So I ended up welding a U-shaped bracket that I bolted to the rear axle just inside of each wheel. There’s not much frame in the rear since the bed is a dumping bed.
#Electric truck install#
It would turn out that the only problem would be finding a place to install the tow hitch. It worked, so I figured it could tow a 1,000 lb. of Japanese automobile across the pasture. But they didn’t count on me.Īs a test, I had originally checked the towing capacity by tying a static climbing rope to my parents’ minivan and towing 4,000 lb. It’s probably because they didn’t expect anyone to actually try and tow anything with it. I’m frankly surprised the truck didn’t come with a tow hitch to begin with. The original chrome was a bit too flashy for me, so now they’re “tactical.” Adding a tow hitch Oh, I also hit the hubcaps with some black spray paint. And the truck is so darn nimble due to its narrow width that I don’t really notice the change in the steering radius much.
#Electric truck upgrade#
Still, the upgrade was well worth it for the better ride in all the wet and dirty conditions the truck gets used in most of the time.
#Electric truck full#
The tires were slightly wider and just barely caught on the inside of the front fenders when in a full lock turn, so they probably added a couple hairs to my turning radius. They worked perfectly! Well, almost perfectly. Big thanks to one of my readers, Rob Fox, who sent me a link to those ATV tires. It’s not a street-legal vehicle, but I considered that acceptable under the emergency circumstances.īut since the original tires were street rubber and would often slip on wet grass or sand, I installed a set of four ATV tires on the original wheels.
The only time we’ve used it on public roads was after a hurricane earlier this year to do a few supply runs. In fact, it probably has put 99.9% of its miles on sand or grass. This was another nice upgrade for our use since the truck rarely goes on the road. It’s always been a great work vehicle, but now it’s a much more comfortable one, too. Of all the upgrades I did, this one probably had the single biggest impact on the enjoyment we get out of the mini-truck. So by swapping in softer springs, the truck finally had true compression and rebound instead of feeling like the frame was welded directly to the axles. That might be good if you’re carrying a couple of pianos in back, but the most I’ve had is around 700-800 lb. I have no idea what the original springs were since they aren’t labeled, but I’m guessing they were in the ballpark of 400 lb.
The original springs were way too stiff, so my father and I pulled them out and swapped them for 125 lb. The ride might have been okay on tarmac, but since we use the truck on my parents’ ranch as a work truck in the pasture, it lives its life in a pretty bumpy environment. I can’t believe I waited this long to upgrade the suspension, because it was the single most obvious shortcoming of the truck. Here’s how I’ve turned what was already a pretty awesome electric mini-truck into the perfect ranch or hobby farm vehicle. So far I’ve undertaken a number of them and added a few personal touches of my own. When I first got the truck, a lot of people suggested several upgrades to make it even better. The 5:8 scale mini-truck may not be very big, but it’s held its own against six seasons of landscaping work, trash runs, furniture moving, mulch hauling, hurricane cleanup, and more.Īs much as I liked the original design, there was still room for improvement. There’s almost zero rust and nothing major has broken (other than the rearview mirror falling off a few times until I finally put it on permanently with stronger glue). The summary is that it’s actually been doing well. I recently posted a video showing off how the truck has held up during its first year and a half of near-daily work on my parents’ ranch in hot, humid, and rainy Florida. If you want to hear the long version of how I bought the truck, you can find that in my original article.
Now that it’s been with me for over 18 months, I’ve had the chance to put in a number of awesome upgrades to turn the truck into a true workhorse. As many of my regular readers will know, nearly two years ago I set out on a saga to buy an electric mini-truck from China.
0 kommentar(er)
