anyone have cool vehicle ideas that would be awesome to see?

[fastpakr]

Yes, but if the vehicle is moving then the wheels are spinning, which means the compressor is spinning, if you are stopped then (assuming no leaks) the air system should hold enough pressure to get you going again.

Now, im sure it would take some huge ass compressors to keep up with demand, and it may not work well in stop and go.

I dont know man, im not an engineer. I think i know what your getting at, but its not really perpetual if the tank is storing the pressure...right?

It's perpetual if you think the same amount of energy is being generated by the compressors to go back into the air tank while simultaneously driving the vehicle forward. You cannot have both.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You are going to lose energy, you would probably actually go farther just off the charged tank without the compressors dragging on the system.

 

[fastpakr]

See, something like this. Ok corny example, but why couldnt you apply a compressor (in theory) to the prop of that plane to keep the system charged?

Same concept im getting at.

If you tried to drive the compressor with the prop, the prop would not turn because you're demanding the same energy to go into the compressor as you're pulling out of the air tank.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If you tried to drive the compressor with the prop, the prop would not turn because you're demanding the same energy to go into the compressor as you're pulling out of the air tank.

I gotcha now. Yeah, that makes sense. Oh well. Seemed like a good idea.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

See, something like this. Ok corny example, but why couldnt you apply a compressor (in theory) to the prop of that plane to keep the system charged?

Same concept im getting at.

Actually unpowered aircraft propellers are drag, they adjust the pitch so they don't turn whenever possible.

However as somewhat of a tie in to your theory they do do that for certain things on aircraft. Some jets have deployable windmills (little propeller looking things) to turn a generator in the event of electrical failure. Some ag aircraft have a similar setup to run their chemical pumps.

They all suck energy but sometimes it pencils out. It doesn't take much to beat landing without controls or a radio and for low speed high powered ag aircraft it is probably more effiecent than an electrical pump.

I have a pic of the emergency one deployed on a F-105 at home, here is a cropduster, you can see it on the belly between the landing gear.

As one of my college teachers used to say "there is no such thing as a free lunch"

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes, friction is the part that prevents your idea from working.

 

[shadetreebronco]

I remember seeing a Baja truck or buggy with drop down hydraulic jacks years ago. Made for a fast tire change.
I am planning on storing a spare set of driveshafts under the passenger floor of my 75 Bronco . They would be inside pvc tubes and swing down .

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I want to see a chop top B2 with the back side windows installed so the majority of the glass is the roof.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

The idea makes sense. BUT, it might work better if the front wheels drive the compressor system (they're generally just along for the ride on a 2WD anyway), and the rear wheels propel the truck forward (or backward).

 

[1990RangerinSK]

A better plan might be to adapt one of the Electric Rangers. Plug it in while you're not driving it to charge the battery. To extend the range, the wheels that are just along for the ride (front) drive a generator that charges the battery. I doubt you'd be able to recoup 100% of your power lost to driving the truck, but you might get back anywhere between 25% to 75%.

The electric motor solves the problem of the compressor driven truck that doesn't have a way to generate compressed air.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I thought it would be cool to build an electric powered Ford Ranger 4x4 using one of the electric motors that they briefly came with. Have a bed cover that was one big solar panel. Probably wouldn't have a rear bed, just bedsides with batteries between them.

Something that I could plug in after a day of wheeling, and have it charged up again in time for morning,

Honestly, I think any kind of electric 4x4 project would be cool.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The price of used electric seems reasonable in the states. Not so much up here. I'd love to tinker with an electric vehicle. I stopped and chatted with a electric school bus driver, the only one in western Canada that is being used as a school bus. The only gas engine on board is used for heating the bus.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/05/17/elion-shows-off-new-electric-school-bus/

 

[91stranger]

You all know that they already have air powered cars right? But an easy way to fix the air compressor issue is to still have the gas motor but have air as a secondary power supply like when driving on the freeway. You would use the gas motor to get going then let the air take over and use a large fly wheel to keep the momentum going. Perpetual energy is possible. The Da Vinci wheel proves it. You can google all sorts of contraptions that use perpetual energy and do not stop until you make it stop.

 

[fastpakr]

A better plan might be to adapt one of the Electric Rangers. Plug it in while you're not driving it to charge the battery. To extend the range, the wheels that are just along for the ride (front) drive a generator that charges the battery. I doubt you'd be able to recoup 100% of your power lost to driving the truck, but you might get back anywhere between 25% to 75%.

The electric motor solves the problem of the compressor driven truck that doesn't have a way to generate compressed air.

The second you use the front wheels to drive an air compressor, you're applying a braking force to them. Perfectly fine when you're trying to slow down (regenerative braking), but you can't do that under normal operation.

 

[fastpakr]

You all know that they already have air powered cars right? But an easy way to fix the air compressor issue is to still have the gas motor but have air as a secondary power supply like when driving on the freeway. You would use the gas motor to get going then let the air take over and use a large fly wheel to keep the momentum going. Perpetual energy is possible. The Da Vinci wheel proves it. You can google all sorts of contraptions that use perpetual energy and do not stop until you make it stop.

Perpetual energy is absolutely -not- possible. Nobody has ever created it, and no reputable source has ever claimed otherwise. Friction happens. Energy is lost to heat, sound, etc.

Obviously as a -complete- system, energy is neither created nor destroyed. No machine in existence operates independently, however. Everything known to man slowly bleeds off the energy it begins with into the outside environment.