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Just acquired a burnt up bombi (i think)

forum8fox

Member
A little update. Got it running, drove it in the driveway during the last storm. Eventually it became extremely hard to steer in our soft dirt muddy driveway as there was a warning period. May need more tweaking but jacked it up and adjusted the steering bars. Seemed to work properly in the air at least. Drive it up some really steep hills in the driveway and tested low range. Finished seats with foam, vinyl and heater pads. Made a rake bar/ cage to hold lights and eventually a cargo rack. Painted the rake and mounted lights up. Going to wire lights next, button up the inside and then hopefully go for a real test drive maybe this weekend! I'll do a real photo shoot with my nice camera once we button it up.
 

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Aaron Tucker

Active member
A little update. Got it running, drove it in the driveway during the last storm. Eventually it became extremely hard to steer in our soft dirt muddy driveway as there was a warning period. May need more tweaking but jacked it up and adjusted the steering bars. Seemed to work properly in the air at least. Drive it up some really steep hills in the driveway and tested low range. Finished seats with foam, vinyl and heater pads. Made a rake bar/ cage to hold lights and eventually a cargo rack. Painted the rake and mounted lights up. Going to wire lights next, button up the inside and then hopefully go for a real test drive maybe this weekend! I'll do a real photo shoot with my nice camera once we button it up.

so are we going out this weekend ?
 

forum8fox

Member
I need to figure it out. I think we will be ready, but my friend is trying to get me to go skydiving. He is heading down your way (fremont county airport by the royal gorge) for the whole weekend but I don't want to go for the whole weekend since I'm kinda broke at the moment. Problem is I'd like to carpool down so if I did insight be stuck there the whole time.

We got 2 and a half of the 4 doors carpeted yesterday. Picked up the inside so seats can go back in after we put the floor panels back in. The seat heaters need plugs wired in but the circuit is ready. Got the auxiliary external lights all connected.

The other thing is we don't have that OHV sticker since we don't really know if the vehicle works properly. Figured we will be fine being the end of the season and a test drive, but figured during the week is more low key.

I'll try to figure it out today.
 

forum8fox

Member
Didn't get as much done as we hoped (shitty cold weather), but should be able to wrap it up tomorrow. Just need to carpet the too half of the back doors, trim the backrest of the front seat down an inch on each side (too tight preventing back door latch from closing), check to make sure diff pump is working and top off diff so the cooler and case is full, then tighten and grease wheel bearing caps. Can focus on neseccities to make sure we get out (diff and bearing caps). I bailed on skydiving so I'll talk to Sean tomorrow about the possibility of getting out to Jones Sunday. It could go a couple ways, may spend a good chunk of the day tinkering so don't want to bore you guys but if all goes well it would be sweet to have another cat around so we can test it out off trail.
 
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Aaron Tucker

Active member
Didn't get as much done as we hoped (shitty cold weather), but should be able to wrap it up tomorrow. Just need to carpet the too half of the back doors, trim the backrest of the front seat down an inch on each side (too tight preventing back door latch from closing), check to make sure diff pump is working and top off diff so the cooler and case is full, then tighten and grease wheel bearing caps. Can focus on neseccities to make sure we get out (diff and bearing caps). I bailed on skydiving so I'll talk to Sean tomorrow about the possibility of getting out to Jones Sunday. It could go a couple ways, may spend a good chunk of the day tinkering so don't want to bore you guys but if all goes well it would be sweet to have another cat around so we can test it out off trail.

the Tuckers got you . We will be there my friend.
 

forum8fox

Member
Well I think its time for another update. We shortened the tracks 2 grousers and tried to assess what was happening with the steering. Couldn't really figure anything out because it kept stalling out. Got a new high performance fuel pump, regulator and new filters. Still wasn't producing pressure. We had put 10 gallons in the tank and figured there was no way we were empty so we thought it was the pick up in the fuel cell. Pulled the cell and sure enough it was empty... Doh! The fuel system did need to be upgraded though as it never acted 100% even with gas, was slightly under powered by 5-10 lbs of pressure.

So we filled the tank and what do you know the new fuel system works perfectly! We got back to trying to assess the steering again and it was clear as mud. Never managed to get much response out of the steering bars no matter how we adjusted them (welded the broken one back together). Though if we cranked down the nut on one side real tight it did actually turn well in the driveway unassisted (no input). With some jerking on the bar I could get it to stop turning but not much luck getting it to do anything after without tightening the nut.

