Could this really be the future of rockcrawling, or at least competitive rockcrawling? Do we need to rethink our position against independent suspension? The answer is yet unknown, but what we have here is the first attempt at a rockcrawling independent suspension that just might have us eating crow.
Somehow through disguise and espionage we managed to get into the top-secret fabrication facility of veteran desert-racer turned rockcrawler Walker Evans. There we snapped some shots of the latest and, we dare say, highest-tech competition rockcrawler around (this is no buggy, but rather a truck). What we found was a joint venture between famous solid-axle builder Dynatrac and Evans' crew of top-notch truck builders that resulted in a rig with 19 1/4 inches of ground clearance under the middle of the truck from bumper to bumper.
The end product is impressive. Will it work? The jury is still out. Is it cool? Anything that breaks the mold and steps outside the box as much as this thing does is definitely cool.
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The front and rear independent suspension attaches with a type of swing arm mounted just fore and aft of the cockpit. The front arms include a mounted hydraulic ram on both sides for steering. The Dynatrac Dana 60 axle differential is centrally located and uses a massive plunging shaft and huge constant velocity joints that can achieve extreme angles. Very cool technology. Where could it lead? |
The rear arms are also split at the knuckle but then converge at the frame. This setup should eliminate lateral scrub of the tires. In other words, looking directly at the front or back of the vehicle, you should see the tires move in a straight line up or down instead of an arc. Testing hadn't even begun when we saw the vehicle, but the concepts are groundbreaking in the rockcrawling world. Now, will they work? |
Imagine 19 1/4 inches of ground clearance from bumper to bumper! |
Watch for the complete story with more details in the June issue, on sale 5/6. |