[FINALIST] - CraftsmanQuad's CraftsmanQuad Mark II [2019 buildoff entry]

Yes like Carl said the front brakes are going be amazing. Since rear brakes provide little stopping power that is going to be a world of difference.

That’s what I’m hoping with the front brakes. Plus hydraulic rear brakes eventually will give me all 4 wheels of stopping power. I’m just worried about finding replacement brake shoes for the front

Quick little update on the front tire situation. I retrieved the tires from where I had them stashed and they are 19 inches tall, but a few inches narrower than the rear. So my front tires will be an inch taller than the rear, which I am fine with.

One major downside, the hole in the center of the rim is just an inch too big. The hubs from the mini quad I stole the suspension from will not work without cutting up the old rims. So, it looks like I’ll have to use the torch at work to cut up the wheels and Frankenstein them together haha. Not sure exactly where I’m going to make my cuts just yet, but I will be sure to dismount all the tires before torching or welding is involved. I’d hate to burn up my nice set of tires.

Man this is gonna have a nice stance

Yes lots of quads including Banshees and Blasters have this tire combo the rears are 18×9.5-8 (same size as my rears) and the front are 19×7-8. Both common suzes and are about 90 bucks for a set of either.

Made a template, not gonna mess with chopping up the old rims to get a fit I’m not happy with. So I will be making new center rings using my template and will just go that route. Should turn out ok. I’ve just always loved the equal size front to rear tires on mowers. It just looks so damn cool!

Luckily I think I have the impala issues figured out so by Tuesday I should be able to focus on this guy as my sole dedicated project

I have also always loved that look as well. (When it isn't squatting to much)
I can't wait to see how this thing looks. Your build is basically mine plus all the good stuff (suspension, vanguard, 820, etc..)

Looking forward to seeing how she looks with the new front paws! 7" wide ATV tires (assuming that's what yours are) always look really cool on the front of a tractor in my opinion.

I believe they are AK, and I suppose you’re right MJ, but I always saw our builds as equals.

This is the mk2 because I’m making it better in every single way than the original CQ. I’m going all out and using every goodie I found for it.

Sorry I keep mentioning the stance and why it’s the mk2 but now that I’ve seen about how it’s gonna sit I’m just so excited.

Oh hey also, happy Easter everyone!

Had a rough day in the shop and ultimately didn’t get much accomplished. Fought the impala all day in class, then came home and spent a couple hours cutting out and shaping the plate steel from my temple and making the hubs. Halfway through the first one I ran out of wire so I threw in a spool of Hobart wire from TSC and holy crap that wire sucks. If you have any choice whatsoever, go with Lincoln wire. Cheaper AND better. So when I finally got it all welded up I put it on the tractor and holy wheel wobble. Not only was it not centered, it wasn’t sitting flat when I welded it so it wobbled side to side. At that point I threw the tire across the yard and sat down to cool off for a bit. I think my only hope with that wheel is to be very careful with the oxygen acetaline torch and cut it out at work. Didn’t even bother with the other one since I still need to buy new wire. I’ve used only a few feet of this 2lb spool and I think I might just throw it away. It really sucks that bad.

Eventually I went out and retrieved my tire I threw and mocked all 4 wheels and tires up for the first time and threw the fenders and dash on it for fun. And also stuck the shocks on there and man. I can really see the way this thing is gonna take shape and I REALLY like it. I’ll attack the rims another day. For now I’m just gonna look at these pictures and be content

Trying to decide on color. I used to really want a gloss OD green, but now I’m really liking the factory grey. What do you guys think? Dark grey like the hood? Or the lighter kinda primer grey like the fenders are right now?

The frame will definitely be gloss black. Wheels.....black? Or should I do body color? I think if I go with the dark grey I’ll do black wheels, but if I go with light grey body I’ll do light grey wheels too.

Thoughts?

Sorry you had a unproductive day jn the shop. I hate it when i spend all day working and accomplish nothing. Is the lug pattern on the front hubs just to small or is it wrong? Although I think you should do the wheels black I think a light grey may look better. I love the stance on the front. The vanguard looks so natural on there!

