your truck and can be of your own tast and liking. I have thought about building a set for my rig, when you wheel in the Low Country Swamps in black water, you never know when you are going to find a downed tree pushing through your A Arms and ripping you CV boot off.

edeslaur

For examples of CV boot guards, just check out any UTV (Yamaha Rhino)

here are some aftermarket ones as an example.
http://www.dirtperformance.net/BOOT_GUARDS.html

When you're hammering through brush (treading lightly, it's on my property!), CV boots (and tires) can get poked too.

Hasn't happened on any of my booted 4x4s, but my Rhino needs a boot right now (aftermarket travel kit, guards were tossed by PO).

sundog kid

[quote=broyota;51214024]Yearly if your lucky. I've done 3 windshields in 14 months before. The problem really lies with all the trucks, SUV's and tractor trailers kicking up.

spanish-road

he is correct things do get very brittle at -40, any rubber well crack like egg shells. The radiator is a issue but, that is fixed with card board. I have seen trucks on fire at -40 from the radiator freezing up, with the windchill at the temp it can get down to -130F easy. The fluid can only get down to -80 so any lower it turns to a block of ice. I like blowing bubbles when its that cold.

NYChopshop

get a sonoran steel lower IFS brace. That should be the main thing to worry about. You can then custom build a good skidplate for better flotation on the snow, instead of attaching unnecessary grime-cups to your front CV's. I'll bet the filth that accumulates in that thing is more harmful than the minor damage that may occur from something in the snow. Carry spare axles anyway, just in case you snap one with your motor instead of a rock.
http://www.sonoransteel.com/Early_IFS_Brace.html
Here is a forward facing shot of the underside of a toy from Sonoran's web page with a custom cut aluminum skidplate.


Also, consult Budbuilt and get yourself a nice set of underside skid plates. You can get their front under-IFS skidplate if you don't want to get one made for yourself. I'm still undecided myself. I do like all the rest of their skidplates, and I suggest you check them out.

http://www.budbuilt.com/new/ifs.html

All of these things will help you get flotation on the snow somewhat, and keep you from getting hung up or damaging the parts that are usually seriously worried about by most other Toy owners. Maybe IFS bits from Total Chaos would help, because they have the built in lower skidplates of sorts:

Maybe you could just weld some flat steel plates at an angle coming upwards from the front of the lower control arm so you can knock down some of the snow that would pour in there, but I wouldn't want to risk weakening the metal of my lower control arm for the small bit of addded protection.