The ultimate terrain access vehicle

[sibhusky]

[Ride Delaware ?]

If the Farmers Almanac predicts another bad winter for Pennsylvania, I'm buying one of those for my Subaru so I don't miss out on any fresh Pow!!!!!

I could be wrong, but I think you buy 4 at once...

[sibhusky]

Define "bad". Thought you just HAD "bad".

[GSSucks]

[mbike-ski]

i think papsteeze has a set on his hummer

[sibhusky]

In that one, the tracks are on the axle. In mine, you just back the vehicle into the things and they clip on the TIRES. Seems like way less work, plus providing even higher clearance for those really deep days.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDNLUzjkpg

[Shadows]

i would drive that strictly on summer highways. scare the shit out of everyone.

you got a loud chopper? i rip tarmac like its velcro.

[jordan]

the theory behind tracked vehicles is twofold

 

 

the purpose of a track is:

 

1. to provide traction

2. to spread the load over a large area to provide floatation

 

these vehicles have #1 but not #2. ie. they would do fine on hard snow or relatively shallow soft snow. Put them in deeper snow, and they will get stuck every time. Soft, deep soft snow is still reserved for snowmobiles and snowcats.

Edited April 25, 2012 by jordan

[sibhusky]

Did you watch the video? The snow is about 12 inches or more deep around the :50 second to 1:20 mark. So...define your "deep". The clearance is certainly there for deeper, although most of the footage the snow is six inches or less.

Edited April 25, 2012 by sibhusky

[Shadows]

once again jordan is the logical stoke stomper.

 

my outback could make its way through a foot of champagne relatively easy with studs though.

[jordan]

So...define your "deep".

typical snowpack for colorado: 1-3meters of normally consolidated snow

 

I have seen vehicles of that type get hopelessly stuck even on roads that had previously been packed by snowmobiles.

[AtomicSkier]

When a RWD BMW can make it through 12" of snow, I don't consider that "deep". 20+" is a formidable opponent for most vehicles.

[Shadows]

When a RWD BMW can make it through 12" of snow, I don't consider that "deep". 20+" is a formidable opponent for most vehicles.

 

you only said that about your car when you referenced the fact that you can "make it up blue blue mountain in any conditions.........as long as its reverse"

[zzslope]

Stuck easy or not it looks way cool. Some drivers could drive that setup through almost anything others would be stuck in a dusting.

[JFskiDan]

When a RWD BMW can make it through 12" of snow, I don't consider that "deep". 20+" is a formidable opponent for most vehicles.

 

really depends on what type of snow it is. 4" of heavy wet snow that turns to ice once driven on, and one of those huge ass hills in manayunk can be a formidable opponent for most vehicles. well, except of course, yours.

 

so my question about the tracks that just "slip right on to your truck" (lol)....do you have to have locking rears for these to work? most 4 wheel drive vehicles are really 2 wheel drive...1 up front, 1 in back.....1 wheel on the front and rear is only driven. it may switch back and forth depending on traction, but the other one in theory is just along for the ride. i kinda think without all 4 wheels being driven, putting that huge track on there would be like driving around with one wheel locked up. on hard packed stuff, it would probably be ok, but not so much in anything soft.

[sibhusky]

You can see it working on a truck in the video... Probably won't work on AWD. I've never heard this one wheel-on-an-axle thing before, but then I'm not a car expert.

 

More about all the complexities of drives here: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1105_4wd_vs_awd/viewall.html

 

But, for 4WD, there was nothing in that article that I understood to say only one side of the car was getting power. I saw something like that for some AWD cars, but they are not the same as 4 WD. Of course, I barely understood that article.

[JFskiDan]

http://www.4x4offroads.com/four-wheel-drive.html

 

Read down under "lockers". AWD doesnt interest me, therefore i know nothing about it. i have owned plenty of 4 wheel drive trucks though. when your average 4 wheel drive vehicle gets stuck in the snow, (not mine, i never got stuck), 1 wheel up front spins, and one in the back spins. and thats why the owner of the vehicle, says " my 4 wheel drive is broken. thats why i got stuck". having a vehicle where all four tires spin at the same time, at the same speed will consume a ton of gas, and is actually quite hard to steer, and borederline dangerous in slippery conditions. it will however drive straight through anything. some differentials will spin all 4 until you start to turn, and unlock one to allow you to turn. this needs to happen in the front and rear, or the rear axle will just try to push the vehicle straight.

