I've been in a scratch building mood lately, and have been looking for things to build. I recently started an off-road race truck - which is a very high speed and complicated all terrain truck to build - so, good for a scratch project.
I recently finished a dio that features a SOCOM HMMWV, or GMV:
and have built others for another related project:
And before that, some other off-road race trucks (1/25)
The pic below is of the "trophy truck" I'm still working on, which shows the nature of the highest end in off road racing:
I draw the correlation between the two types of trucks because they are both required to be dependable, durable, and obviously highly mobile in very rough terrain. The fact that a GMV can do this is obvious enough, but I wondered about using or considering some attributes of the off-road race truck to fit into the role of an afv - specifically the long travel suspension and horsepower - which allow it to move over very rough country very quickly.
Also - I want this to be a credible build - not simply a 4x4 truck with monster tires and a big engine - no, instead, a theoretically functional truck that could, conceptually be of actual value and utility and not be a model building novelty -similarly, not an off the shelf technical truck - there are lots of those to be seen -- Instead, I want to try a viable option, but clearly in the realm of "what if?"
So, what if you started with a full size Chevy SUV, modified it to essentially become a Class 8 off road race truck (meaning, some portion of the chassis/body remains stock, and not a full racing chassis etc), and adapted it to fulfill some level of service that of a SOCOM GMV? How might you do it, and what might it look like?
Start with a model of a Chevy and begin cutting:
and keep cutting - until there's not much left to cut off
And then start on the suspension. This is the rear - I want long travel, but also to keep the basically stock chassis (theoretically practical, and capable of handling a load) - so, I tossed the leaf springs and added a four link, cantilever setup.
This allows you to keep something of a bed over a strong chassis -and get your full wheel travel (vert maybe 24" +/-)
Above, in the open position, below, closed:
And below, with shocks and springs...and no longer operable - the springs (in real life) set the ride/load height, and the shocks control the ride:
It's a bummer - this worked - but, I'm not in the mood to try and make it operable for a build...that would take forever!
On to the front - I added an EFI, 391 CI big block Chevy for power - just like the class 8 race truck, in the 500 +/- hp range. The suspension is a-symmetrical A-arms with a shock and coilover on each side. The suspension doesn't work, but the steering does.
Now the body - Sort of a cross between the elements of a GMV and MATV:
And that's where it is today -
Clearly much more to do, but, its getting there and proving to be a very challenging build. Lots of interesting parts to make (satellite, boomerang etc). The tires and wheels shown will not go on this, they'll stay with the off-road racer, but the same type will be used on this but in appropriate color.
More to build-
Thanks for having a look -
Cheers
Nick