News for rednecks, stuff that mattursssssssssss
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 3
Make sure you whistle that ess real good now, you hear?
get some R-Type stickers.
by
Wakko+Warner
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· Score: 2
They make civics faster.
3-foot-tall spoilers too.
--
Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?
-- "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
What's the price? [Re:Old, but...]
by
Forge
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· Score: 2
These look really interesting. I wonder if they come in a car version? I.e. Small enough to install on say a Toyota Corolla. More importantly I couldn't find any prices or links to anyone selling this stuff.
Where I live (Jamaica) There are a lot of "roads" for which this would be apropriate.
-- --=
Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
I love the product but hate the website.
by
Forge
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· Score: 3
1. Video caset infomersials for sale. $15 plus S&H.
2. No prices anywhere. Roles Roice or Rolex can maybe get away with that. everyone else shouldn't try.
3. No ecomerse (acceptable since this IS a big investment)
4. No links to anyone who dose Ecomerse (Hint: If they offer reseler status to anyone that caries a variety of vehicle stuff then that 3rd party would handle almost all the Ecomerse risks and headaches.
5. "Find a dealer" link inadequate. You only search by Zip code (Which doesn't exist for my homeland). Worse yet if you haven't got a dealer to attach to the 90210 area code then you don't have an extensive dealer network. Unless the code is just broken and doesn't know what is close to what.
This idea is far from new. A company called Cuthbertson was doing this to Landrovers in the UK in the 1950s. Somehow or another I suspect that the kid who came up with this idea isn't 50 years old now.
Nothing new under the sun, just some people egocentric enough to think that there is.
Locally we lost two Caterpillar tractors in the mud, a few years back. I believe the farmer was trying to reclaim some swampy ground, so he was trying to backfill the wet area.
Caterpillar one sunk like a fucking rock. IIRC, less than half of it was above-ground by the time they got the second Cat out to rescue it.
But it was still a freakin' swamp, so *OF COURSE* Cat #2 started sinking.
I think they managed to rescue #2. #1 is now, as far as I know, completely disappeared... a relic awaiting rediscovery by an advanced civilization a few thousand years from now, when internal combustion engines are unknown.
"WTF is this?!" they'll cry. "My self [they'll be atheists by then, so there won't be cries of 'my gods'] it's little wonder they were choking to death on pollution, when they were driving things like this all over the place!"
Better watch out. With a name like Mattrack, there's a good chance that Mattel's lawyers will be going after them. It's good thing they didn't call them Tracks'R'Us, or they would be a target for Geoffrey.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
how do you steer a truck with these things without trashing your differential if you're on something that would provide too much traction, say, grass.
That's the exact reason for a differential - turning & traction differences. These are no harder on your truck's differential and transfer case than any big tire. The track system is essentially just a wheel trapped by the track itself. The whell drives on the track, the track moves over the ground. Having 4 indepandant untis mean it's just a real fancy tire -not like a tank at all.
-- "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
They cost $15,000 US for a set of four
by
Katravax
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· Score: 3
The only drawback - 40mph max
by
Brento
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· Score: 2
The only drawback I can see is a 40mph max speed. I can't imagine how rough these things would be on the highway, which pretty well means there's not a lot of us who could pull this off, even if we had the cash. If they worked at highway speeds, I think there'd be an instant huge demand, just for the testosterone factor. I mean, I bet most of us would rather have a GMC Tahoe with these tracks than a Hummer - the Tahoe would be more comfortable, and the track's coolness factor would beat the Hummer.
-- What's your damage, Heather?
Re:The only drawback - 40mph max
by
Brento
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· Score: 3
They'd be having to repave the street up to your house every few days!
Nah, they're rubber tracks. You're thinking about the steel tracks used on tanks, which would indeed rip up the road. These are relatively harmless. The specs even list the PSI pressure exerted on the ground, and it's quite low compared to regular tires, because the weight is spread out across so much more area. These are actually a lot easier on the road, believe it or not.
