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amphibious ranger?


87 2.9 4/4

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over the weekend i was watch top gear (brittish tv show) and they made a truck (nizzan/toyota (2 diferent episodes)) into a boat type of thing and i was wondering if yous had any ideas like this to do with a ranger.. they tried to break the record for crossing the english channel in an amphibious vehicle (but failed) so i thought we could probably beat them using a ranger ill try to explain their idea

welded suspension so the tires wouldnt stick down
2 small pontoons (length of box)
foam everywere (wich made some smoke)
welded doors (used sunroof to get out)
an a big outboard motor on the back

my idea is similar exept i think in the true definition it should use the same motor to drive on land and on water.

put the front half of a boat on the front (makes it move better in water)(would have to relocate rad to let more air flow through)cut holes to fit tires through and continue the boat bottom all the way back (basicaly like a skid plate that covers everything) my only idea for using the motor is to put a belt or a chain over the drive shaft to annother shaft which would have a propeler on it (i know it would have lots of stress on that but it is only an idea) have 2 of those one on each side to stear put a little rudder thing behind each propeler and full length pontoons (full length of truck) possably a snorkel in case water get in

and if it feals nessesary weld doors and make a sunroofbut the front of boat could extend and makes a new side which would almost cover the door so almost not nessesary but a cutout to use the mirror for on road purposes

one consern is the width of the vehicle with the pontoons possably failure of my propulsion idea

what are your ideas on this i didnt know were else to post this i figured this would be a good spot incase anyone likes the idea and tries it..
 


KELLY88

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When Monster Garage was still on they tried this with a Miata, it too failed. It could be done with a ton of work I suppose. An idea I have heard for propulsion is that if you can get the vehicle to float then put sand racing paddle tires on the back for propulsion and run it like on land. Have to add a rudder for steering.
 

87 2.9 4/4

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no they made it accross though... it worked they took some water and were complete idiots about it but it worked...
 

KELLY88

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No I remember that one, it worked a little but ended up failing. They destroyed it with a chain gun.
 

87 2.9 4/4

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gotta love youtube for somthings apperently there is going to be an american version of it..
 

triumphrider-1

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Yeah I watched the episode were they crossed the channel, and the previous one were they were in a pond/lake.

Personally I thought that using a '32 Highboy, with a small all-aluminum motor, would be a better idea.
 

87 2.9 4/4

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well the outboard motor is probably faster but it just doesnt feal right having all that dead weight with the other motor just sitting there.
 

Sunk

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What about the episode where they crossed water in a Jeep in Iceland? It had sand paddles and a V-8 and they just hauled ass across the water.


Sounds easier to me.
 

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No I remember that one, it worked a little but ended up failing. They destroyed it with a chain gun.
The Miata was sposed to be a dune buggy type thing, the floating car was a new Beetle.
 

94Rangeron37s

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i liked the way the trucks gone wild guys did it 79 ford Crew Cab long box with rockwells and 4 48inch tires per axle and a real healthy big block
 

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you know if you ran big enough tires it would cause the truck to float.It would take a massive tire but It works on r/c cars and I've seen a picture of a monster truck floating.The ranger is much lighter though so I'm willing to bet it could be done.
 

mhughes165

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i liked the way the trucks gone wild guys did it 79 ford Crew Cab long box with rockwells and 4 48inch tires per axle and a real healthy big block
u got no idea how hard it is to keep pappa smurf afloat, and thats in still waters, it would never make it across the english channel
 

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