An expedition truck on portals...

[RMP&O]

The rear is almost done, but I had to stop as they where closing the shop.

You should be happy with the results. I sipped a set of Maxxis Creepies that were scary on snow/ice. After sipping they performed at least 5x better. I found a tire siper on Ebay for under $100. Lot's of them on there ranging from cheap to expensive.

Or you siping for a different reason than snow/ice traction?

Cheers

 

[Oilworker]

Where is the 7" comparison going on? I haven´t seen it yet.

Regarding DOT or legality of your truck it´s almost the same in Europe.
You definitely need to get your whole car/truck through MOT or TUEV which is like a government scrutineering and in some places even tougher than the FIA.
Everything on your truck needs to be approved by law, tested by MOT/TUEV approved facilities, etc.

That´s what is rather time consuming with my project, too, though sofar every bit is road legal and approved.

Across Europe every state has their own set of regulations and it´s getting stricter every 6 months.
In some places it´s already a miracle if you manage to fit 35" tires on a car that´s intended to have 33".
In Austria it´s almost impossible to legalize a roll-cage and don´t even think about going to their MOT with a full-external!

When you travel around Europe or Russia it may not be required to have everything on your car legal in the country that you´re traveling to, but it helps if you get pulled over by the police. The less they can find on your truck the less you have to pay.

For me it´s also important that I have some sort of test done with for example the wheels.
There sure are great wheels out there that will be fine to ride around with but they can break under excessive loads.

I still owe you guys a picture of my shattered Hutchinson which still works fine. A crash like I did back then would most likely have broken most other wheels.

Now to the siping.
I am trying it the first time and it´s a test to see how the Cooper STT behave on snow and ice afterwards.
There was no snow where I was until now, so I can´t tell you if there´s been any improvement.

So long,

Robert

 

[Ray Hyland]

Where is the 7" comparison going on? I haven´t seen it yet.

Nor me, but now my curiosity is going to make me look for it...


We siped the BFG KM2 tires for the E7 trucks before driving them to the Arctic last year, it made a very noticeable difference on the ice-roads.

 

[Red90]

Here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/56524-Comparing-7-quot-Aftermarket-Headlights I don't have time to read, but I think he has an up to date one still running somewhere as well.

 

[Red90]

Ahh, here it is: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/headlight-shootout-1166827/

 

[mk216v]

Pics of Hutchinson HQ Robert!
And have you decided on which Hutchinson's you're going with?

 

[Michele]

Last weekend I also finally started siping my tyres.
It was pretty tough to find someone who has a siping tool and it took a while until I got it right.

The rear is almost done, but I had to stop as they where closing the shop.

You're doing it wrong Robert, that way your back will hate you

Next time drive the beast here and I'll sipe them for you :beer:

Talk soon,
M

 

[Oilworker]

Michele, you´re always welcome. I still have to sipe the front tyres ;-)

Today I fitted the new headlights and tried not to loose the rusty bits of my old rings....

...sadly the retaining clips to fix the headlight to the ring, which I now have made from stainless steel, arn´t available in stainless steel and the crapy crapy metal replacement from LR cost almost $15,-

Thus I salvaged the old, rusty ones and will make a set of new clips tomorrow.

Now it only needs to turn really dark outside and off I go for a little light comparison.

 

[Timo K]

Looking good! Can't wait to see more. Maybe I should order myself a set...

 

[Red90]

You should have done one at a time... It make the comparison much easier.

 

[Oilworker]

I just shot a few images outside.
I will take the comparison shots in the coming days as I will properly line the lights up and swap them then.

 

[Michele]

Nice shots (well battered ARB bar!) and nice lights.
I'm not completely sold on the look of this kind of new units on the market,
maybe just because the Cube is getting old and they would be be too "modern" compared to the rest of the truck,
but I look forward to seeing the comparison and the results...

As to the front tires, are you on the way to these shores?

 

[Oilworker]

Nope, not heading to Italy anytime soon, Michele. Sorry.

The ARB is in it´s third life now, after crashing through a house (at the bottom of a fully iced mountain road) in 2005.
Then there was a buck on the road in Romania, an improvised road block in Afghanistan, a few minor obstacles and last the wall in West Sahara preventing me from sky falling into the valley below....

I am no friend of LED headlights, but somehow I liked these when I first saw them and the light they emit is really great.

 

[Michele]

LOL!

Yup I know, I was kidding
But we'll meet again in Germany as soon as possible...a couple of months or less maybe.

Lights seem cool!

 

[Oilworker]

Back from the cold and I guess I managed to get all comparison shots for the lights tonight.
Shot a little video, too, which is just uploading.

The driver´s perspective...

...and a head-on shot, with was taken from the second marker from the left (s. sketch below) at a camera hight of approx. 3ft.

This is how I set up my markers (illuminated by my 40" Rigid Industries light bar)...

...the position I had the camera in for the driver´s perspective...

...and a basic sketch showing the layout and distances

Changing the lights took me about 4.5 minutes.

Done! More images tomorrow...