Custom Craftsman Rock-Crawler build

Very cool! Itll be a serious beast when its done. I like how it looks- i always sit back n think- " pretty cool stuff can be done with a lawntractor never built or intended to do stuff like that."

is that your murray beside it. Man thats a nice tractor.

yeah, I posed it there.. I can't believe it still didn't lift up a rear wheel. It was maxed out though. Still lots to be done. and my grinder just shit the bed, so that sucks...

Chunk wrote:

That bolt is a big one. I'll be amazed if that broke.

I Think the axle would bend before the bolt bends or breaks! Lets hope that never happends.

Yeah - some tools y dont use often- but when y need it and its broken they youre like " ARGH!".

I used my grinder and drill yesterday to hack up those MTD fenders and drill some new holes- i tell y one of those step bits is the most handiest tool ever- i use mine all the time and it still cuts like butta - doesnt wear out/break like drill bits- its a wise investment.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Yeah - some tools y dont use often- but when y need it and its broken they youre like " ARGH!".

I used my grinder and drill yesterday to hack up those MTD fenders and drill some new holes- i tell y one of those step bits is the most handiest tool ever- i use mine all the time and it still cuts like butta - doesnt wear out/break like drill bits- its a wise investment.

I really really really want one of those! I always wondered how they work, it looks like a brillant idea!

Theyre awsome- they work great- i used em earlier to drill holes for the hood bars on the mod MTD.

Heres a link: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326869_200326869

id highly suggest getting one, i have a 3 piece set of them.

oh i seen those bits. never used any though, like scale 1-10 how much better do these last and cut than reg, bits, cause i burnt up a new bit after drilling 5-9 holes.

well- had my set now for almost 2 years n they still cut great - tons better then a regular bit.

I saw a nice irwin step drill bit at lowes, it was $42... I didn't buy it though... It looks like it would do the trick.

My 3 piece set was only $15 - those 3 are all i need , i just grabbed the link for the first one i came across on NT.

Dangeroustoys, what brand are those, and where did you get them? I've yet to see good ones that cheap... Also, do they have 1 or 2 cutting groves on them? I see alot of the cheaper one only have 1, and the expencive ones have 2.



And now, a little update... I've been doing 2 things at once... Sort of..lol..

First the front suspention, I wanted something that would keep it from suddenly tipping over because it has soo much travel. So I used gas charged struts that I found. They are the perfect length. I used thick ass angle steel to mount them on.

(Ignore the exhaust, its just there to keep hot slag out of the motor, same with the white thing on the carb)





I can still access everything on the motor, but now i need to make a custom exaust to clear the new shock tower. I welded bolts where I wanted to have the shock ends, and just have to thread the nuts on to keep them in place.



Both sides done...





It actually works quite well. I'll have to make a video of it to show it in action... It makes cool "woosh woosh" sounds when you cycle it back and forth. lol!

And yes, the hood clears it no problem!

And I started on the rear wheel swap, I've got some 13" honda wheels and tires, which will be replaced with something more aggresive.



I hope I don't grenade the transaxle! I also took one of the two rear tires i had that dont hold air, and cut up the wheel until I had just the hub and a plate to mount some wheel studs onto. The plan will be to weld them onto the axle shafts, and bolt the wheel to them.



Another veiw...



So Thats it for now... I'm gonna go out today and get a new angle grinder... I wanted a dewalt but I'd rather not spend that much... I'm gonna spend more then I want to anyway..

I'm looking at a Skil at lowes for $30 or a kawasaki at tractor supply for $40.... I'm gonna try them out and see what I think... I may just have to cough up the $$$$ for the Dewalt though...

What do you all think? What do you guys use?

i have a mastercraft and never had any problems with it. quite expencive

This is the link for the bits i have : http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200313494_200313494
I think mine have one slot- but they cut damn good- im impressed- plus saves me from buying a ton of drill bits.

I like those lifts on the front axle- its cool y can still run the hood ( good thing for those tall craftsman hoods).

Those rear wheels will be huge! Add some mud tires n itd be beefy.

Y know, the way it works is if y buy a powertool cheep- thats what y get. id spend a lil more n buy a dewalt then youll have it a long time . Ive always been told " dont go cheep on stuff- itll bite y back later " by my dad- he bot his first dewalt 9.6 volt screw gun many years ago, he ran thru 2 sets of batteries before the armature finally gave out - he swears by dewalt.

I bot my 12volt screw gun at a yard sale a few years back - for like $10 , well used, had the battery, charger and flashlight - i still have it.

those shocks are soo cool, we have a dewalt grinder and it works soo good, ive never had a problem with it, when i was cutting the wheel off the other day that thing was getting really hot, but still kept doing its job

definetly gonna be a sick machine!

can I get a picture request of how you made your belt tensioner?

Yamaharules163 wrote:

can I get a picture request of how you made your belt tensioner?

Sure, what is it that you need a picture of? It's in one of my videos towards the middle...

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLBFpmYGKs

If you still want pics, let me know.

so fearless how are things going with your rock crawler?

Well today, I tried to recover some video from my camera, but it turns out it's junk... So any updates I do will have to be through pics for now. I gotta find a cheap camera either used, or a cheap new one. I already have a 4 gig memory stick. I hate these tapes, I'm done with this "mini dv" junk.

man that sucks, the only camera i have that records SOUND is my cell phone, the cheap vivitar cameras don't record sound its just a pic cam. which is stupid. so don't get vivitar unless ya don't like sound.