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Thread: "Hawaiian Gopher" a.k.a. "The Mongoose"

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Old 11-16-2007, 01:34 PM   #41
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I got to give it a good test run this morning. It worked very well.

The RCP internal springs and 100 wt oil do a good job of keeping the torque twist in check. If it gets too bad during a climb, I can stop and the chassis will usually settle back down. I was thinking about trying heavier oil, but that would probably increase the amount of time the chassis needed to settle back down to rest. I'm going to leave the link placement as is for a while.

Ground clearance is a little bit of an issue. It might just be that the rocks I've been testing it on are very rough. What is nice is that I can adjust the ride height by sliding the front shock mount towards the back of the truck. The collars used to secure the lower shock mounts haven't been hanging up on anything (this was one of my concerns), but I might still play around with the rear shock lower mounting point. At the moment, I can't raise the rear ride height by sliding the shock on the link. I might move it back to the custom axle mounts I made. Those need to be redone.

I just ordered a Kawada 50T brushed motor. I'm going to throw that it and give it a try. I like brushed motors a little better, but my Integy 55t didn't have enough torque to really move this heavy rig.

More picture soon.
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Old 11-20-2007, 02:00 AM   #42
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I added a hood and moved the speed control under the hood. Not the best looking hood, but it's a crawler. I took a picture of the side without the wheels, incase anyone was interested in seeing how I mounted the shocks to the lower links.
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Old 12-11-2007, 02:46 AM   #43
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I finally installed my RCP straight axles. Here's a few pics. Sorry for the picture quality.

I'm thinking about making a thick skid plate to mount the lower links. I'd like to get a little more triangulation. Any opinions on using a cutting board for the skid?

We'll be going out this sunday, so I'll be able to get some action shots.
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Last edited by kawika; 12-11-2007 at 02:48 AM.
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Old 12-11-2007, 03:15 AM   #44
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Lookin good. Hope to have mine done in time for sundy too.
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Old 12-18-2007, 02:23 PM   #45
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We had a get together this Sunday. It worked pretty well. This was the first chance I had to compare it to other rigs. It side hilled great and climbed well. But, I did get hung up on the belly pan every once in a while. The droop set-up helped me slide over some obstacles, but there's no substitution for the ground clearance a sprung or torsion rig can provide.

I'm going to add another RCP internal spring to the shocks on the right side. I hope that will reduce some of the torque twist without hindering the droop. I don't want to run any thicker oil, because it would increase the time it takes for the suspension to settle and droop.

Here's a few pics from the sunday get together. I didn't get any close-ups.
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Old 12-18-2007, 02:59 PM   #46
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That is a great picture all the rigs look awesome
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Old 12-18-2007, 03:08 PM   #47
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You are one lucky Basta**. First you post up your gorgus wife now you gotta post up pics of that awsome background. When my Super Gopher gets done I'm going to ship it to you for the photos
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Old 12-18-2007, 04:59 PM   #48
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You guy's make me sick!!

Shorts, tees and sandles....For a GTG around here it would be Long Johns, Thermal Cover alls two pair of socks, gloves, boots, hats, ear muffs and a fire in a 55 gallon drum..Thats it I'm go'n south:-(

BTW: Great Pic

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Originally Posted by kawika View Post
We had a get together this Sunday. It worked pretty well. This was the first chance I had to compare it to other rigs. It side hilled great and climbed well. But, I did get hung up on the belly pan every once in a while. The droop set-up helped me slide over some obstacles, but there's no substitution for the ground clearance a sprung or torsion rig can provide.

I'm going to add another RCP internal spring to the shocks on the right side. I hope that will reduce some of the torque twist without hindering the droop. I don't want to run any thicker oil, because it would increase the time it takes for the suspension to settle and droop.

Here's a few pics from the sunday get together. I didn't get any close-ups.
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Old 12-18-2007, 05:09 PM   #49
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You should try moving your top links to the top hole. Also remove the plastic skid plate.
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Old 12-18-2007, 06:20 PM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JUSTGOINGSLOW View Post
That is a great picture all the rigs look awesome
Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeepfreek View Post
You are one lucky Basta**. First you post up your gorgus wife now you gotta post up pics of that awsome background. When my Super Gopher gets done I'm going to ship it to you for the photos
Sure send it, but you might not get it back.

