Snowmobile!

[DjEep]

I just acquired a 1978 JohnDeere Liquifire 440 for pennies. Trying to get 'er ready for some fun. Mostly just want to be able to get to some otherwise inaccessible cool spots in winter. Anybody here have any experience with them?

Now the fun part is going to be dragging it up the hill behind my bus... I bet that'll get some looks and get on some nerves as she climbs up the mountain at 25mph.
" redneck hippy!"

[Amskeptic]

Anybody here have any experience with them?
" redneck hippy!"

Ski-Doo seems to be popular along power line trails here in the northeast, are you asking if people have had experience with any snowmobile, or John Deere specifically?
ColinYaRedneckHippie

[sped372]

I hope it looks like this:

[yondermtn]

My buddy and I bought a John Deere snowmobile. It had the 340 engine in it, I believe. It was in great shape and was super fun.

[airkooledchris]

I rode snowmobiles a hell of a lot while growing up in Wisco. We usually rode Arctic Cat and Polaris though I imagine they are all pretty much the same from that era.

[DjEep]

@sped: Hahaha, I wish! I should make it look like that. Looks like this tho:



It's super Cool Runnings! Rasta sled!

@Colin: A little of both I guess. And any experiences with towing a 700 pound trailer...

Which brings me to another question. Anyone have an old Rabbit sitting around wasting space? I want a Rabbit rear axle or two so I can build a VW-based trailer complete with hydraulic braking, so I can utilize the OG trailer brake system in my bus.

Which brings up another question, has anyone ever seen a factory ATE trailer brake cylinder with vacuum power assist? I've never met anyone else who has even heard of it.

[Amskeptic]

has anyone ever seen a factory ATE trailer brake cylinder with vacuum power assist? I've never met anyone else who has even heard of it.

Vacuum assist? What about trailer brakes that use a sliding spring-loaded trailer hitch master cylinder? The inertia of the trailer applies the brakes to the trailer. Gives you a very consistent tongue load under any braking.

[hambone]

Man those things are loud! WHAT?!?!

[TrollFromDownBelow]

IMHO .... you are over engineering if all you want to tow is one snowmobile. Stock brakes (hey Colin, did I spell 'brakes' correcly ) on a VW bus are more than ample to stop both the trailer and the bus....the only caveat is that you are not hauling a ton of bricks in the cab.

However, if you want the experience of building a rig with brakes, then by all means, go for it.

[DjEep]

Really, I just want to use the thing in my bus....

Like I said, I've never heard of, nor seen another. But it's definitely ATE, looks like a factory, or at least authorized install, and it's there.

Looks like a power brake master cylinder mounted in the second battery tray, with it's own little reservoir, and a little diaphragm thingy I assume is supposed to be fed by the main brake system as a trigger. The flex lines coming off the diaphragm and the rear of the cylinder have been chopped behind the rear wheel, but seeing as the brake "T" in the rear has obviously been replaced, my assumption is that it was a four-way that ran another line to the diaphragm, triggering the vacuum assist, pushing out the back of the master and to the trailer brakes.

I know the type you speak of Colin, and those systems are ideal, but I'm just weird. I'll probably end up gong that route or brake-less in all reality, but who knows. I know I won't be using electronic brakes, cuz those suckers feel like they'll rip the rear end off if not set just right.

Dunno about stock drums effectively stopping a loaded bus and trailer while descending 7-9% grades in the snow though. Thank Bob for runaway truck ramps!

[Westy78]

Snow could be an issue but a bus can tow a reasonable weight with stock brakes. Just have to be well aware of longer braking distance. Probably even more so with four wheel drums. This setup comes in at about 450lbs and had very little impact on drivability for my bus. Tongue weight is around 40-50lbs.

[hambone]

Very clean and simple, I like it. You guys did a good job on that bumper also,

[Amskeptic]

IMHO .... you are over engineering if all you want to tow is one snowmobile. Stock brakes (hey Colin, did I spell 'brakes' correcly ) on a VW bus are more than ample to stop both the trailer and the bus....the only caveat is that you are not hauling a ton of bricks in the cab.

However, if you want the experience of building a rig with brakes, then by all means, go for it.

Yes! Good brakes help maintain a straight bumper.
I'll give you a break, a good brake can help straighten a broken bumper due to a bad break from bad brakes.
Colin

[tristessa]

Go for a Mk2/Mk3 rear axle, shoud be easier to find these days. Heck, go for one with disc brakes.