89silverpu

http://pirate4x4.com/gallery/main.ph..._0035.jpg.html

algranger

jebus thats quite the exhaust system

89silverpu

Yeah all the fab work is amazing! I bet it was a pretty penny to build.

ROCK HOUND

I bet for the money it costs to build that, you could buy a new truck for a DD and a early 80s yota as a rig truck, and still have money leftover to wipe your a$$ with.

Shawn6string

I couldn't even get it dirty.

xcmountain80

What a sexy beast!

Aaron

tc

Note that this rig is being built specifically for ONE event - the King of the Hammers. The goal is to cover rough ground quickly.

Interestingly, this is also the event that the SFA guys claim proves a SFA is superior because that's what people use ... maybe not anymore ...

Some interesting discussion ...
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124254

ozziesironmanoffroad

i dunno a guy at work (has a 01 taco 4x4 with the elocker) says IFS is way better for rock crawlin, has kept up with every built jeep in the trails, in the rocks, in the mud, (in the squeeze in the anza borrego desert) and has seen a built 85 yoter severely bend a front axle on a rock that he took no problem. so i dunno.... anythings possible...

89silverpu

I'm not debating what is better, I was just posting up a cool example of a built rig meant for the KOH competition that has almost always been thought of as a tube buggy/sfa trail taking a different route than normal.

ozziesironmanoffroad

yeah, very cool indeed

ScottyC

iTrader: (1)

A few years ago Walker Evans built a completely IFS rig for competition. He used it for a couple events and got his ass handed to him. He immediately went back to the S10 buggy for the rest of the year.

I am not saying that this rig will not do well in this one race. After all, Shannon is the reigning champ and passed the entire field last year after starting at the back of the field. I will put my money on a solid axle buggy in this race though. This race was won in the rocks last year and will every year. Its where most of the passing takes place, where most of the breaking takes place, and where JR lost the race last year.

I'm just glad I get to see it in person this year.

I'm putting my $$$ on Tracy Jordan this year in the new Spidertrax Bug. That and I think John Reynolds is still the man to beat.

AxleIke

This truck is built for the desert sections on the KOH race. It will be slow in the rocks. The hope, at least from all the threads about it on pirate, is to lose time in the rocks, and make it all back in the desert. We'll see.

It is, none the less, a WICKED build up. Considering the front diff runs something like 2-3 grand, sans locker, and the axles are 1k a piece, its likely not in the future of my rig. However, it is some amazing engineering, and I REALLY like the "outside the box" effort.

I'm not sure its going to have what it takes for the rock sections.

That guy has never actually rock crawled. You don't rock crawl with less than two lockers, tons of gearing, lots of armor, and body damage. Unless your coworker also has a front locker, skids front to rear, a tacobox or similar, and some serious body damage, he's talking about wheeling.

IFS will keep up with a SA in most wheeling situations.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong. However, thats going to require pictures.

And, just for clarification, in terms of rock crawling, the hammers trails out in CA would be considered Mild.

James Dean

Obviously the welder of the exhaust and the frame are not the same. It would have been nice if the logo had been welded on the frame straight. Other than that,it's pretty sweet.

89silverpu

It seems like the general consensus from what I can tell is that the guys that normally like to play in the desert think that the desert section wins the race, and the rock crawlin guys think that the trail part wins the race. I can't imagine that this IFS buggy with 33'' of travel would do bad in the rocks especially at high speeds, but the question will be does it have enough advantage in the desert section to make up for what it loses in the rocks. I think it'll be pretty close but we'll have to find out here soon.

And as for the Hammers being "mild" I don't know about that lol have you ever been to the Hammers? If the Hammers are mild, then what the heck is a "hard" trail? What trails in CO compare to the Hammers?

And for the people that have no idea what KOH is here are some vids to get an idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZk-oiRMN0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCqseKbFLlM

slosurfer

89silverpu, I believe AxlIke was referring to the point that they will be going for the easiest/fastest lines on the trails, thus making them "mild" trails. Although "mild" still might be putting it lightly.

AxleIke

I mean, in terms of rock crawling, as in, you need a buggy with the best parts available to complete, the Hammers are mild. Colorado doesn't have trails as tough as the hammers.

But yes, they aren't easy by any stretch. I was referring to the claim that IFS was better at crawling, from Ozziemans co worker. My point was that, while IFS does well wheeling, and I'm a BIG supporter of IFS, SA are hands down better in the rocks.

I've had the discussion before, and someone posts a picture of a "difficult rated trail" with their truck in it. That is not rock crawling. The Hammers are some of the most difficult trails that a street driven truck can drive through. In the buggy world, they are on the tamer side. Thats rock crawling.

89silverpu

I know the term rock crawling is thrown around more than it should when describing 4wheeling, but I don't think it requires a tubed out rock buggy to be considered rock crawling. If that were the case everyone without an expensive, high horsepower, tube buggy that isn't even a recognizable vehicle anymore would just go "trail riding?" lol what would you call going over Fordyce, the Rubicon (especially the Sluice boxes) and other trails similar to that. I don't know trails in CO so I can't relate to CO, but that is rockcrawling. And you don't have to have a tube buggy to go over it.

I agree with you that for a tube buggy, Johnson Valley may be "mild," but you can't find a trail for a tube buggy without making it that is "hard."

I can't claim that I "rock crawl" in my yota, but I do know what rock crawling is.

slosurfer

axleike, I knew what you meant, I was trying to clarify it for the others, but you did a much better job.

AxleIke

Well, I suppose we just dissagree.

CA is a whole different ball game in wheeling. IMO, CA has moderate trails that would be considered extremely difficult in most other states.

However, I consider Fordyce and Rubicon to be VERY difficult wheeling. I would consider the Hammers to be even more so.

It really doesn't matter, as its just personal preference. I can easily accept your definition of rock crawling. I take no issue with that.

I stand by my statement that, as far as rock crawling goes, the Sluices, Fordyce, and the Hammers are on the lower end of rock crawling. It gets harder from there.

Rock crawling gets thrown around here a lot. Its pretty obvious that 95% of the time, its used incorrectly.

I think we can BOTH agree that an IFS taco with a rear locker is NOT going to be doing the sluice boxes on the Con. And, if it IS, then its not going to be BETTER than a well built SA rig.



No worries. I knew you knew, just wanted to get my own .02 in! LOL

89silverpu

Exactly I wasn't trying to say your definition of rockcrawling was wrong, I was just stating that I don't think you have to have a rock buggy to be able to rock crawl. Idk if that's what you were intending to say, that's just what I got out of what you said. Your opinion is fine, I was just stating mine as well. There isn't really a written definition of rock crawling, unless I'm missing something?

And there is no way an IFS yota with a rear locker is going through the Sluices, unless they want there truck to look like it just got murdered lol I agree, there is no way an IFS rig could keep up rock crawling with a SA rig hands down, its been proven millions of times over.

I agree most people on this site think that rock crawling is going wheeling and goin over some rocks here and there. Most people on this site don't even actually use their trucks so just let them have fun when they think they are rock crawling lol

Like I said Idk about trails in CO, I'd assume there are many very difficult and pretty trails because CO has some large and beautiful mountains. I can't compare CA wheeling and CO wheeling, but I can assure you that the Rubicon and Fordyce are no cake walks but for a tube buggy, the Rubicon would not provide hardly any challenges. I don't even think that wheeling in a rock buggy would be fun. It would be way to easy. I believe it takes more skill to navigate an IFS rig than to be able to just point your rig wherever you want to go and just crawl over it like you could on trails like the Rubicon and Fordyce in a buggy.