My Dream

[LibTimothy]

OK. I have a dream.

I want a car like one of these pictured below.

Now buying one is right out of the question. (Do any still exist??) That means I have to build one.

That is where my problem starts. I have no idea how to build something like this. Heck, I’ve never built anything before. However, here I have an advantage. I know I don’t know anything. I need a plan. I need ideas. And if my spouse finds out about this I’ll need a place to crash.

The project.

The good news is I am not interested in making an exact model (hence, I am in the rat rod forum, not the model forum). I just want something that looks like one of these cars. I have no specs (so I can’t be wrong!) I just want the look. It doesn’t need to be a 6X6 (but that would be really cool!) a 2X6 or 4X6 would work.

What I do not have:

1) Any parts – zip – nada – nothing. This is a blank sheet at the moment.
2) Any skills. I will learn what I need as I go.
3) Any experience. But, I plan to ask a lot of questions and be willing to back up and re-do things if its not working.
4) Tools. Oh I have a tool box full of wrenches, a big hammer, and a few air tools w/ compressor. But, I suspect there are lots of tools I will need.

What I do have:

1) A dream.
2) Lots of ideas.
3) A fearless spirit. I know I can do this.
4) A huge 30 X 40 workshop to do the project in.
5) Enough smarts to know that there are some things that I should subcontract out rather than attempt to do myself. And to go with this, enough money to pay to farm out these tasks.
6) A willingness to listen to better ideas and to talk to experts.
7) My son is a great mechanic and is willing to help me. Unfortunately, he just deployed to Iraq, so it will be a year until he is back home.

Ideas

So, I’m toying with two basic ideas right now. Idea #1 is to buy a small 6x6 truck chassis and build the car on this. But all the trucks chassis that I have looked at look really big. I have a friends deuce and a half in my back yard right now and I have been looking closely at it. It’s too big.

Idea #2 is to use a front wheel drive car’s drive train and leave the rear axles un-powered. This idea appears simpler. But not as cool as having a full 6X6.

So, how would you do this? What is the most important decision I need to make first? What work should I plan to farm out? What are the pro’s and con’s of my ideas? Am I crazy?

Timothy

 

[skull]

military rigs

maybe old military rigs may have what you are looking for or small semi type vechicle for the rearend/axle set-up.


l like the idea, it is different and cool.

Later

 

[CR55]

Search through the old build threads. Might find something. You're on the right site for sure so ask a lot of questions. There's an incredible amount of knowledge here and some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. Keep the dream going! Good luck......cr

 

[hotrod preacher]

i'm thinking you get 2 rear axles of the same ratio/size and flip the front one over and backward....attach the 2 yokes together and utilize a sprocket set-up to "chain drive" it to the drive shaft the driveshaft would have to "dead mount" above the axles...make both rear axles work off of one spring set up so they would pivot/bounce together


i'm sure that explanation was clear as mud, but i hope you understood what i was goin for....i agree the 6x6 axles are too big fora "regular size" rat...

keep us posted and be sure to get a build thread stared when you begin

 

[HOT40ROD]

There are some sites out there that are into restoring old military vehicle. Maybe they may know where to the rear setup or have some ideas of how to go about it.

 

[Old Iron]

You said the main thing is to have the look so get a car n put a tag axle under it however, there is places to get what you want.
I done a quick Google image search and came up with a bunch of pics, this one caught my eye.
Renault built a Renault 5 6x6 too

http://www.carconnectionsusa.com/web/1177/vehicle/857516/2003-Dodge-Dakota-6x6 Custom

Jim

 

[Old Iron]

Renault 5 6x6

 

[LibTimothy]

Thanks!

You said the main thing is to have the look so get a car n put a tag axle under it however, there is places to get what you want.
I done a quick Google image search and came up with a bunch of pics, this one caught my eye.
Renault built a Renault 5 6x6 too

http://www.carconnectionsusa.com/web/1177/vehicle/857516/2003-Dodge-Dakota-6x6 Custom

Jim

Jim,

Thanks!

I did look at this, but for some reason (can't remember why at the moment) didn't like it.

I'll have to review my notes.

EDIT: I looked at a F350 6X6 before. It was too big. I did not know this existed.... I'll have to study this some more. Thanks Jim!

Mental note: Don't skip the simple steps.



Timothy

 

[gassersgarage]

They was a popularity in 3 axle vehicles during the van and mini truck craze of the '70's. You might check out those sites if there are any build threads. I can see any car or truck with a third axle. Stretch the rear frame and add a trailer axle. Only the front rear axle will drive the vehicle.

