First trip with first sandcar aftemath report

[EastMT]

All of the advise I received on here about what to look for, what to inspect, what spare parts to bring, what tools, supplies, etc was spot on times 10.
The car survived it’s first trip with me for a week. The worst thing that went wrong was a crack on a front wheel where the wheel meets the hub, right around the weld. Luckily I found a welding shop that repaired it by the next afternoon. The next worst thing but much messier was pulling the boots back to inject grease into the CV’s. 
Besides that it did not leave me stranded and started every time. 
@Rockwooddeserves an award for being the first to see into the future and predict a radiator leak. Thanks Mr. Wood. Shes a leaker and most likely was before I bought the car. I’ll start another post about a replacement radiator and mounting.

The shocks leak, good thing the seller washer it up good to hide that. Note to first time sandcar buyers, take someone experienced with you how ever you have to arrange that. I wish I followed that advise.

Other sandcar owners said I was over paddled for how much horsepower I have (stock Honda 3.5 V-6 Sandblaster 33-15 every other paddle is removed). I’ll start another thread asking advise on tire suggestions.

All in all it was a good trip and I had an enjoyable week. I met two other sandcar owners who are great guys to be around and drive with.
A huge thank you to everyone that gave me advise or offered their opinion on the many questions that I have posted.

 

[Rockwood]

Over paddle: increase tire pressure until wheel spin becomes too much or you hit 18 or so. 

 

[EastMT]

Over paddle: increase tire pressure until wheel spin becomes too much or you hit 18 or so. 

Thanks! I’ll put that in my notes.

 

[Phil Brown]

If I had a beer every time someone told me "the car would be more fun to drive with a smaller paddel on it  :rofl:

 

[Rockwood]

If I had a beer every time someone told me "the car would be more fun to drive with a smaller paddel on it  :rofl:

Got a blown up version of your avatar...?  Those paddles look ginormous. :biggrin:

 

[EastMT]

If I had a beer every time someone told me "the car would be more fun to drive with a smaller paddel on it  :rofl:

Are you saying to keep the current paddles and add horsepower instead of running smaller paddles?

 

[ChasingSand]

All of the advise I received on here about what to look for, what to inspect, what spare parts to bring, what tools, supplies, etc was spot on times 10.
The car survived it’s first trip with me for a week. The worst thing that went wrong was a crack on a front wheel where the wheel meets the hub, right around the weld. Luckily I found a welding shop that repaired it by the next afternoon. The next worst thing but much messier was pulling the boots back to inject grease into the CV’s. 
Besides that it did not leave me stranded and started every time. 
@Rockwooddeserves an award for being the first to see into the future and predict a radiator leak. Thanks Mr. Wood. Shes a leaker and most likely was before I bought the car. I’ll start another post about a replacement radiator and mounting.

The shocks leak, good thing the seller washer it up good to hide that. Note to first time sandcar buyers, take someone experienced with you how ever you have to arrange that. I wish I followed that advise.

Other sandcar owners said I was over paddled for how much horsepower I have (stock Honda 3.5 V-6 Sandblaster 33-15 every other paddle is removed). I’ll start another thread asking advise on tire suggestions.

All in all it was a good trip and I had an enjoyable week. I met two other sandcar owners who are great guys to be around and drive with.
A huge thank you to everyone that gave me advise or offered their opinion on the many questions that I have posted.

I am running the same paddle and my car does great. Even when it was a stock J35 they were perfect for the car. 

 

[Looney Duner]

When I had a j35a4 I ran extreme 14.50x15 competition cut, pretty similar to a blaster #2 cut. No paddles removed, and the car worked perfectly. 

As far as the shocks go, they are not hard to replace the seals. But you will need to reach them with nitrogen. Kartek, or shock seals .com has the seal kits in stock.

 

[Phil Brown]

Are you saying to keep the current paddles and add horsepower instead of running smaller paddles ?

Works for me  :classic_biggrin:

 

[EastMT]

I am running the same paddle and my car does great. Even when it was a stock J35 they were perfect for the car. 

Thanks for the info.

 

[EastMT]

When I had a j35a4 I ran extreme 14.50x15 competition cut, pretty similar to a blaster #2 cut. No paddles removed, and the car worked perfectly. 

As far as the shocks go, they are not hard to replace the seals. But you will need to reach them with nitrogen. Kartek, or shock seals .com has the seal kits in stock.

Thanks for the info. I was going to  attempt to replace the shock seals myself before sending them off. 

 

[Fullthrottleguy]

Thanks for the info. I was going to  attempt to replace the shock seals myself before sending them off. 

Glad it was a good trip!

Depending on the shock brand and age of the shocks its generally pretty easy and safe as long as you follow a couple rules  - the Filthy Motorsports/crawlpedia guys have some good step by step videos on rebuilding King and Fox shocks  that mirror how I do it - so I think they are pretty good  - the only danger is if you forget to depressurize the shocks before disassembly - that can kill you, the rest is just patience and attention to detail - enjoy

 

[EastMT]

Glad it was a good trip!

Depending on the shock brand and age of the shocks its generally pretty easy and safe as long as you follow a couple rules  - the Filthy Motorsports/crawlpedia guys have some good step by step videos on rebuilding King and Fox shocks  that mirror how I do it - so I think they are pretty good  - the only danger is if you forget to depressurize the shocks before disassembly - that can kill you, the rest is just patience and attention to detail - enjoy

Thanks for that. All the shocks including the bypass on the rear are King. Will watch the videos a couple times before attempting disassembly. I do have a nitrogen tank with a regulator but I thought I read on here about a special kind of adapter/regulator that was better to use for filling shocks.

 

[Jersey_Jeff73]

Thanks for that. All the shocks including the bypass on the rear are King. Will watch the videos a couple times before attempting disassembly. I do have a nitrogen tank with a regulator but I thought I read on here about a special kind of adapter/regulator that was better to use for filling shocks.

just a pressure gauge with a no loss air chuck https://www.schmidtyracing.com/No-Loss-Chuck-with-Gauge-and-Bleed-Off-p/n-ft-nlc-shr-bo.htm

 

[KLC]

Fwiw, I've had no issues just using a standard air chuck when filling my shocks with nitrogen, I set the pressure I want on the regulator and fill them until I can hear no more going in, usually a few seconds. Sometimes I'll discharge it and repeat to verify it is filled with only nitrogen. Remember to fully extend the shocks before you add nitrogen or they will be under charged.

 

[EastMT]

just a pressure gauge with a no loss air chuck https://www.schmidtyracing.com/No-Loss-Chuck-with-Gauge-and-Bleed-Off-p/n-ft-nlc-shr-bo.htm

Thats the type I was thinking about. Thanks

 

[EastMT]

Fwiw, I've had no issues just using a standard air chuck when filling my shocks with nitrogen, I set the pressure I want on the regulator and fill them until I can hear no more going in, usually a few seconds. Sometimes I'll discharge it and repeat to verify it is filled with only nitrogen. Remember to fully extend the shocks before you add nitrogen or they will be under charged.

Appreciate the info.