THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Evening Gents!
Well, have been playing around with weight in the rear of the truck. I now have about 350 pounds of sandbags in the back just inside the door. Hoping to get more traction on the rainy/dry days and get better tire wear. What are your thoughts on this? Anybody have a magic weight? Am I crazy or? One more thing. What about the "rubber fuel line" on the transmission mounting pin to keep the vibration down. Worth doing? (good one for Dennis, Jim ect:)


Stock 710 raggtop running Mickey T's mtz 285/70

And ladies

Only way to know if the hose thing will work is to take it apart first....
Weight is a double edged sword,add more weight,make the back squat,tires wear better and cut gas mileage. My truck holds 30+ gals, It's far more painful to buy gas than tires!

I can see the extra fuel cost but the truck is very light in the ass end. It spins around pretty easy on wet pavment. Even on dry mountain roads it feels unstable. (i know it not a sports car but.....) The tire wear is more of a plus than a need. Thanks for all input!

I heard time ago that someone bolted 200kg steel plate firmly on the rear part of the floor.

Roman

When I purchased my 710M from Thilo a year or so back, he was running around with a big plastic drum looking contraption in his person 712 that was full of water. I suppose that serves a duel purpose in Arizona.....

http://home.comcast.net/~hillmanpinz/Ballast.html Evan put lead in his to use as a ballast

I like to put people in the back, makes the pinz quieter or at least covers pinz noise.

Ok, today I took all the weight out of the back and drove it. Hard braking and pretty curvy road trying feel the handling. I also pulled up on (not climbing on top) a 10' steep bank in two wheel drive watching when the tires would break loose. Now, put the 350 or so pounds back in and drove the same course 15 minuets later. Wow, big difference. Breaking a lot straighter (adjusted the brakes last week) with a decline in nose dive. It took the curves a little better but the roads are dry. Pulled up to the bank until the rear bumper hit. Would not go but half the way before it started to spin with no weight in it.
So far I like the rear winch for adding a couple hundred pounds to it. Evan had made a 5 point mount for his rear winch using average (1/4 / 3/8) steel to make his mount weighing about 70lbs or so. My thought would be to use much thicker steel just for the added weight. Maybe even tubing that can be filled with lead.



Evan's Mount

http://home.comcast.net/~hillmanpinz/Ballast.html

another way to add weight to the rear. and carry a couple jerry cans, lift all and the spare off the door, all while getting a better rear bumper.

Did you fabricate that rear system yourself? Does it incorporate a bumper, trailer hitch, spare tire carrier all in one? Thanks,

I had fabricated a winch bracket into a modified tailcone for the Pink Cow.
Tucks up under the rear and has a receiver to allow for towing at the same time. The same tpe of mount will tuck even further on a 710/12 due to the increased ovehang.



With a trailer and an adjustable combo ball/pintle


Using a dedicated bumper swingout ( like Mike's ) adds the weight to the rear, but not onto the rear door ( and hinges) and that weakens the door assembly even further. The TDs have a dedicated spare tire carrier that also is used to hang the rear door on.

Another practice was to bolt heavy plate steel to the underside of the rear wheel wells and not lose any interior space.
But , no matter what, securely fasten any weights you may add, in any abrupt maneuver they may become an unwanted IED.

Dave Dunn

The rear hitch is a 2" square adapter off the tail cone. The rest is a direct bolt on replacement. This replaces the bumperettes and the angle support pieces. I have trail tested it and it holds up great along with adding weight to the rear. If one were so inclined they could fill it with lead or similar product for added weight. I normally just carry two 5 gallon jerry cans of water the spare and the jack. It could accept ammo cans or other items taking up the space of a jerry cans. I have even made a table which fits on the tire so I have a portable table when out offroading, very handy.

Going thru my latest Jegs catalog, they carry a product called Shurtrax.
It is a water bladder for use in the bed of cars and suvs. States it has been tested to -40F w/out bursting and can add up to 400lbs of weight. This sounds good as it can be emptied when not needed,(providing it is not frozen solid!)
www.shurtrax.com/index.asp
Mark

Oh yea the bumperettes can hold about 30# of lead shot.
Mark