At this point it seems certain that the material of our pads is the cause. This morning my brother fought to get them out without pulling the diff, and is now on his way to ship them off to MNOutdoors to get redone again (they didn't do the first one) with the proper material. Probably 2 weeks before we can do anything.

Ironic that we had them done locally by someone who seemed very skilled and knowledgeable in an attempt to save time and avoid double outsourcing, he took like a month and charged $400 and they are unfunctional. Slow is fast as they say. Fingers crossed it does the trick.
 

Bobcatbob

Active member
GOLD Site Supporter
MNOutdoors did a wonderful job on the pads for my SW48. I ended up bending the bands trying to get the pads out......they relined and straightened them like brand new! You’ll be very happy.

Bombi looks great!

2lILlW_JqO.jpeg
 

forum8fox

Member
Got the bombokee out for a second test run and what is probably the last snowcat trip for our group for this year. For the most part it was pretty successful. We almost got shutdown in the first mile as someone got their truck extremely stuck in the middle of the trail. I don't think any of us thought we would squeeze by but sure enough we pulled it off narrowly. The one advantage of being narrower... With new steering bands it actually turns now, sometimes its a little challenging in sloppy mashed potatoes snow but overall seems to pivot well and can do a u-turn in a reasonable space. Seemed our fuel issue is worked out, though our throttle cable stretched again (it stretched yesterday when we were testing it in the driveway and we tightened it this morning) so as the day went on we seemed to have less power but it was really (most likely) just not being able to give it enough gas because the pedal hit the floor. Climbed some decent hills still even without having full throttle. Coming back down it didn't seem happy for some reason. Something makes a bunch of noise. Doesn't seem to like coasting (or rather being driven by the tracks instead of the motor) which is similar to the BR100 but much more prevalent. Curious if this is a commonality? So there are still some bugs to work out but we have come a long way in a short time, and we are basically at the end of the tunnel (I think, I hope!) Huge thanks AGAIN to glacier Sean for making this possible. Oh and for those who might be curious we went over the back side of the big snow pile we are tetter totter balancing on at the parking lot. It was very exciting (and I was just spotting though I gave the go ahead), was close to pile driving the ground below but had just enough approach angle. It was damn steep!
 

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GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Had a lot of fun with the guys. Test drive went great, definitely surprised with how well it performed. I agree, it's likely to rain this weekend and that's it for snowcats.
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As always, the weakest link in a Toyota truck is the soft squishy thing behind the wheel.
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GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Here are pictures of it at last year's jamboree. They are working on a way to transport the bombikee so it should be out a lot more in the near future.

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forum8fox

Member
I guess its about time for an update. Made it to the jamboree last year for our first and only trip of that year. Had to rent a trailer and have a friend tow it up which sucked (the trailer was open in the middle and my friend had time constraints) was pretty happy over all with the performance. Was turning pretty well and maintaining good speed, floated in the 6' of powder no problem. Though we did overheat at the top of a good hill after trucking along for a few miles. Problem was the fans were wired into the factory harness for the jeep which doesn't turn them on until 218*. Since then we wired them into a switch, and we've learned you really can't forget to turn them on if you want to retain your antifreeze.

Anyway we stayed the night up there with some friends, my brother and I and our 2 dogs slept in the cat and our friends dug a snow cave. Had to get out of there the next day to get the trailer back. Though there was another persistent problem. Going down hill in particular sounded horrible and even had resistance/ drag when you let off the throttle. We had discovered it on our previous trip the year before but weren't sure about what it was for sure but suspected the differential. It had been reheated and the guy who installed them did not have clearance to get a good pattern (pinion would run into the carrier if it was deep enough for a good pattern). So we limped it out slowly that day. Overall a success since we got out on our own power unassisted. Also snagged 3rd best in show for the jamboree which was really nice.

