rumblebee3
Caught the Bug
So I know this is probably not the ideal first build thread to start out with here but since the WJ isn't quite ready for upgrades due to needing a motor built and etc. etc. etc. .....I figured what good way to kick things off than to use my daughter's Power Wheels that I've... slightly modified. And I'm not even done upgrading. Just trying to figure out where to stop before saying screw it and buy her a go kart. She did just turn 4.
We bought this used and immediately started researching things to do to this. It's an early model Jeep Hurricane with working FM radio, turn signals, two-speed plus reverse, two seater with seat belts and aggressive tires and great ground clearance. Win win so far! The resources and parts are endless. And not just talking replacement... Upgrades! All kinds! But I couldn't do everything at once so where to start???
Batteries... The 2 batteries were shot that came with it so I went to Gruber Power and got three 6v-12ma batteries to total 18 volts! Super fast compared to stock. Then came tires. Ordered some stock replacement shoes for her and she was ready to roll. Shee loved it!
Then I noticed that it looked a little uncomfortable. So I decided to get creative. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some good 1" thick foam, red Paracord and black pleather ... Yes I said pleather... And proceeded to to drill countless holes in the seat. I had to hand make my own needles to sew the seat on to it. After hours and hours I finally had a mostly covered seat. It is not quite finished yet.
Shortly after this I ran into another problem. The plastic gear that drives the wheel broke. So what to do? Well since I'm a machinist and I work for a gear shop as well... I decided to make my own. I probably went a little overboard but I don't think it will ever break. You can see pictures of all the work I've done along with this post.
With that out of the way we were up and rolling once again. Going mudding and taking on hill's and cruising the streets. Literally we were going down to the gas station which is about 6 blocks away or more. I mean this thing is heavy duty enough that I ride in it sometimes when we do. It weighs over a hundred pounds easily.
But on the way back I also noticed it was a little hard to see it dark so what better time to add on headlights?!?! At first I tried taking apart those little dollar flashlights at Walmart and hot gluing those into the realistic headlights that were Factory in this and kept burning them up. Then while cruising through Walmart one day I saw a set of aftermarket $30 fog lights and they were exactly 2 & 3/4" diameter! Perfect fit. Then while at my local O'Reilly's I saw a set of cheap rear tail lights so I installed those as well. Now we we could see where we were going. And people could see us. Perfect!
After some hard driving and off-roading off-roading, I had to tear apart the front end and replace and machine up bushings for the front end since there was a ton of slack and play in the steering and the spindles. Hopefully I can find the pictures where I'm pulling the Jeep out of a ditch with the winch on my truck. Figured it would make for a good photo op and it did!
Now I'm at a dilemma, I can upgrade the Motors and gearboxes for about $240period That's all decked out and made for serious torque and even heavy vehicles that go mud bogging and everything! My dilemma is I'm getting ready to convert the front to 4 wheel drive! It's going to take a little engineering and modification but I should be able to make custom spindles, replace the rims with a set of rear rims that have the drive hub in them and make some brackets up and I should be good. But that means it's another $240! Or I could just stick with stock replacement your boxes for around $80 just for the front and it would be more than sufficient! Or I can go for about $300 for front and rear Motors and gearboxes and it would be in between the two. Decisions decisions.... LoL
I know it's going a little extreme for a kid's toy but she gets a kick out of it almost as much as I do! I'm sure I went a little overboard but why not right?! Let me know what you think of the build and I will try and post all the pictures of the modifications I've done and the fun we've had in it! Thanks for reading!
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Sent from my XT1585 using WAYALIFE mobile app
We bought this used and immediately started researching things to do to this. It's an early model Jeep Hurricane with working FM radio, turn signals, two-speed plus reverse, two seater with seat belts and aggressive tires and great ground clearance. Win win so far! The resources and parts are endless. And not just talking replacement... Upgrades! All kinds! But I couldn't do everything at once so where to start???
Batteries... The 2 batteries were shot that came with it so I went to Gruber Power and got three 6v-12ma batteries to total 18 volts! Super fast compared to stock. Then came tires. Ordered some stock replacement shoes for her and she was ready to roll. Shee loved it!
Then I noticed that it looked a little uncomfortable. So I decided to get creative. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some good 1" thick foam, red Paracord and black pleather ... Yes I said pleather... And proceeded to to drill countless holes in the seat. I had to hand make my own needles to sew the seat on to it. After hours and hours I finally had a mostly covered seat. It is not quite finished yet.
Shortly after this I ran into another problem. The plastic gear that drives the wheel broke. So what to do? Well since I'm a machinist and I work for a gear shop as well... I decided to make my own. I probably went a little overboard but I don't think it will ever break. You can see pictures of all the work I've done along with this post.
With that out of the way we were up and rolling once again. Going mudding and taking on hill's and cruising the streets. Literally we were going down to the gas station which is about 6 blocks away or more. I mean this thing is heavy duty enough that I ride in it sometimes when we do. It weighs over a hundred pounds easily.
But on the way back I also noticed it was a little hard to see it dark so what better time to add on headlights?!?! At first I tried taking apart those little dollar flashlights at Walmart and hot gluing those into the realistic headlights that were Factory in this and kept burning them up. Then while cruising through Walmart one day I saw a set of aftermarket $30 fog lights and they were exactly 2 & 3/4" diameter! Perfect fit. Then while at my local O'Reilly's I saw a set of cheap rear tail lights so I installed those as well. Now we we could see where we were going. And people could see us. Perfect!
After some hard driving and off-roading off-roading, I had to tear apart the front end and replace and machine up bushings for the front end since there was a ton of slack and play in the steering and the spindles. Hopefully I can find the pictures where I'm pulling the Jeep out of a ditch with the winch on my truck. Figured it would make for a good photo op and it did!
Now I'm at a dilemma, I can upgrade the Motors and gearboxes for about $240period That's all decked out and made for serious torque and even heavy vehicles that go mud bogging and everything! My dilemma is I'm getting ready to convert the front to 4 wheel drive! It's going to take a little engineering and modification but I should be able to make custom spindles, replace the rims with a set of rear rims that have the drive hub in them and make some brackets up and I should be good. But that means it's another $240! Or I could just stick with stock replacement your boxes for around $80 just for the front and it would be more than sufficient! Or I can go for about $300 for front and rear Motors and gearboxes and it would be in between the two. Decisions decisions.... LoL
I know it's going a little extreme for a kid's toy but she gets a kick out of it almost as much as I do! I'm sure I went a little overboard but why not right?! Let me know what you think of the build and I will try and post all the pictures of the modifications I've done and the fun we've had in it! Thanks for reading!
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Sent from my XT1585 using WAYALIFE mobile app
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