taken straight from my page on FB -
Hellcat II's 75 mile long range shakedown report:
Now that it's home where it can be worked on and improved, there are definitely some shortcomings needing addressed- but not many! Some are more serious than others but it's essentially nailed down to the following:
1- Motor mount bolts need attention. Somewhere on the return trip I lost one, and the other 3 worked a little loose. Probable cause - the rougher roads/trails used and the more consistent high speeds. Remedy - lock washers and a bit of blue loctite to each bolt.
2- Rear rack supports nearly failed. They're sagging about a half to 3/4" from where they were mounted. Probable cause - overloaded on the return trip and the rougher roads/trails previously mentioned. Remedy - Thicker walled material, likely angle iron this time, fastened at both ends rather than the tractor chassis itself.
3- Wiring malfunctions in lighting system. By the end of the trip, only the bumper light bar was working. No tails, no flashers, no lights in the stock location. Probable cause - too heavy a load on light gauge wire (though no burn-through found). Solution - lighten the electrical load by removing all lights except bumper light bar and adding a single central tail light with flasher on separate circuit from main light circuit.
4- Repeated misfire, weak idle and increased fuel consumption on return run - Likely a spark issue, thinking the stock plugs are already worn out. Simple tune up procedure with better plugs should cure this.
5- Steering slop - despite rebuild of all bushings and joints with newer heavier duty parts, still wanders on hard pack/pavement to the point of being dangerous at anything but stock speeds or lower. Probable cause - axle walk within the bracket. Solution(s)- Shim the axle pivot to remove slop between front and rear plate, or 'squeeze' plate closer by re-drilling frame mounts and moving them inwards towards axle center on both ends.
Nothing too serious across the board - and definitely nothing a solid day's tinkering can't fix or improve on.
Subject: 
June 2nd 2019, 6:18 pm