I've always thought those craftsmans looked good in grey. A mix of grey and black and red throughout the machine might look good

It all looks so nicely put together. But look closer at the pic and you see no upper shock mounts, no transaxle, dash and fenders are just resting there, no floorboards, engine is just resting there, no steering, no belt setup, really it’s just a bare frame I set up for the picture lol

The front hubs are a 3 bolt pattern and are too small for the rims I’m using. The issue with my hub I made for the rim was that I welded it in crooked and the wheel wobbled really bad. I can only imagine the death wobble at high speed!

Is this any thing like what you need or does yours need to be offset to clear the brakes and suspension.




Bottom one on the second pic.

Yeah that’s basically what I’m making but instead of bolting to the rim I’ll weld it. Offset will be the same as the original 8” wheel.

Looks like you're making some good progress keep up the GREAT! work.

I really like the look of its mock up, gonna be a sweet tractor for sure. One thing, and this is just my opinion, I would make my front rims with as much backspacing as possible, as in have the rim almost touching the ball joints. the farther out they sit the more stress they put on the ball joints and tierod ends, plus makes it harder to steer in rough conditions and gives more feedback through the steering wheel. its hard to tell from the pic but it looks like you could knock off at least two inchs of width per side just with higher offset wheels. Since you are basically building them from scratch anyways.

Well I’m reusing the offsetfrom the wheels, just making a new bolt pattern. I am keeping them as narrow as I can mainly for as equal track width front to rear

this looks AWESOME!! Should be really comfortable to ride it!

Looked at the mk2 today, and I’ve come up with a game plan to make the shocks fit. I’m gonna have to turn the engine around like @redzz02 did on his haspin tractor. That’s the only feasible way I can see to make room for the shock towers without moving the engine back.

Moving the engine back would be easier, but my weight bias will already be in the rear and that will only make it worse. Turning the engine around will allow space in front for a winch under the hood if I decide to add one, and will move my weight bias a little farther forward which will help with hill climbing.

Still no progress on the hubs, I need to take them to work to use the torch

Does anyone know where I can find an oil filter relocation kit for a vanguard for cheap? Where I want the shock tower to go is interfering with the filter. I could run a block off plate temporarily, but long term I want the filter

I had looked around kinda when I had the issue with the AMF, I didnt really find anything. I had considered modifying a 4.3 s10 filter system, as they had factory remote oil filter setups. but now Im planning on basically building my own remote setup. Also Im sure you meant bypass plate and not block off but just wanted to check before you built a blockoff plate and ruined your motor

Yes lol I meant bypass. I remember you had one on the amf.

I believe I’m going to cut the “flange” that mounts to the block off, tap the two holes, thread in some barbed fittings, and run some rubber hose to my filter plate. That would also make it easy to ad an inline cooler on the way to the filter. I might just have to do that 4.3 s10 filter “mount” since that would make it easy to get high quality automotive filters pretty much anywhere.

Just wanna point out as fare as the hill climbing goes your height should be the same as mine in the rear and right now my front end is way up in the air because I haven't made my drop spindles yet. I have done some hill climbing and had no issues with the front end wanting to come up. Considering that your front end will be lower then my is now (if yours sits level) then you should have very little issues with the front end coming up and alitte rear weight bias might not hurt and will help alittle with traction. But backwards motor isn't a bad idea either.

Got the old hubs cut out of the wheels so I think I can redo them this weekend. This time I’m going to cut the new hubs on my uncles lathe so I know they’re true and won’t be too big.

Tomorrow I will be cleaning up the wheels with the grinder and welding the new plate to the frame. Hopefully I can drill the mounting holes for the engine as well

Banking on some birthday money to allow me to buy the final drive so I can put the transaxle together, figure out where the rear wheels are gonna sit so I can mount the fenders and start building the shifter setup.

Might start on steering tomorrow depending on how well everything goes. At least start mocking stuff up on the gearbox side of things

Good call on using a lathe, that's the best way to do stuff like that.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the steering come together! Should be a neat setup for sure.