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napsta


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Overseas travel - thanks for the tips, we came third in class
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A couple of months ago I asked for tips on insurance for overseas events.  Thanks for the tips.

I wanted to let you know how we went.

The race was 1000 miles, staged over 3 days.
The first day we DNF'd with major fuel issues - it was 48 degrees and our fuel was boiling as soon as it was pressurised.  Went through a couple of fuel pumps and then DNF'd due to pit closure time.  Overnight we re routed and insulated the whole fuel system and then the next 2 days fought back.  The course was brutal, however we ended up coming third.

The race was full of massive silt beds, ruts windy trails and some fast dirt roads.  Nerfing was fun, however getting slammed by a trophy truck that had broken down and was working it's way back up the field was an experience!

Thanks to our supporters: Unifilter Australia, BFGoodrich, Raceline Wheels, VisionX Lighting, PwR Performance Radiators, PCI Race Radios, Bomber Fabrications, Howe Performance Steering, DJ Safety Equipment.

We are now qualified for a race called the King of the Hammers - a mix between desert racing and rock crawling - ie our vehicle can haul 170km/h in the desert and also go through those rock courses you see at Milbrodale.

The event is growing over there, and as well as the best rock racers, some desert racers have signed on to race against us, including BJ Baldwin, Rob MacCharan, Casie Currie, Pistol Pete Soren and a couple of others.  Rumour is Robby Gordon is days away from making an announcment.  It will be awesome to see these guys come out and have a go at something a bit different.

Here's a link to a video we made from the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Squ3yTkUVKQ&feature=player_profilepage

And here's a link to see what happens at the Feb event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWJeFk_25_Q

Action 1.JPG

Action 2.JPG
Action 6.jpg

image.jpg
Pit crew in action.jpg
Pit stop tired.JPG
The Start.jpg
3rd place.jpg

Ben


-- Edited by napsta on Tuesday 13th of October 2009 10:35:04 AM

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Wolf


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Top stuff mate, well done!

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jones off road


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Very impressive, most of us can only dream of what you have done.............maybe one day I might get a chance!
Will you be going back for the king of hammers?

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napsta


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Yep I will be going back for sure.

We make a few small changes for the races that include rocks:
- Swap the 37 inch BFG Bajas/Projects for a 39.5 inch BFG Brawler KRT which is a 'sticky' race compund tyre for more grip on the rocks
- Only run the light bar at night incase of roll over
- put the drag race ring and pinion in the rear 9 inch (wears too fast for 1000 mile race)
- winch installed to the front for recoveries
Bomber3.jpg

It will be interesting to see this class evolve.  They started us right at the back of the pack, but with 4WD and close to 400 horse power, we picked our way through most of the jeep speeds, smaller buggies and some of the trucks (class 7 and 15 i think?) We loose out on the rough bits with short bumps as the front diff geometry is simply not designed to work in that way.  We passed alot of cars stuck and digging as we churned on in 4WD!
The scariest part is that we run full hydraulic steering - the wheel is attached to an orbital valve that drives a ram mounted on the diff.  This means we cannot get any steering feel, and you have to always be steering as it won't just follow the ruts like other cars.

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Wolf


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With that much body roll and hydraulic steering it must have been a handfull!

Who built the car?

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jones off road


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Is the car yours? Will it be brought back to aussie?

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Wolf


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whats the fastest animal in the world?

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Green Sally up. Green Sally down.
Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
napsta


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Yes the body roll is something to get use to. It's even worse with the rear sway bar relaxed so it flexes up in the rocks properly.

The car was built by a guy called Randy Slawson in California. He's new in the fab shop business however is building rock racers and some desert cars, trading under the name Bomber Fab. I own it.

I'm not sure if I will bring it back to Aus. I'd love to bring it back and run some of the 4wd events over here, and maybe a major desert race, however it doesn't really fit into any of the classes to my knowledge, and there are parts about it that may not pass tech.

As far as the fastest animal? No idea. :P

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Kick my dog


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Just read the review of the event in Dirtsports and I'm both impressed and jealous.

Well done and Good Luck in the KOH.



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napsta


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I'm trying to get my hands on that dirtsports edition. Hopefully they will be able to post me a couple. Do you have a subscription with Aus delivery? How much does it cost.

One of the guys that writes for Dirtcomp was at the event and travelled with our group, so hopefully they will have some coverage too.

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jones off road


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Just go to the dirtsports web site and sign up, sometimes they have special deals, I think my last 2 year subription worked out about $2/issue!
I think in 5 years I have only lost about 2 editions, and when I emailed them they sent me another copy free!
You need to order VOL.5 NO.56 OCT2009

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napsta


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they don't seem to actually have a website - strange. I have got in contact with them via email and will organise a subscription.
Thanks
Ben

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jump1


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http://www.off-road.com/offroad/static/staticHtml.jsp?id=570997 this is what i found for you...

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