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Project White Rabbit

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #30 on: March 20, 2012, 11:50:26 AM »
I'm sure you're in the same boat but if I only had to do things once I could have built three of these sidetracks by now.

Oh well just more familiar with it now for the eventual trail repairs right ?
 
Can you take a measurement of ground clearance at the frame rails front and rear ? I'm curious how it will compare to mine (going to measure tonight) but I'm on 31's w/ a lift. 

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #31 on: March 21, 2012, 02:13:26 PM »
BRD HNTR measured between 12-13" to frame, front to back.  Might be off a bit because of the ground it is on.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #32 on: April 17, 2012, 11:30:32 AM »
So any planned modifications after the Moab shakedown ?

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #33 on: April 17, 2012, 02:17:34 PM »
A few things:

Needs longer rear shocks.  On bumpy/rocky roads the rear shocks keep topping out and wreck the ride.  I also need to lower the bump stops, the rear tires rub a bit.  No tire cutting though, as rounding the inside of the fender-well kept it from snagging the rear tires.  I really want to get a set or two of the new Daystar adjustable bumpstops and make them work.  They are sexy and a lot cheaper then the Terraflex ones.

Had to hammer in the back of the front fender well a bit more, there as a few spots that snagged tires on tight turns.  I also had to trim the plastic on the front inside of the rear fender-well.  That was resolved when I tore off all the rocker paneling, then just hammered the lips flat.

She really needs a 4:1 t-case for rocks.  When you hit a ledge where you had to climb up all 4 tires at once from a dead stop it just didn't quite have enough power and the engine would stall out.  The solution was to keep the tires turning or hit it at just a bit of an angle so you could get one tire up.  Should be fine for normal trails though.  I did skip the Escalator as I wasn't sure I had enough power for the climb.  Hell's Gate went smooth, but you can hear the engine almost stalling out on the last climb, if you watch the video you can see the tires almost come to a stop.

It is a bit underpowered, when fighting a strong headwind I had to drop down to 2nd and maxed out around 50.  A tune-up and 2" exhaust will be in the future.  We'll see how that changes things.  When not fighting the wind a 60mph cruising speed when the tires are aired up was easy enough to keep up.  5.32 gears would be nice but not a requirement.

Rocker panels lost all their plastic coming down Amasa Back/Cliffhanger.  Kept it clean until the end, when dropping down one of the last obstacles I scrunched up both rockers, so they need to be cut out.

Mileage on the trail was a lot lower then I am used to.  14mpg was the average including the drive to the trail, just a touch better then BRD HNTR with his V6.  My SJ could wheel close to 24 hours on a single tank.  Lower gearing in the t-case and a tune-up might help pick it back up but it will probably never be where it was due to the automatic.

Driving with the auto was a bit different.  I had to drop it down to L when going down hills as it wanted to up-shift.  Even then I had to ride the brakes a lot, but it wasn't to bad.  It was a bit more relaxing drive without having to shift between gears all the time.  Turns you into a speed wheeler.  :D

Power Steering is nice, takes a bit to get used to.  You don't feel the trail like you do with manual steering.  No issues with turning though, it was plenty strong for the 33x12.5" tires.

The tires worked great, hooked up without any issues running at 12lb and took a lot of the shock out of the smaller bumps.  Plenty of traction but has some road noise above 50.

Things that need to be done:
Front main seal.  It started blowing oil out the front end on the last day.  Stayed clean until then.
Rear wheel bearing. Drivers side started making noise on Day 3.  Replacing both wouldn't be a bad idea, I'll check it out when I pull the axles.

A lot of comments on the look of the rig and I had 3 people stop to talk to me on the drive home when they saw it on the trailer.

