Smooth Rider
 

Returning are the Young Ones and the Barley Pickers to keep things on the level. The teams will have a container filled with 80 liters (13 inches) of brightly colored gunge that they will have to transport around a course. Sounds easy...until you throw in some really rough terrain filled with hills, bumps and mud. The first course has some gentle bumps and the second has some really nasty bumps and pot holes. For the final race, the teams will drive each others vehicle. With 3 minutes per course, the team who spilled the least amount of gunge advances...this includes whatever the other team can spill out of their opponent's barrel.

The Young Ones are using some old hydraulic pistons and bungee cord to keep their gunge from spilling. By mounting the barrel support (mostly the bungee cord) inside of a gimble they hope to keep the barrel on an even keel. A gimble is a frame inside of a frame that will rotate in all directions to keep the centrally attached bucket level. It will be mounted off the back of a truck. It's a bit of precise welding and bungee cord doesn't seem like a good choice.

The Barley Pickers are springing into action. A large beam and post off the back of a truck that merely dangles is their method of mayhem. However, they will use car springs and shock dampers to keep the barrel from rocking at the same time as the truck. The truck might be tricky and finding the right springs might also be troublesome. It's a lot of things that all have to work together...perfectly.
 
 
The Young One's TC
Alan Brunning
The Barley Picker's TC
Bob Thompson
 
 
The Young Ones gimble-actuated
design
The Barley Pickers spring-loaded
truck
 
 
A lovely small truck for the
Young Ones
A Range Rover, with no clutch
crashes home for the Pickers
 
 
Who needs a passenger?
By adding shocks to the gimble,
it should add more cushioning
 
 
Expert John Hetherington
This spring is just springy enough
 
 
The maddening gimble
The Pickers had to make their
own universal joint
 
 
Capt Andy tests the swing of the thing
The Young Ones have time for
a very quick test
 
 
The Young Ones' Smooth Samurai
The Barley Pickers' Refined Rover

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