Rock Crawlers..... endless ground clearance.

[-XXX-]

So with the advent of tube buggies and thinking outside of the box, why not use Hydralic drive hubs? ......... like some heavy equipment use and farm sprayers to attain the crazy ground clearance of 6- to eight feet+ undereath. the units could mre than handle the force of the biggest DOT tire you can throw at it, as well as the shock load of spinning and grabbing traction is transfered to hydro fluid and not a hub backed by a axleshaft backed by a diff. backed by a driveshaft... I could keep going but you get the point.
the tires could actually run independent/turn of one another as well as be "tilted" to accomidate an incline/angle etc.

a small engine to drive the hydro pump for weight and unlimited number of moutnig options for COG (center of gravity) weight displacement.

Pro's?
Con's?

 

[Rock Taxi]

The ones I have seen make a TON of heat and don't get much wheel speed.

Ed

 

[hicruise55]

VERY outside of the box-Awsome. Thinking about your idea, we used to have a sprayer of this type on the farm, def. gonna look into it. Heat is always an issue, and can be overcome- advances in our sport are iminent??? hummm? Anybody--- see any other cons? All I really see is weight and maybe cost, custom lines are NOT cheap!

Oops, and wheel speed is usually not desired, or at least would'nt be on this type of vehicle

 

[bad_religion_au]

VERY outside of the box-Awsome. Thinking about your idea, we used to have a sprayer of this type on the farm, def. gonna look into it. Heat is always an issue, and can be overcome- advances in our sport are iminent??? hummm? Anybody--- see any other cons? All I really see is weight and maybe cost, custom lines are NOT cheap!

Oops, and wheel speed is usually not desired, or at least would'nt be on this type of vehicle

wheel speed is needed for loose gravel type climbs.

and you couldn't use it in WEROCK because they specify drive is to transfered via driveshafts/axle arrangements sourced from an automotive source

 

[-XXX-]

wheel speed is needed for loose gravel type climbs.

and you couldn't use it in WEROCK because they specify drive is to transfered via driveshafts/axle arrangements sourced from an automotive source

not all rock crawling is in any loose sand, or gravel.

Alot of competitions didnt allow tube buggies at one time but now do, its called evolution- if someone can build a better mouse trap dont tell them they cant use it just because of current rules.

it is still a four wheel vehicle and it would be a plus in many ways, the first one may not be as good as one in 5-10 yrs but if you dont start today there is no tomorrow.

 

[72cruiser]

one of my old roommates works for bosch-rexroth...they make industrial gear pumps...we've been tossin the idea around, ha ha

i have nowhere near enough money to try and work it all out...should concentrate on gettin my cruiser actually runnin first, too.


malphrus

 

[Cresso]

Alot of competitions didnt allow tube buggies at one time but now do, its called evolution- if someone can build a better mouse trap dont tell them they cant use it just because of current rules.

I've seen at least one prototype rockcrawler using hydraulic hub motors for propulsion. I don't think it ever made it to the trail, but this was about 6 years ago.

People aren't developing them for competition (and that's where the progress has been most dramatic lately) because they are explicitly restricted. In your original post, you asked "why not". That's pretty much why no one is working on perfecting the application now. Tube buggies used to not be popular because not many people built them or knew how to build them. They weren't ever disallowed, to my knowledge.

There's no reason why you shouldn't build another one yourself. Go for it. I've also heard of electric hybrid buggies, with electric motors in the hubs and a small engine to drive a generator. Similar to the giant strip mining dump trucks. I think the torque and wheel speed of the electric motors might prove better for our sport, although the electric stuff would be heavier than the hydraulic stuff.

 

[hicruise55]

Just to point out

We dont play football with leather helmets in farm fields anymore either! Maybe we can create another Assoc. called ____ROCK, better yet- make an alliance and create classes? Were all here for fun, some take things more seriously than others; I enjoy "Old School" as well as "New School" But there is no way you can put them in the same class. EVOLUTION? I'm not here becouse of lepricons

 

[redrustbucket]

. I've also heard of electric hybrid buggies, with electric motors in the hubs and a small engine to drive a generator. Similar to the giant strip mining dump trucks. I think the torque and wheel speed of the electric motors might prove better for our sport, although the electric stuff would be heavier than the hydraulic stuff.

Somehow I see this as the future of rockcrawling. Maybe it's because I've been messing with r/c crawlers lately but for the reasons stated above and the amount of control you would have could be amazing. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe electric motors torque stays the same no matter the rpm = super slow crawling and high rpms for loose climbs etc. not to mention you could have way better clearance ( no driveshafts, tranny, transfer case etc. to get hung up on ). Wheelspeed and direction of rotation could be controlled independently for each wheel = zero turning radius, front and rear digs.

There are so many hybrids and full electrics being produced nowit will be interesting to see the progression of the sport as these parts become more available and cheaper. my 2 cents.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Personally, I feel that if you have to have automotive sourced components in Rock Crawling, you should be limited to vehicles that can legally be driven to the event. I think Tube Buggies are wholly unrealistic, and bring nothing to the hobby.

There was a time and place when automotive racing brought products and technologies into the consumer world, but that is no longer the case. Name one product, that is used on production cars that is directly used on a formula 1, Indy or Nascar.

That said, tube buggies can do some amazing things. But I feel that if you allow tube buggies, it should also be 'anything goes'. You want hydrostatic drive, Bring it.
Just don't limit the comp rigs to 'automotive' based parts when the buggies themselves, aren't automotive based.

 

[bad_religion_au]

thats also got me with the "automotive based"

what cars came out from factory with atlas's or Stax t cases, or rockcrusher diffs, or hybrid portals?

 

[Mace]

atlas or stak are just evolutions of the D300.

Rockcrusher diffs are just aftermarket D60 casings.

And Portals came on lots of factory trucks. We just converted them to work with a different center section.


Wheel speed is important in the rocks. Believe it or not.

If you can get the Hydro to react fast enough then you would be good. But I would hate to see what would happen if you busted a hyd line in the middle of nowhere.

BIG mess..

 

[Tigerstripe40]

atlas or stak are just evolutions of the D300.

Rockcrusher diffs are just aftermarket D60 casings.

And Portals came on lots of factory trucks. We just converted them to work with a different center section.

There isn't a single production car on the road that uses a full tubular steel unibody.

The ariel atom comes close, but it's a tubular aluminum unit body.

 

[Mace]

So f'n what, they are fun to watch and I know that I have personaly used the technology that was developed in the rockcrawling circuit to make my 40 better.

The prohibition of hydrostatic drives is not universal across the governing RC bodies.

Rear steer is a lot more "controversial"

Do it, and make it rear steer too

 

[rusty_tlc]

Theres no "unlimited" class for RC?

 

[baxter650]

I remember seeing a monster truck some years back, but it didn't have the normal rockwell drive train, this one was running hydrolics on each of the four wheels .
That thing had no problems lighting up 66"ers.