Hell's Gate - Moab EJS 2012
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #34 on: May 14, 2012, 03:44:14 PM »
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline chadstichter

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #35 on: June 25, 2012, 06:37:23 PM »
do u have arbs front and rear or just one or the other
98 4door home built coil yota swap 31s rear e-locker, 8000lb winch and synthetic rope
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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #36 on: June 26, 2012, 11:12:31 AM »
do u have arbs front and rear or just one or the other

I'm just running the ARB up front, eventually I would like to run one front and rear.  It helps with the turning radius and puts a lot less strain on the axle when driving around town.  For a rig that will see a lot of pavement I would not recommend a spool with larger tires, it just puts to much of a strain on the equipment.

BRD HNTR has ARB's in both axles.  It's a nice setup and allows for an extra glowing blue button on the dash.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #37 on: June 26, 2012, 12:16:02 PM »
« Last Edit: June 26, 2012, 12:21:22 PM by Drone637 »
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #38 on: August 22, 2012, 06:26:10 PM »
Further Updates:

Finally had time to put together a rack for the back to hold fuel and such.  Down at Harbor Freight they have hitch racks for 39.95 that are three pieces, the two sides and the center that has the hitch mount.  So you just kind of toss that part out and you have a nice rack that will fit on the back of the Tracker.  Some quick mounts welded to the bottom and some bolts to go through the rear deck and it's done:



96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline talonxracer

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #39 on: August 23, 2012, 06:40:35 AM »
I like your rear deck! I plan on ordering a rallytops front section and make my own rear similar to yours, but in Composites. 

How much room is there to slide the drivers seat rearwards?
Tim "the toolman" Taylor is my HERO !!!

The only GOOD Commie is the commie taking a dirt nap....

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #40 on: August 23, 2012, 11:28:04 AM »
I like your rear deck! I plan on ordering a rallytops front section and make my own rear similar to yours, but in Composites. 

How much room is there to slide the drivers seat rearwards?

It doesn't limit it at all.  The only issue is the rear window currently in it is a little small, that will be expanded on at some point in the future.  But there is plenty of room up in the cab.  I put the spare tire under the deck and have room for tools and an air compressor.

For mounting I added a piece angle iron that is mounted to the body underneath the deck to add strength.  That is what the rear three mounts bolt through, the front I just used large flat washers.  Then some old bushings from front sway bars as spacers so I can make it taller if needed at some point in the future.
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline chadstichter

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #41 on: October 03, 2012, 10:29:29 PM »
i didnt have time to read the whole thread but i was just curious what you did to the rear to fit 33s? ( coils, shocks, links,) and did you you drop the front diff? if so how i dont see how that works does it just roll the diff forward? if its no big deal could you post a picture if you dropped it

thanks
« Last Edit: October 03, 2012, 10:32:27 PM by chadstichter »
98 4door home built coil yota swap 31s rear e-locker, 8000lb winch and synthetic rope
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| ||
|...BEER TRUCK..........| ||'|";, ___.
|_..._..._______===|=||_|__|..., ]
 l(|removethispart|@) (|removethispart|@)          l(|removethispart|@) (|removethispart|@)         l(|removethispart|@)

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Offline bentparts

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #42 on: October 04, 2012, 04:52:13 AM »
Great job Drone, and a good read too. Good looking truck!
The usual stuff, and 2nd generation Air to liquid intercooled TURBOCHARGER

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Offline Drone637

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #43 on: October 04, 2012, 11:04:27 AM »
96 Geo Tracker, x-SJ-410,  x-White Rabbit, x-Project Trouble
Crawlers NorthWest
x-Trouble Racing

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Offline chadstichter

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Re: Project White Rabbit
« Reply #44 on: October 04, 2012, 04:21:59 PM »
so you didnt have to extend the rear. did you just cut the fenders for the back to. i want to do this to my 4 door and you cant cut the back fenders because of the rear door. oh did you have to cut the top of the fender at all in the front thanks.
98 4door home built coil yota swap 31s rear e-locker, 8000lb winch and synthetic rope
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| ||
|...BEER TRUCK..........| ||'|";, ___.
|_..._..._______===|=||_|__|..., ]
 l(|removethispart|@) (|removethispart|@)          l(|removethispart|@) (|removethispart|@)         l(|removethispart|@)