-- What's your damage, Heather?
Re:Ladies and Gentlemen... (Been there, done that)
by
Brento
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· Score: 2
I believe it is time to build a Slashdot-mobile.
Been there, done that, and even gave it away for free. Needless to say, it didn't have anything nearly as cool as a built-in MP3 player, let alone tracks.
Yes, but the changeover requires jacking your vehicle up, which with something as big as a Tahoe isn't something you should take lightly. Even taking snow chains off and on is a major hassle, especially in the kind of conditions these things are getting used for. Do you REALLY want to get all down and dirty just to take the tracks off? Of course not. These tracks are going to be filthy.
how do you steer a truck with these things without trashing your differential
I was amazed by that myself. They claim identical turning radius to the factory tires, which is pretty darned tight, and that would definitely stress out your joints. If you examine the photos, there doesn't appear to be any kind of gearing to let the tracks freewheel, so 4wd on grass would mean trashing the grass and your tranny.
-- What's your damage, Heather?
Re:I wonder if I could...
by
cyberdonny
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· Score: 2
> Does this mean there's going to start being chevy vs ford flame wars in here now?
Tracks beat tires for two things.
by
jcr
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· Score: 2
First is, it's much harder for a tracked vehicle to get stuck on soft ground, and the second one is that tracks spread the load *much* better than tires. If you have to drive over something that you don't want destroyed, tracks are the way to go.
I've heard of old caterpillar tractors being driven over an egg buried 4" deep without breaking the egg.
Where they lose to tires is in top speed and maintenance.
-jcr
-- The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I could have used this technology in June May 1998 when Harris Corp delivered a 50kW AM transmitter (DX50) to our in-a-cow-pasture transmitter shack. In NW Washington. Think mud. The driver drove his 18 wheeler into the mud and got stuck. Had to rent special equipment to move the payload to the installation site. Had to get towed out. I never saw a semi w/ trailer stuck in the mud before. --
Unusually for a tracked vehicle, this thing
steers by aiming the tracks, rather than adjusting their relative speed. That generates huge steering loads. Think of what it would take to steer on hard ground with good traction. Beefing up the power steering might be desirable.
They don't say much about how well the tracks resist sideloads. Novice tank drivers often tear a track off the roadwheels by making abrupt turns.
An important question is whether the track or the roadwheel breaks first; if it's the track, you can probably change it easily, but replacing a roadwheel is a job.
The Caterpillar Challenger line of agricultural tractors have been out for a few years now, and they have one of the best rubber track systems around. They look like a bolt-on for a wheeled tractor, but they're not; Caterpillar did a new tractor design. Among other things, they're capable of 25mph on-road operation, which is unusual for a tractor. Early buyers reported being pulled over by cops out of curiosity.
Model tanks are cheaper
by
Daniel+Rutter
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· Score: 2
Like this one, if you've got some money. Or this one, if you've got little space. Or this one, if you want to shoot people. Get your track fix the easy way!
You know, I live in Florida, and have next to no use for mattracks. However, this is the coolest thing I have seen posted to slashdot ever. By the way, the tracks are driven off of the end of each axle on the trucks - so any differential systems used to save the tires when turning in 4 wheel drive mode will act identically. No need to worry about stripping out your gearbox.
Re:So now your truck can spin in place?
by
Nyckname
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· Score: 2
you can only spin in place on tracks when the left and right sides have independant drive. you can do that with wheels, too. one side goes forward as the other reverses. that's also how they reduce the turning radius of ships with twin screws.
the reason for tracks is they handle more severe terrain and they don't go flat. climbing over an object you don't loose drive because a wheel has passed over the top. and you don't want to get out and change a flat under enemy fire. unless you're on an episode of M*A*S*H.
and i suspect these cost way more than a lift kit and tires.
I thought about these a bit back when C|Net mentioned them on there TV show, cool as hell but I don't drive big trucks. What I do drive however is an electric wheelchair and I pondered the possability of getting one of these build on a much smaller scale but with the same principles.
