#dontcallitaSXS build

[Herzog]

Portals or not: the idea of 37"s and a differential pinion shaft the size of a steering box input stresses me out.
It's smaller than a South American dog lipstick.

Let him cook! Let's see where this goes

 

[The_Lobbster]

I’ve seen Can Am owners with 35’s and no portals thrash their rigs pretty hard, haven’t seen a pinion failure yet. Lots of broken tie rods and CV’s though. I think if he can keep the weight pretty minimal in comparison to a SXS and doesn’t bounce it hard deliberately, that they’ll hold up fine with portals.


Or I’m completely wrong they’ll grenade immediately, time will tell!

 

[Gravy]

cvt belts slip and even the 1000cc motor can am x3 has bit different power profile than the H22 2.2L I4 he's got. Similar HP but more torque at lower rpm.
And (correct me if I'm wrong) those both look like 21+ can am smart lock front diffs not the stronger rears.
Don't get me wrong: I think the project is rad! I'm just playing devil's advocate here. Unless he's playing hardcore rock crawler I'm sure he'll be fine. I've exploded a Ford 9" pinion on bald 37" irocs with a 2.5L YJ motor and the 1310 ujoint held up fine so 🤷 it's all how you use it.

 

[STAG]

As mentioned before; I know to many of you this will all appear underbuilt.

If I break parts, I’ll upgrade them.

“Anyone can build a bridge, it takes a real engineer to build a bridge that barely stands”.

My paradigm towards this build is lightweight=less part stress.

Anything that can be made lighter, will be. Is a part “normally” steel? Okay, build it out of aluminum. Is a part normally aluminum? Okay, build it out of carbon fiber or titanium. Can’t build a part out of a lighter material? Make it smaller or lighten it somehow. Use mechanical properties and geometry engineering instead of material mass

Granted this way of thinking cannot be applied to every part of the build obviously. I’m not going to be swapping out my crankshaft with an aluminum one, etc.

But in general I believe that if I can make this a very light vehicle, then drivetrain stresses will be lessened.

You’re not the first to mention that my paradigm may be wrong (that honor goes to @N-Smooth)

As I build, I will upgrade parts that I need to, and lighten parts that I can.

The other half of that paradigm, as you mention, yes, revolves around how it is driven. I know it won’t stand up to abuse. I will need to be mindful of what I do with it. I know I’m not going to be pulling the H2 out of a stuck ditch. I know I’m not going to be able to hoon it. I’m literally building it solely as an exploration rig. Backcountry forest roads, the occasional asphalt road in between rural cities. I know it’s not going to do Area BFE or Johnson Valley.

 

[Tonkaman]

As mentioned before; I know to many of you this will all appear underbuilt.

If I break parts, I’ll upgrade them.

“Anyone can build a bridge, it takes a real engineer to build a bridge that barely stands”.

My paradigm towards this build is lightweight=less part stress.

Anything that can be made lighter, will be. Is a part “normally” steel? Okay, build it out of aluminum. Is a part normally aluminum? Okay, build it out of carbon fiber or titanium. Can’t build a part out of a lighter material? Make it smaller or lighten it somehow. Use mechanical properties and geometry engineering instead of material mass

Granted this way of thinking cannot be applied to every part of the build obviously. I’m not going to be swapping out my crankshaft with an aluminum one, etc.

But in general I believe that if I can make this a very light vehicle, then drivetrain stresses will be lessened.

You’re not the first to mention that my paradigm may be wrong (that honor goes to @N-Smooth)

As I build, I will upgrade parts that I need to, and lighten parts that I can.

The other half of that paradigm, as you mention, yes, revolves around how it is driven. I know it won’t stand up to abuse. I will need to be mindful of what I do with it. I know I’m not going to be pulling the H2 out of a stuck ditch. I know I’m not going to be able to hoon it. I’m literally building it solely as an exploration rig. Backcountry forest roads, the occasional asphalt road in between rural cities. I know it’s not going to do Area BFE or Johnson Valley.

I love that you’re sticking to your guns on this. I’m excited to see what you come up with 😎

 

[Vonski]

Smartlok diffs can take a lot of abuse and should work pretty well for your application. As you may have heard, their Achilles heel is the cast housing’s side covers, which can flex under load allowing the internals to shift and chew itself up. If you never have issues, that info is irrelevant. If you do have future issues, let me know and I can help source or build billet covers.

 

[STAG]

Excited for 4-wheel steering. You can see where the ‘driveshaft’ will route between the seats to get to the rear diff.

Straight

V2.0 of the mock-up portal boxes. It’s 6” vertically from input to output.



And mocked up an input shaft flange for the diffs.


Started working on the windshield

And I decided to pick a “nice” angle to mount the windshield.

 

[Vonski]

Excited for 4-wheel steering.

So, rear steer? …or are you doing a “4WS” setup along the lines of the GM Quadsteer trucks or ‘90s Prelude? Also, you using a-arms in the rear? (<—I may have missed this info from a previous post 🤷‍♂️)

 

[STAG]

So, rear steer? …or are you doing a “4WS” setup along the lines of the GM Quadsteer trucks or ‘90s Prelude? Also, you using a-arms in the rear? (<—I may have missed this info from a previous post 🤷‍♂️)

Yeah rear steer, completely separated system from the front. And yes, A-arms

 

[Vonski]

Yeah rear steer, completely separated system from the front. And yes, A-arms

Good choice on a-arms. Limitations on travel, but the only other reasonable option that isn’t a solid axle. That is, if you have any hopes of maintaining good steering geometry in the rear. My rear steer/a-arm config. isn’t perfect, but close. You’re starting with a clean slate chassis/drivetrain wise, so yours can be. No pressure though… 😂

 

[STAG]

More Arduino prototyping. I’m excited for this one 😎 tested it, and it works as designed! Now gotta switch it from prototype to useable.