I am not good at searching I don't even know what to search for.

No I put every thing up on my top deck and am looking for loads now... Spent the beautiful weekend up here trying to figure this out... Waste of a good weekend... I might drift down to LA there is a better chance of frieeght down there. Plus If I can't find nothing I can go to Barstow and ride/test. I am not going to take this to the dunes any time soon. If the front end breaks somewhere in the sand might as well forget about getting the odyssey back to the truck... It would take a bulldozer to drag 3 wheels thru sand... At least I know the terrain in Barstow. And I will only ride where I can get to with the truck so I can load it back up...

I know a little about Patents. I was one of the first people to manufacture a bullriding protective vest in the country. After Shooting the film "8 Seconds" about the life of Bullrider Lane Frost I began development of a vest and talked to a patent attorney. From my stand point I was advised a patent would be useless because all another company would have to do is change one aspect of my design, whether it was considered an improvement or not my patent would be useless... From the photo's I have seen of the setup on Mass-Ody's Wheelman Pilot IF High Performance ATV had a patent on their design, and IF as we can all see Steve COPIED this design he has no jeopardy of a patent infringement as he does not use the stiletto devise. (probably cost to much for him). Same issue with using the Hiems instead of a bushing. (Haven't seen the pilot set up though, that might have the bushing as its a weld on project. I wonder how we can find Steve's Patent application number? Surely He has enough business experience as a DESIGNER to know you can't just throw a "patent pending" statement out there trying to SCARE Stupid people!!!

No PAtent pending then huh?
HMMMMMMMMM
bUT i BROKE A beta AGREEMENT HUH?

WTF is a BETA agreement??? legalese????

Patent or no Patent, or Patent Pending......I could care less. As soon as I can get my hands on a tubing bender I'm going to build a VERY similar set up. Mine will be welded in instead of bolted in. It'll also have disc brakes. I'll even post detailed pics as I go!!


For now.....here's some pictures of the Engine install and new rear suspension.

http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z187/TroysPiranha/TylersOdyssey/

Troy

That Looks fun...

Do you want me to set you up your own area in the photo album ?

No flashing advertisements their....

Sure!!, you'll have to expalin how to access and upload to it.

Troy

Ok, this will be a learning adventure for both of us, the photo album to me is confusing the controls layout is hard to understand, up until now I have been batch uploading pictures users have not been uploading them but this is a good time for us to learn.

First create an account, once you do I have to activate it, I don't think I have the email settings right so I don't think it will send you an email .
http://pilotodyssey.com/cpg/index.php

Here is a tutorial I created that might help?

http://pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?p=23526

Well I was surprised to receive some "replacement" parts from notsogreatcustomerservice.com aka aftersh ock et al. These are real stainless steel drag links he said on the other site that were sent with original shipment... These are documented in other photos as being 8 inches long, magnetic, with slight rust pitting before being mounted . Of course I was surprised to receive these, as I was expecting to have to have these made. I already had to modify the original steel links I had received, and installed. I already knew I was receiving the new clevis pieces I was also shorted on original shipment. and these had weld splatter I had to clean up. They were made from a thicker metal than the ones I made up at the last minute to get the Odyssey running for my trip to the Oregon Dunes.
After I replaced these I noticed that I had a good dent in one of my new a-arms. Seems I hit a rock and bent this near the bottom shock mounting location. This was the last place I expected to see a kink as it was so close to the flat plate installed in the arch of the a-arm to support the shock. I Stated my concerns earlier about the shock mounting area and how the a-arm itself was only contacting the steel bushing inside of the rubber bushings. the "dust covers" as they were referred to would not be affected. I discovered that the tube that the long bolt goes thru to secure the bottom of the works shocks was the exact diameter as the inside diameter of the dust covers. (see pictures) Once the a-arm hit a rock and then became distorted the dust covers and even the rubber bushing were distorted beyond my acceptable limits. ($700.00 shocks). I found some washers that fit onto the 7/16 bolt supplied by after sho ck and then I cut the mounting gap about 3/16th wider to allow for these common washers. I will try to find someone to weld something a little nicer to keep the dust covers from being destroyed. I was told by many that this would not be a problem. It's apparent they don't ride in the rough terrain I do as I have witnessed the video's of there nicely groomed tracks. I had planned on having some simple aluminum skid plates made for the a-arms, but I had to spend to much valuable time chasing down other problems not laid out in a clear set of instructions... This is the third time I have messed with installing this front end kit... I hope I only have one more to do... to remove and have powder coated!!!
I am in search of a fabricator that can duplicate these a-arms for me as I am un trusting about the original manufacturers honesty towards his materials, and need to be able to replace the original a-arms. I have already seen how I am told something is "Stainless Steel" and then find on my doorstep several weeks later some real stainless steel drag links. As far as the performance of this kit, I can not truthfully ascertain that as I have been reluctant to really push it. It will take a lot of seat time before I truly trust this product. After the lack of product support and POOR customer service I received from the Manufacture I am hard pressed to pass judgement on the reliability of this product. I will probably never know how well this is supposed to work because I will always wonder if I even have this installed properly... I believe after sh ock has left the door wide open for liability claims on any subsequent accidents, as I have been informed by other enthusiast.

I hope these are clear...
These are of the pieces I was either missing on original shipment, or were to long and and mild steel, instead of stainless...

Here are the pieces side by side....

OK here is the bent a-arm I need help duplicating... I think the pictures will show how this is tweaked and what it did to the dust covers...

Here is the a-arm removed and on a flat spot... tweaked...

OK I got it all back together... I had heck getting all the holes lined up on the damaged side... Glad my son was there to help... the other side wasn't hard at all to put back together!!!

Turbo, Let me practice making a pair of front a-arms for my conversion. I'll post pictures of the results and then you can decide if you'd like me to make an attempt at duplicating the damaged on that you have. I should have mine done in a couple of weeks. I need to get material, parts and figure out exactly what I'm going to do. They will be different than yours, but only because I'm picky!!

Hoser, I registered on the photo album page.

Troy

Tx Bandit!!! I will come see you next time I am back in Texas... I left the ody at home this trip as all my issues weren't resolved... I didn't feel like dragging a trailer queen all over the higheways and byways this time out... I have some ideas to improve these I want to run by you... there is no reason (besides poor design) for the rear (I meant LOWER) shock mounts to be boogered up yet... I have looked at alot of quads and aftermarket a-arm kits for these and none have the piss poor mounting setup... I am sending pictures to Works Shocks for their advise on how to remedy this problem, along with a request for new bushings...

More pictures from original/first time to install...

more... new camera so some are fuzzy...

some more...

Sorry for the late response, I've been swamped at the office.

Give me a shout next time you're in the area. You can come by and take a look at some of the other stuff that I've built and make your own decision based on what you see.

I'll PM my number to you.

Troy

I was going through thechassisshop.com manual and came across this special hiem joint to support the steering shaft.

http://www.chassisshop.com

Full page

You can download the catalog off their web site I have a hard copy.