 

[TiredIronGRB]

Use different offset 9" Ford axles and a Dana 300 transfer case turned backwards.

 

[BigIrish]

I think if you are just trying for "the look", I would go with 1 powered rear axle and one thats along for the ride. You can get ideas by looking at mini-truck sites as mentioned or crawl underneath one of those shuttle-buses with a tandem axles. Only 1 of those axles is powered.

A front-drive setup will not look right as the engine & trans is mounted sideways, so it will be way too wide to get under a narrow & long hood like the cars you have pictured.

Either way, a big convertible sedan like that (phaeton) will not be cheap or easy to come by. Of course you can make your own by cutting the roof off of a sedan, just don't tell anyone you did it ("it was like that when I bought it" )

Good luck! I like the idea.

 

[Willowbilly3]

When I was a kid I always dreamed about one of those when I would see that German staff car on Hogan's Heros.
Some of the old light duty deuce and a halfs had 2 rear driveshafts and one went over the first axle to the second one. That concept might work out with the reversed T case.
The easiest approach might be to use irs rear ends. The front one could be a little lower and offset and the back one a little higher and offset the other side making it pretty easy to snake a second driveline over the top of the first diff. Those old Datsun Z car rear ends were pretty tough and compact. Or much easier to find would be front diffs from all wheel drive Ford Aerostar vans.

 

[Gastrick]

When I was a kid I always dreamed about one of those when I would see that German staff car on Hogan's Heros.

Yea, I liked the Hogan's Heros staff car too. Also, I built this Monogram model as a youngster which was one of my favorites. (this is an example, not the actual model I built)

 

[LibTimothy]

Wow.... Lots of details I did not think about before..

Thanks for the ideas guys!

Willowbilly3, that is exactly where my original desire for this car started. I never made any models like Gastrick did, but I always wanted one.

I like the tag axle idea.... It is something I think is doable with my skills.

I did not think about the issue of width with a front drive setup. I need to get out my tape measure and think this through....

The dual drive shaft ideas is.... interesting..... I need to think about that.

More ideas are welcome! Thanks for your help.

Timothy

 

[Neverdone]

Love the concept!! I have an idea for you, not sure what everyone will think of it but.....

I know this is not the same, but I am a pretty big hobbyist and thought the idea of a 6x6 build would be neat in the RC world. Being the builder that I am I had a theory for doing this.

I built a 6x6 RC truck using 4 of the same axles, yes 4. One in the front and used the other three to build the rears. For the first rear axle, I took two front housing and put them together so I would have a pinion on each side of the ring gear. After doing that I took the last axle and flipped it over and mounted it upside down, this would give it the correct rotation. Then ran a drive shaft between the two axles. Unfortunately this is the only picture I can find where you can kind of see what I am talking about

The whole truck works great!! But it is just a small scale RC.

I have always thought this would be a neat project to try full scale, was thinking about trying to do this on my old Jeep Cherokee, but never have.

Couple concerns I would have would be the brakes being upside down if drums, and on the wrong side of the axle if disc. There would be TREMENDOUS strain on the ring gear of the middle axle. And of course the turning radius of the Titanic.

In any case with what you decide to do keep us posted and GOOD LUCK!!

 

[LibTimothy]

This is an interesting idea....

Love the concept!! I have an idea for you, not sure what everyone will think of it but.....

I know this is not the same, but I am a pretty big hobbyist and thought the idea of a 6x6 build would be neat in the RC world. Being the builder that I am I had a theory for doing this.

I built a 6x6 RC truck using 4 of the same axles, yes 4. One in the front and used the other three to build the rears. For the first rear axle, I took two front housing and put them together so I would have a pinion on each side of the ring gear. After doing that I took the last axle and flipped it over and mounted it upside down, this would give it the correct rotation. Then ran a drive shaft between the two axles. Unfortunately this is the only picture I can find where you can kind of see what I am talking about

The whole truck works great!! But it is just a small scale RC.

I have always thought this would be a neat project to try full scale, was thinking about trying to do this on my old Jeep Cherokee, but never have.

Couple concerns I would have would be the brakes being upside down if drums, and on the wrong side of the axle if disc. There would be TREMENDOUS strain on the ring gear of the middle axle. And of course the turning radius of the Titanic.

In any case with what you decide to do keep us posted and GOOD LUCK!!

Neverdone,

Yes, I understand what you are suggesting. This will definitely go on the list of things to look at further.

Thanks!


Timothy