On the final episode of the hydraulic vs. jumpin' jeep, at the end of the construction time the jeeps 'feet' were both a single piece on each side. When the race started, the feet had been cut in half and one subsequently broke. Wht gives?

-- Gregg Wood (gggwood@yahoo.com), July 27, 2000

Answers

One side was one peice of railing, the other wasn't, and didn't hold together.

-dp-

-- Jeff (dp@the-nerds.org), July 31, 2000.

I don't buy it. I've watched it a couple times just for that reason. The drivers side rail was a single piece at the end of the day but 2 pieces on race day. Something happened...

-- Gregg Wood (gggwood@yahoo.com), July 31, 2000.

The one side broke in half, possibly because the front and rear got out of synch, due to the differential maybe? Either way, one side sheared in half.

Mike http://mikebeauchamp.com

-- mikebeauchamp.com (mikebeauchamp@home.com), August 05, 2000.

Yeah, I know it broke. It was because the rail was in two pieces. The top part was made from a ladder fram they had cut in half. it was long enough to do both sides. If you look at the vehicle at the end of the manufacture stage both sides have a sinlge piece of guard rail with a single piece of ladder fram welded to it. If you look at the vehicle on race day, each rail looked as it had been split, BOTH the guard rail AND the ladder frame. In addition, the ladder frame was joined together with a turned slug welded into the ends of the ladder frame. This was 'perhaps' to lengthen the rail. This slug was where the rail broke because it was terribly weak and simple could not stand the punishment.

My point in all this is that something radical happen to there vehicle between 'finish' and race.

-- (gggwood@yahoo.com), August 05, 2000.

Okay, I see what you're saying. Its been a while since I saw that episode, and I only saw it once.

Mike http://mikebeauchamp.com

-- mikebeauchamp.com (mikebeauchamp@home.com), August 06, 2000.

I think that they welded the whole peice of railing to the cams on the hubs and then realized that they might have been a little off and wouldn't turn in unison.... In the morning they probably had to cut them in half to get them to all turn without causing binding..??? just a thought.

-- Duane Flatmo (flatmo@humboldt1.com), August 12, 2000.

Each team gets some time for final prep before the test, we painted our device and added some graphics, there were tools and welders at the site if the need arose, it was up to both team captians to aggree on what procedures would be allowed and adding/modifying a small part would not be out of the question .

-- ken Crimmins (kfjc@aol.com), August 25, 2000.

Right Lads,here`s the answer to the question. At the end of the build day the rails on either side were one piece.We tested it that night and the cams promptly broke off.This was because in our rush to finish the build the cams were only tacked on to the cast iron hubs of the jeep.The Judge for the show suggested that we should cut the rails to lessen the stress on the cams.Although the diff was welded and with a bit more welding on prep day it would have held together,Nosher reluctantly agreed to cut the feet.The rest is history. Hope that answers your questions, Daz of The Megalomaniacs

-- Daz of the Megalomaniacs (gabrielle@eidosnet.co.uk), September 28, 2000.