An expedition truck on portals...

[mk216v]

Jeremy,

do you have a product code for the wheels they used on the Arctic Truck G?

Where can I find more information on your wheels?
They aren´t in the european catalogue!

The Arctic G Hutch's are no longer available.

Here are mine;
# WA-1207
16 x 7.5, et37
5 on 5.1 (ie 5x130mm)
5.83" backspacing
35.6 lbs.
Matte Black, Light Argent, Sparkle Silver
Tony at Motorsports is now offering custom/OEM Mercedes center caps for these.

 

[Oilworker]

I´ll visit Hutchinson HQ (Germany) tomorrow and have word with them.

 

[X-plorenow]

Robert, I love Hutchinson Beadlocks, but let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Hutchinsons are ridicoulosly heavy. What about an alloy Beadlocks like Raceline Monster's, one of the lightest around. I ask as I am struggling with this question right now myself.

 

[Oilworker]

Weight is definitely an issue but the Hutchinson are awesome regarding strength.
They are also Double-Beadlock, whereas the Raceline and the other´s I´ve seen sofar, are only single, aren´t they?

Any advise is welcome though.

 

[X-plorenow]

Good point Robert, I forgot that. But there are several other vendors that make double beadlocks. Stazworks makes custom double beadlocks (http://www.stazworks.com/rims.htm), Billet Specialties (http://www.billetspecialties.com/) but they look way expensive for some reason, and American Racing makes some to.

The Stazworks one look interesting. I am reaching out to them tomorrow.

Mike

 

[mk216v]

I´ll visit Hutchinson HQ (Germany) tomorrow and have word with them.

Damn, lucky you! Take some pics eh?!

 

[mk216v]

Weight is definitely an issue but the Hutchinson are awesome regarding strength.
They are also Double-Beadlock, whereas the Raceline and the other´s I´ve seen sofar, are only single, aren´t they?

Any advise is welcome though.

Hutchinson's are also DOT approved(if it matters to anyone--I often get the question how I can legally run beadlocks, until I inform them they even say DOT approval on the rim), and are factory on the Mercedes military rigs, Arctic Trucks uses them, I'm sure others etc etc.
I know nothing about Staz, however I did look at their site when researching beadlocks. All in all, reducing unsprung weight is always a concern, but apples-apples, when it comes down to building the ultimate overlander, Hutchinson's engineering/background/resources/clout supercedes all others IMHO.

 

[Oilworker]

Yes, Jeremy, foremost all parts of the car have to be road legal.
I know Stazworkz but these wheels aren't legal in Europe and could get me into trouble with a picky, underpaid police officer in Russia.
Too many custom solutions, especially important stuff like suspension or wheels can become a major problem, too, when they fail and you need replacement.

 

[X-plorenow]

Good point. I forgot that they are the only DOT approved beadlocks. Like I said, I love Hutchinsons, I was just looking at lighter alternatives. Looks Like I will be going with Hutchinsons shortly.

 

[Oilworker]

Quick update as it was a pretty successful day today ;-)
My new headlights are really shipped and should be arriving next week.
All I say is they are LED, but not on the market yet....

And even though I havn't got the engine yet I may have access to a really awesome gearbox that's capable of handling 800+ Nm

More soon

 

[traveltoad]

Someone sounds excited!

 

[mk216v]

How was Hutchinson HQ?

 

[deslandes]

Here I am!


...and this is how my axles looked like, 6000km after crashing through the wall...

Hi Robert !

Ooouuttchhh.... Due to accident ? What did you hurt?
What is your opinion on Portals after all thos really hard use...?
You are really a fine tester anyway..
Thanks for sharing all your fantastic travel and pictures !

Stephane

 

[tacr2man]

Tremec TKO ?

 

[Oilworker]

So! Back from a little road trip.

Stephane, the axles bend after a crash and then a jump off the road when I fell asleep and went through a ditch at full speed ....
The portals are still doing fine and survived it all until now.

I am planning a few upgrade to the kit and the axles for the coming months, though.

The first package of the new head-lights have arrived: the LED daytime driving lights

Images and details tomorrow....