My 4x4 Red Cross ERV Build and Adventures

[Bikersmurf]

Here ya go. I built it a few years ago. It's designed after a 1930's Crocker Speedway bike but with a Suzuki Savage engine. Not super practical but it was fun to build.

View attachment 731071

Part of the Valhalla Challenge that the bike was in was a 20 mile ride through Chicago. That was quite an experience

View attachment 731072

On days like today, I especially miss my bike... in 2002, I was taken off it, it flipped end over end & spun around a couple of times, and I cartwheeled after it bounced off my legs. That's why I drive a 40 with an SBC,1/2 doors, no roof, and a full cage rather than a motorcycle.

 

[Rebuilder]

Next on the to do list was the front bumper. I was originally going to make the whole thing from scratch but then I came across this Go Rhino "winch tray" and thought it would be a great starting point. Of course it's made for a truck so the mounting holes don't line up so that was the first step....



Here you can see how far the mounting plate is off...



1/4" steel for the new plates...



No pics but when I cut the old plates off I removed some extra material which will move the bumper about an inch closer to the van grill. I also mounted the new plates a few inches lower which will raise the bumper up.






As you can see here I made the outer sections about of 1/4" plywood and masking tape to save some weight ?



Just checking to see if anyone's still here haha....

.....and then transferred the wood pattern to 1/4" aluminum





I didn't get any pics but I did add some steel tubing under the aluminum for added support. Essentially it's a steel bumper with aluminum covers on the ends.

 

[Rebuilder]

And yada yada yada it's done.... Sorta. Can't decide if I should leave the ends raw aluminum or paint them? I do still need to take it apart and paint the steel parts black but that'll have to happen after my trip to Sturgis....

The winch is a Warn Evo 12s which is definitely undersized for this rig but it's what I have and will upgrade in the future if needed.

 

[iggi]

looks good! I'd paint the bare aluminum though.

 

[Rebuilder]

After I finished up the bumper it was time to head to Sturgis. That same motorcycle I posted earlier got invited to be in Michael Lichter's "Motorcycles as Art" show at the Buffalo Chip and I couldn't pass that up. It was quite an honor to be selected especially since it was built with a Suzuki engine and as you probably know Sturgis is generally about Harley's. This would be my first time going to Sturgis so I wasn't really sure what to expect. The Harley scene isn't really my thing but I was keeping an open mind....

The show bike goes inside. The bed platform just barely makes it all the way down but it does fit.





I brought my dual sport so I could explore the forest roads and avoid the crowded paved roads....




I live in Minnesota so the trip to Sturgis isn't very far so I decided to take a few days and hit the backroads on the way out there. In South Dakota they like to run the roads right through the lakes vs going around them. I saw this multiple times and thought it was interesting...





Here are a couple pics on the road to my first camp spot just outside of Carthage SD. It's a great free camp area with a lake and multiple spots with fire rings.





This is my go to spot whenever I'm heading out west. I've been here multiple times and only seen one other camper....

 

[Rebuilder]

Couple more pics of the night in Carthage.



Had to test the flood lights ?









Yep they'll do haha...

 

[Rebuilder]

The next day I decided to hit the interstate and get to Sturgis. As part of the show I got free no hookup camping at the Buffalo Chip which for those who don't know is one of the bigger campgrounds for the rally. I wasn't sure where I should park so I just picked a spot way out by the perimeter fence. It was a nice, relatively quiet spot....



This is Tuesday and the Rally doesn't officially start until Friday so the campground was still pretty empty, especially out where I was....



This was my neighbor ?



After getting settled in I went to the show venue for a photoshoot of the bike. It was pretty surreal to be honest. Michael Lichter is a legend in the motorcycle photography world and it was crazy to be a part of one of his photo shoots. He spent about 2 hours taking pics of the bike...















These are some low res pics I pulled off instagram.... can't wait to see the complete hi res photo shoot.

 

[iggi]

Question for ya. Now that it's been a few months and a few miles, how are you liking those tires? Still happy with the size?

 

[Rebuilder]

Question for ya. Now that it's been a few months and a few miles, how are you liking those tires? Still happy with the size?

I like them. Noise is relatively low and they seem to ride great when loaded down. I also have them on my F350 and those seem to ride pretty rough but it's rarely loaded down. The size on the ERV seems to work pretty good with stock gearing and no chip if I cruise at 60-65. I can go faster but the engine lugs down on hills and the trans doesn't downshift until 50-55ish which doesn't seem ideal. It maintains 60-65 much better and that's also more ideal for MPG so I'm cool with that.

 

[Rebuilder]

Well I'll skip that last part of the Sturgis trip and just jump to my current situation . I was headed to Overland Expo in Colorado and made it to Western Nebraska (from Minnesota) and my passenger side REAR wheel bearing went out which also resulted in a broken axle. I'm kicking myself for not checking them since I just did the fronts. I'm currently at a shop in Alliance NE waiting to get it in to see how bad it is. Worst case scenario is I'll need a complete new housing if the hub did too much damage to the housing spindle. I'm hoping it's not that bad.



This was a pretty sketchy tow but we made it.



I should know more later today....

 

[marret]

Ouch. Wish you the best.

 

[Rebuilder]

Update... not great news but I have plan. I found an axle in Loveland CO of all places (ironically where I was headed for Overland Expo) and I was all set up with a Uhaul to go get it but then I saw a picture of it and I changed my mind really quickly. It wasn't worth rushing to get something that would need a complete rebuild so I've decided to leave my rig here at the repair shop and go back to MN and take a little time to get one and go through it myself. There's just nothing around here and I can't afford to let this shop do all the work refurbing one for me. Luckily I have friends passing through the area so I can get a ride home with them. I'm not 100% sure it makes sense financially but mentally it makes more sense to me right now. I'm just really bummed I didn't make it to Overland Expo. This trip was sort of a last effort to get something going with building this type of rig full time and now it might be the nail in the coffin of that dream. Oh well tomorrow's another day...

 

[marret]

Well crap, best laid plans…. Live to fight another day. Maybe your luck will change.

I’m having a shop overhaul my axle right now, ain’t going to be cheap. Derailed my travel plans for the summer.

 

[RVflyfish]

Don’t let the setback get you down. Go full Field of Dreams man! With your skills, if you build it, they will come.

 

[Rebuilder]

Don’t let the setback get you down. Go full Field of Dreams man! With your skills, if you build it, they will come.

Haha thank you. I'll keep plugging away but I've learned I'm definitely better at building things than I am at the business side of things. I think I have a 30k mile complete rear axle available to me back home so things are already looking up.