[sibhusky]

So, with these things, I'm guessing that the wheel without power is being turned by the track as it passes over the snow being driven by the other wheel/track set? Is that what you are saying? Or are you implying that they've done SOMETHING to the truck that is non-standard?

[jordan]

Shadows and Sibhusky know what they're talking about...Jordan and Atomic Jeff...not so much.

 

I own a snowmobile. I think I understand tracked vehicles a little better than those who don't own one.

 

I have also seen a vehicle of this type hopelessly stuck. They work great on heavily packed or groomed roads, but not much else. Driving through anything that is not heavily packed is dependant on the vehicle's clearance.

[Shadows]

jordan's right and has convinced me.

if Im in the market for a toy to romp around my corn field in the winter, i should just buy a sled and not something totally fuckin awesome.

[GSSucks]

I own a snowmobile. I think I understand tracked vehicles a little better than those who don't own one.

 

I have also seen a vehicle of this type hopelessly stuck. They work great on heavily packed or groomed roads, but not much else. Driving through anything that is not heavily packed is dependant on the vehicle's clearance.

 

“I own a sled, I know everything” lolz. I think it has to do with common sense while driving. With this track system you really only have double the track surface that you have on a sled, with 8 times the weight. Its pretty clear that you are going to sink. Next thing is power, a sled has a huge power to weight ratio, when a sled is in soft snow the track is not hooking up, it is just spinning. You are never going to get that effect with a truck, you have too much weight and not enough power. Im not even going to get into the locking differentials, I don’t have as much time on my hands as GSS I have gotten all kinds of things with tracks stuck from sleds to bulldozers, if you get stuck with a tI am gay is 100x worse to get out than a wheeled machine. These things are made for Yuppies that want to have something different, or something that looks cool.

[GSSucks]

I am gay

 

Yup, I said it ooops. Damn good typo

[AtomicSkier]

You can see it working on a truck in the video... Probably won't work on AWD. I've never heard this one wheel-on-an-axle thing before, but then I'm not a car expert.

 

More about all the complexities of drives here: http://www.motortren...wd/viewall.html

 

But, for 4WD, there was nothing in that article that I understood to say only one side of the car was getting power. I saw something like that for some AWD cars, but they are not the same as 4 WD. Of course, I barely understood that article.

 

Pretty sure your car is "1 wheel per axle" AWD Also known as an open differential.

[sibhusky]

Well, I do know the old Audi had a differential lock and this one does not...or at least, I've never found that button (was sort of hidden on the old one)

 

 

Found this, but don't know what it means...

 

The nature of the Torsen is akin to that of a limited slip differential in that, rather than actively allocating torque (as a computer controlled clutch can do), it supports a torque difference across the differential (the torque bias ratio/TBR), from the side with the least grip to the side with the most. Hence by nature the Torsen is limited in the amount of torque that can be supplied to the axle with the most grip by the torque available at the axle with the least amount of grip. Therefore if one axle has no grip, regardless of the TBR, the other axle will not be supplied substantial torque. In the extreme, for a centre differential implementation, complete loss of traction on a single wheel will result in very limited torque to the other three wheels. Audi responded to this limitation for the first Torsen-equipped cars by adding a manually locking rear differential and then later replaced this feature with Electronic Differential Lock (EDL), which is the ability to use the individual wheel brakes (monitored by the ABS sensors) to limit individual wheel spin. EDL was implemented across both front and rear (open) differentials to operate at speeds < 80 km/h. This has the effect of increasing torque from a single low-traction wheel hence allowing more torque to be passed by the Torsen to the remaining high-traction wheels.

 

There is more of this garbledygook here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_(four-wheel-drive_system)

 

Not a car person. Auto Repair for Dummies would almost certainly be over-optimistic about its chances of educating me.

 

But, to the main topic, will they work on a truck that is checking fences out on the range? I think so.

Edited April 26, 2012 by sibhusky

[AtomicSkier]

Well, I do know the old Audi had a differential lock and this one does not...or at least, I've never found that button (was sort of hidden on the old one)

 

 

Found this, but don't know what it means...

 

 

 

There is more of this garbledygook here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_(four-wheel-drive_system)

 

Not a car person. Auto Repair for Dummies would almost certainly be over-optimistic about its chances of educating me.

 

But, to the main topic, will they work on a truck that is checking fences out on the range? I think so.

 

You have Gen 4 which has front and rear open diffs. By dragging the brake on the spinning wheel, it acts like an LSD, but just isn't the same. Harder and harder to find an AWD system with limited slip diffs. I know Audi offers an optional rear LSD on the S4. Subaru might as well?