Fast forward another year, bought a pos 99 f350 for $1800. Had no title, needed a tranny, added air bags, found broken leaf springs and replaced them, new ball joints, steering ends, tranny, trans cooler, gas tank filters cleaned, new brakes, rebuilt t-case, hpop, turbo, egr tube, boots, fuel and oil cross over mod, got it titled, registered, and insured. Then bought a pos trailer for $1300. Replaced/ upgraded the axles to 6k instead of 3.5, widened it, reinforced some areas, new deck and lights, tires and new goose neck coupler (hacked the old off and welded a new one on). Went to take it to the jamboree this year for our first outing but the truck was still lacking power. So decided to play it safe and stop before jumping over the long and steep pass. Oh our brake controller only worked manually and only if you weren't using the trucks brakes. Luckily we stopped at a place that we could take the cat for a little spin. We pulled 2 stuck cars out to start, they got stuck no more than 10 minutes after we parked. Went up through some switch backs, wasn't turning the greatest so we tried tuning in the steering bar tightness and track tension. Wasn't having much luck so turned around and started the trip back. It was real unhappy coming down again (loud and lots of drag) wasn't great but managed to limp back again. The truck struggled on the way home, got real hot a couple times and had to stop to let it cool down. Ended up using low range for the final climb into our neighborhood to keep temps down.

Immediately ripped both vehicles open (truck needed headers and up pipes for sure, still not sure what else yet) got a new ring and pinion (4.56 instead of 4.27, they were warrantied but out of 4.27's, also hoped 4.56 might allow a little more clearance to get it set up right). Found half the inner pinion gears had chewed into each other and replaced all of them, the pinion had run into the carrier again which very slightly concave the other inner opinions so decided to just do them all. Also learned the inner pinion gears are supposed to be "timed" and they weren't so we made sure to time them this time. New bushings and bearings throughout again to be safe. We set up the ring and pinion this time, ended up shaving the front of the pinion about 3/16 for extra clearance (still has about 1/8 inch) erred on the side of slightly shallow pinion depth as we heard these flex a bit. Figured it will flex forward and into perfect depth instead of ending up too deep and possibly contacting the carrier again with the pinion.

Got it all back together and tested it out this week. Was driving nice, and turning well again. But toward the end of the day some strange noise appeared. Came hope and opened it up to take a look and everything seemed normal. Tightened sprocket nuts and cleared a bunch of ice onside the tracks and the noise seemed to be gone (moving it back and forth on the trailer. Went to do a test drive again Friday and blew the radiator in the truck on 3/4 of the way there. Limped home, replaced it yesterday and went for another test run. All in all it he snowcat seems mostly good to go but possible some minor kinks to work out. The truck still feels a little under power but is getting better, Also got a new brake controller. Also over the fall we picked up a tig welder and learned to weld aluminum, built a nice bed for the back to cover the motor and store gear.
 

forum8fox

Member
Picture dump. Should be pretty chronological starting with last years jamboree. Hopefully they are oriented correctly (not upside down or sideways) they are oriented correctly on my phone so fingers crossed.
 

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forum8fox

Member
Got out for another test run yesterday. Back to Jones pass where we had our first 2 maiden voyages. The cat drove real well, possibly better than it ever has. It was pretty warm and sunny and we found some rotten slush that kept us on our toes a couple times. Dropped down maybe 2-3 feet a couple times, a few of them only dropped one side which made for some exciting uncontrolled turns. Just hammered down and throttled through them though.

Randomly met someone who lives just up the road from us who also has a rare/ one of a kind snowcat, turns out they made 3 of them in his neighborhood around 85. He was out on his snowmobile but on our way home we stopped by and checked his machine/s out. I had no idea there was another snowcat manufacturer in Colorado aside from Kristy. Though they actually never went to full production. It's called a mustang, I'll have to get some pictures from him. It's actually a pretty neat looking machine, with some very interesting tracks (injection moulded track guides that kinda look like snowmobile track) and hard plastic sprockets (seemed kind of like lexan but harder and no flex) that had metal sandwiched in the middle. Crazy small world.

Might have been the best day we have had out in the bombikee. Then the truck stopped moving 100 yards from our house and we had to leave it over night. Got up this morning and pulled the driveshaft and a neighbor gave us a pull up the hill. Guessing the tranny was yet again improperly rebuilt. But it is weird because after pulling the driveshaft to get it to move, nothing happened until we got the front driveshaft off. But once removed all yokes spun freely and the axles weren't jambed.

We'll be out of the woods one day.
 

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forum8fox

Member
Hey everyone, sorry we've gone silent. Been enjoying getting the cat out the last couple years and the work on it has mostly subsided compared to the original build (though we did button shifters for our transmission this year). Anyway just thought I'd let you know we are starting a YouTube channel so if anyone wants to follow along and keep up on what we are doing these days. Our channel is @BrothersfabNadventure we are going to try to document all out projects and adventures there as frequently as possible. Let us know what you think.
 
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