The ability to handle snow, and sand alone would be a major benefit to electric wheelchair users. And at a max speed of about 7-8mph I sure as hell aren't going to come close to the 40+ mph mark.
Any one got a set of these and the facilities to make me a pair of smaller ones?;) I'm fairly certain the transition to these could be made without much hassle, the seating position would need to be realigned due to the height increase in the back.
The last thing I haven't figured out is wether or not there would be a loss of power (a gain perhaps?) Who know's. I'd love to be able to actually cruize a beach, Hey lady's you want a ride?
Slashdot Mirror
Make sure you whistle that ess real good now, you hear?
3-foot-tall spoilers too.
--
Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
These look really interesting. I wonder if they come in a car version? I.e. Small enough to install on say a Toyota Corolla. More importantly I couldn't find any prices or links to anyone selling this stuff.
Where I live (Jamaica) There are a lot of "roads" for which this would be apropriate.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
1. Video caset infomersials for sale. $15 plus S&H.
2. No prices anywhere. Roles Roice or Rolex can maybe get away with that. everyone else shouldn't try.
3. No ecomerse (acceptable since this IS a big investment)
4. No links to anyone who dose Ecomerse (Hint: If they offer reseler status to anyone that caries a variety of vehicle stuff then that 3rd party would handle almost all the Ecomerse risks and headaches.
5. "Find a dealer" link inadequate. You only search by Zip code (Which doesn't exist for my homeland). Worse yet if you haven't got a dealer to attach to the 90210 area code then you don't have an extensive dealer network. Unless the code is just broken and doesn't know what is close to what.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
Nothing new under the sun, just some people egocentric enough to think that there is.
Locally we lost two Caterpillar tractors in the mud, a few years back. I believe the farmer was trying to reclaim some swampy ground, so he was trying to backfill the wet area.
Caterpillar one sunk like a fucking rock. IIRC, less than half of it was above-ground by the time they got the second Cat out to rescue it.
But it was still a freakin' swamp, so *OF COURSE* Cat #2 started sinking.
I think they managed to rescue #2. #1 is now, as far as I know, completely disappeared... a relic awaiting rediscovery by an advanced civilization a few thousand years from now, when internal combustion engines are unknown.
"WTF is this?!" they'll cry. "My self [they'll be atheists by then, so there won't be cries of 'my gods'] it's little wonder they were choking to death on pollution, when they were driving things like this all over the place!"
--
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Better watch out. With a name like Mattrack, there's a good chance that Mattel's lawyers will be going after them. It's good thing they didn't call them Tracks'R'Us, or they would be a target for Geoffrey.
--
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
That's the exact reason for a differential - turning & traction differences. These are no harder on your truck's differential and transfer case than any big tire. The track system is essentially just a wheel trapped by the track itself. The whell drives on the track, the track moves over the ground. Having 4 indepandant untis mean it's just a real fancy tire -not like a tank at all.
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
According to http://www.jjournal.net/jeep/newproducts/Mattracks /, the price is about $15,000US for a set of four.
The only drawback I can see is a 40mph max speed. I can't imagine how rough these things would be on the highway, which pretty well means there's not a lot of us who could pull this off, even if we had the cash. If they worked at highway speeds, I think there'd be an instant huge demand, just for the testosterone factor. I mean, I bet most of us would rather have a GMC Tahoe with these tracks than a Hummer - the Tahoe would be more comfortable, and the track's coolness factor would beat the Hummer.
What's your damage, Heather?
I believe it is time to build a Slashdot-mobile.
Been there, done that, and even gave it away for free. Needless to say, it didn't have anything nearly as cool as a built-in MP3 player, let alone tracks.
