Suspenstion

Route 6x6 Discussion Board: Shop Talk: Tech Tips and Q&A section: Suspenstion
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Archive through November 10, 2001  3    

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By akmaxman on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Hey guys have you come up with a price to make your set ups and do you have to change running gear or can you use some of the oem parts.just wondering how much a guy would have to spend compared to easy ride seats,a nice seat is about $300.00 and sure smoothes out the ride have fun TJ

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By David Sanders on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I had my handy friend modify my stock front seat into three equal pieces. From the top veiw,,you will see the front seat divided into three sections,,but,,only the middle one is suspended.
I had each of the three front seat sections,
upholstered with "welting" around the perimeter.
Underneath the middle seat section (at the front),,,is a bracket five inches tall,welded to metal hinge. This is on either side of the middle front seat section. The rear of the hinge on each side,,is bolted to the middle plywood section from the top side. At the back of the middle plywood seat section,on either side,,are five inch Harley "solo" seat springs. They dont weigh much,,and they really smooth out the bumps. This is a easy and cheap way to have suspension on your Amphib.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By David Sanders on Unrecorded Date: Edit

( akmaxman )
I forgot to add some other details to my posting, about how I suspended my front seat. I first took off the complete front seat section,by unbolting it from the bottom side. I then took off the top foam from the plywood base. I then took the plywood seat base to an upholstery shop,,and payed them install a piece of higher density seat foam on top of it.

My friend then shortened the four steel post, that supported the stock seat,by cutting them down 8 inches.
He then machined four steel "plugs", that are the same inside diameter as the four cut off seat post. He then lightly tapped each steel plug into each upright seat post. Each steel plug, is an inch and a half inside each upright steel post. He then took the top half portion that was cut off,,and lightly tapped it back onto each place where it was cut off.

He left a small gap between the two pieces that were joined together,and then "Tig" welded them back together. You now have a seat that is about eight inches lower than stock. The reason for this, is to allow for the two five inch springs, that are underneath the middle seat section,,and also, the taller high density foam that is replaced.

What you now see, when you are looking at the front seat, from the top,are "three individual seat sections. The seat section on the drivers left and right,,is stationary.. The left front seat section and the right front seat section,,is raised to the height of the middle seat section. This is done so that all three seat sections look uniform, when veiwing from the front or topside. This is not hard to do. Try it you will like it!!

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By David Sanders on Unrecorded Date: Edit

( Lilchief and Greg Nodich )
I had similar thoughts as both of you,,when I first thought of buying an Amphib with no suspension. I once owned a 500cc Polaris Sportman, that had four wheel independent suspension. It was so cushy and comfortable,,it totally spoiled me!

Each wheel just found its own way,and crawled over each bump individually on the trail. The trouble was,,this machine weighed about 760 pds with its 4-wheel independent suspension,front and rear racks,wheels and tires that I had on it.

As Fred Sowerwine has stated lots of times ,"PSI" is the key, when you own an Amphib.

When you start adding weight to each wheel, for each suspended section,,you start to increase your "PSI" on the ground. You then loose the advantage of owning a "light" amphibious vehicle.

Instead of lightly treading the wet muddy sections you want to cross, you will now sink faster,and drag the belly of your amphib.

This will greatly increase your chances of getting stuck!

This is because of the weight of the suspension, that you have now added for comfort. You now have traded one problem for another.


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