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Originally Posted by Picaroon View Post
You guy's make me sick!!

Shorts, tees and sandles....For a GTG around here it would be Long Johns, Thermal Cover alls two pair of socks, gloves, boots, hats, ear muffs and a fire in a 55 gallon drum..Thats it I'm go'n south:-(

BTW: Great Pic
The only reason I was wearing a long sleeve shirt was to keep from getting sunburnt.

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Originally Posted by Cole82 View Post
You should try moving your top links to the top hole. Also remove the plastic skid plate.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll move the links before I mess around with the shocks.

You think the metal will slide better over the rocks than the kydex skid plate? I'll give it a shot. The steel is two thin to countersink the screws, so I'll have button head screws that might get hung up.
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Old 12-18-2007, 06:59 PM   #51
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The small button head screws don't hang up as much as you would think.
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Old 12-19-2007, 11:14 AM   #52
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The other skidplate option I saw on the boards recently was Harley's WK based gopher. He (actually a friend of his) chopped the bottom metal plate off completely and replaced it with a plastic skidplate bolted to the remaining sides. I'm keeping an eye on that to see how sturdy that ends up being. In any case, this creates more ground clearance, a slippery skidplate, and allows countersinking. As an extra bonus, this allows you to drop your whole tranny out if you need to work on it, rather than going in from the sides. Only disadvantages I see are a possible loss of strength, and slight raising of the cog.

I'll be watching this thread to see how things turn out for you. The snow and cold prevents me from doing any real testing of my rig, so I'll have to live vicariously through you warm climate people!
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Old 12-19-2007, 01:02 PM   #53
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i like the shocks mounted to the links. love the simplicity of the gopher
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Old 12-20-2007, 08:27 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Picaroon View Post
... BTW: Keep you're kids off the computer
X2, kids shouldn't be on the net...especially without DIRECT supervision.

Kawika, very nice pics...didn't even notice at first.

How do you like the RCP rear straight axle adapters etc? I just got mine, but didn't buy the inner straights too....not seeing how it should all go together without the RCP inner straights too?>?

EDIT: I figured out how it all goes together, but don't like the outer stub axle riding on only one bearing...guess I have to buy the RCP inner straights now too...

Last edited by Natedog; 12-20-2007 at 08:44 PM.
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Old 01-22-2008, 01:28 AM   #55
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Default Second Place at First Comp of the Season

Well, we had the first comp of the 08 season. I lost by one point. I'm happy with a second. But, since the winner was a non-member, I get the first place points. I guess it's technically a win.

I made a few changes. I took Cole82's suggestions and changed the link set-up to 60/40 and moved the top links to the top hole on the rear and to the second from the top hole on the front. What a difference. I would highly recommend that all Gopher owners try this set-up. I removed the skid plate and it does slide better over the rocks, but I'm thinking about welding another piece of steel to the belly pan so I can flush mount the screws. They get hung up on the sharp pitted lava rock we comp on.

Everything is working well except that I keep destroying the aluminum lockers. Please, someone make a stainless steel one. I'd rather snap a dog bone than a locker. Dog bones are so much easier to replace on the front of my rig.

Here's a few pictures from the comp:
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Old 01-22-2008, 06:18 AM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kawika View Post
Well, we had the first comp of the 08 season. I lost by one point. I'm happy with a second. But, since the winner was a non-member, I get the first place points. I guess it's technically a win.

I made a few changes. I took Cole82's suggestions and changed the link set-up to 60/40 and moved the top links to the top hole on the rear and to the second from the top hole on the front. What a difference. I would highly recommend that all Gopher owners try this set-up. I removed the skid plate and it does slide better over the rocks, but I'm thinking about welding another piece of steel to the belly pan so I can flush mount the screws. They get hung up on the sharp pitted lava rock we comp on.

Everything is working well except that I keep destroying the aluminum lockers. Please, someone make a stainless steel one. I'd rather snap a dog bone than a locker. Dog bones are so much easier to replace on the front of my rig.

Here's a few pictures from the comp:
Good to hear it! another win kind of...
Glad you like the tuck, it took a while to get the setup correct on the prototypes, as you found out small link changes make a big difference.
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