What's your damage, Heather?
apparently the changeover takes 30 minutes
Yes, but the changeover requires jacking your vehicle up, which with something as big as a Tahoe isn't something you should take lightly. Even taking snow chains off and on is a major hassle, especially in the kind of conditions these things are getting used for. Do you REALLY want to get all down and dirty just to take the tracks off? Of course not. These tracks are going to be filthy.
how do you steer a truck with these things without trashing your differential
I was amazed by that myself. They claim identical turning radius to the factory tires, which is pretty darned tight, and that would definitely stress out your joints. If you examine the photos, there doesn't appear to be any kind of gearing to let the tracks freewheel, so 4wd on grass would mean trashing the grass and your tranny.
What's your damage, Heather?
Guess you didn't read this story.
First is, it's much harder for a tracked vehicle to get stuck on soft ground, and the second one is that tracks spread the load *much* better than tires. If you have to drive over something that you don't want destroyed, tracks are the way to go.
I've heard of old caterpillar tractors being driven over an egg buried 4" deep without breaking the egg.
Where they lose to tires is in top speed and maintenance.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
... put these things on my new Accord. Put some racing stickers on it with some ground fx. I would be so l33t.
-prator
I can see it now, Monday I'll get run over by some 6 ton SUV with these fucking things...
If you voted for Nader, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!
I could have used this technology in June May 1998 when Harris Corp delivered a 50kW AM transmitter (DX50) to our in-a-cow-pasture transmitter shack. In NW Washington. Think mud. The driver drove his 18 wheeler into the mud and got stuck. Had to rent special equipment to move the payload to the installation site. Had to get towed out. I never saw a semi w/ trailer stuck in the mud before.
--
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
--
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
They don't say much about how well the tracks resist sideloads. Novice tank drivers often tear a track off the roadwheels by making abrupt turns. An important question is whether the track or the roadwheel breaks first; if it's the track, you can probably change it easily, but replacing a roadwheel is a job.
The Caterpillar Challenger line of agricultural tractors have been out for a few years now, and they have one of the best rubber track systems around. They look like a bolt-on for a wheeled tractor, but they're not; Caterpillar did a new tractor design. Among other things, they're capable of 25mph on-road operation, which is unusual for a tractor. Early buyers reported being pulled over by cops out of curiosity.
(Yes, I _am_ trolling for site traffic. Sue me :-)
You know, I live in Florida, and have next to no use for mattracks. However, this is the coolest thing I have seen posted to slashdot ever. By the way, the tracks are driven off of the end of each axle on the trucks - so any differential systems used to save the tires when turning in 4 wheel drive mode will act identically. No need to worry about stripping out your gearbox.
MATTRACKS is the result of the imagination of our founder's 11 year old son.
That's cool.
[place clever signature here]
Now, all you need are four little turret guns...
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I remember seeing it on that other tech show 'The Next Step' I think. I really could have used these things last winter. It would have been a blast.
--
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
the reason for tracks is they handle more severe terrain and they don't go flat. climbing over an object you don't loose drive because a wheel has passed over the top. and you don't want to get out and change a flat under enemy fire. unless you're on an episode of M*A*S*H.
and i suspect these cost way more than a lift kit and tires.
cheers.
I thought about these a bit back when C|Net mentioned them on there TV show, cool as hell but I don't drive big trucks. What I do drive however is an electric wheelchair and I pondered the possability of getting one of these build on a much smaller scale but with the same principles. ;) I'm fairly certain the transition to these could be made without much hassle, the seating position would need to be realigned due to the height increase in the back.
The ability to handle snow, and sand alone would be a major benefit to electric wheelchair users. And at a max speed of about 7-8mph I sure as hell aren't going to come close to the 40+ mph mark.
Any one got a set of these and the facilities to make me a pair of smaller ones?
The last thing I haven't figured out is wether or not there would be a loss of power (a gain perhaps?) Who know's. I'd love to be able to actually cruize a beach, Hey lady's you want a ride?
Computational Madness in a round package.
Dont put the smack down on stickers. Its proven that 'sticker charging' Hondas really makes them faster.