ROD MILLEN

[JenDiggityDirt]

ROD MILLEN IS ON RIDES (TLC) RIGHT NOW

[Jerry Zaiden]

That is funny. Back in the early 90's when I use to wrench and fab I built Jason's rally can when I worked for Rod.
Now Jason has a TV show...lol Cool show!

[racer951]

On again...12am tlc. some wide open baja stuff on there.

[racer951]

Anyone see that seat rhys millen has as his office chair? A sparco seat raised with wheels, spretty cool.

[zjohnson]

Those shocks that he has on the hummer are sweet. When are we gonna see those in off road racing?
Only drawback is the $$$$.

[racer951]

too computerized...but great innovation.

[zjohnson]

"too computerized...but great innovation"

Its the same amount of computer control as used in fuel injection computers, such as Motec or PiResearch engine computers. So once again, who is gonna pony up the dough first?

[racer951]

yeah 2500/gallon. The 4 inch bypasses take 2 gallons of shock oil. 40 grand in shock oil with bypass and coilovers? lol

[zjohnson]

Yeah, thats a lot of money . . . But with those shocks you could go with a single coilover per corner, leaving you with $20 grand in shock lube. Not to much when you consider some of the vehicles racing out in the desert today. Of course its not gonna show up on anything outside of a 1 car or a TT. But when you think of the money some people are spending to go fast in the desert, $40 grand extra isn't that much.

[Bryan_D]

That stuff was amazing.
Hey did any of you catch the show before that. It was Troy Trepanier and he built a mustang for ebay. His guys in his shop were between 20-30. He had some amazing welds that he did for that thing.

[Jerry Zaiden]

They have some really cool stuff over there. I was at the shop the other night with Rhys and it is amazing some of the stuff they do there. They have a shock dyno room that would blow your socks off! They have done a ton of testing with different ideas and I must say they are building some insane shocks! What was on TV was nothing to compare to the reality of what they are doing.
They are building a desert car right now. I can't say to much but it is not an unlimited class car but i bet it could overall some races. Rod has been testing it with there new shocks and from what he says just by replacing shocks he is going 7-12 mph faster in the rough. Pretty crazy!
The coolest thing over there is what they are doing for the military. Just imagine an unimited reliable vehical with big guns on it. Man I am glad I am American....

[matt_helton]

GM is allready using this type of shock technology is some of its vehicles. its called "AutoRide" we have it mostly on the 2500 LT Suburbans but ive seen a few half ton models as well. its an option on the tahoe as well, i believe. looks funny to see a connector and a few wires coming out of the top of the shocks.

[Kritter]

Some high end luxury cars use it as well..I was going to do my senior project when I was in school on it but I was a day late and dollar short as it was already being done.

[sirhk100]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
a day late and dollar short

[/ QUOTE ] which has, always been, the story, of my life... bern bern bernnbbeernnbeeerrnn... Social D, thanks at least it's a kick [I have been warned] song stuck in my head now!!!

[SpareChangeRacng]

Ford had this on the T-birds in late 80's early 90's

[homey]

That dyno room is awesome. Theoreticly you could use data aquisition to run the Baja 1000 in that room! The hydrolic cylinders that run the dyno are HUGE too! There is definitely a lot of technology in that building!
Any chance of a skunk works photo shoot of some of the cars he has??

[zjohnson]

Yeah, the car he has in his shop in Dennis Hunters class 10 car. I haven't talked to Dennis since he changed the setup on the car, but from what I have heard, he is incredibly pleased with the new suspension setup. He went from King Coilovers and Bypass on every corner to a single coil-over at each corner.
On a side note, Rod is also a registered driver of Dennis' car for the Upcomming race in Parker. Working on the crew for Hunter Motorsports, this is definitely gonna be a great experience.

[racer951]

Are the coilovers internally bypassed? And are they rod millen shocks or king shocks modified by them?

[zjohnson]

I'm not sure, haven't seen the car since the Baja 1000, before rod did the work. I believe they are rod millen coil-overs, internally bypassed. But I'll let you guys know after parker.

[JeffS]

I kept seeing a glimpse of a Truck in the shop that looked a lot like Ford's concept rock crawler the Ford EX. It was sitting next to the yellow celica, does anyone know what it was ?

[Greg]

Internally bypassed? this technology makes bypasses a thing of the past. We built alot of test equipment for those GM shocks a few years ago.

[sirhk100]

Yeah, Greg posted what I understood it to be. There's no need for bypass tubes, the fluid is capable of changing viscosity so the rate that the piston travels through it seems like it would be almost completely variable. Computer controled dampening basically... I could be wrong

[SLR]

Full Active suspension, Used on High end Infinity cars for years...
The computer makes changes for different driving conditions.
CLICK ME! (http://www.rodmillen.com/Soads.htm)
NEAT&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;SLR

[Brian Mapes]

I saw it last night it was pretty cool. The oil had very small particles of iron in it and when magnetized it would stick to the piston. It is almost like having your bypass tubes everywhere on the shock and being able to adjust them at anytime to any setting. Unlimited adjustability. It was pretty cool.

[Jerry Zaiden]

The shocks are bilstein top caps with all Rod Millen internals. These shocks have been around in that shop for over 10 years now even longer. I just worked there that long ago.
They have been working on the magnetic oil for a wile now. There is alot more going on than what I just read.
Just imagine how the stealth bomber can fly. With out the computer it can't. Now imagine a shock that can sense shaft speed and be able to compensate slow speed valving and high speed valving.... http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Now Russ Warnermont (sp) has done can in a can internal bypass stuff for years. These shocks make sense for sure. The only problem is they take time to set up. Most people will not spend the time. But the ones that do will have an awesome set up.
We are building our own shocks right now. We are doing this for our own use and to learn and have insight on some different theories. I will post pictures soon. They will be 3.250 shocks with 2.5" pistons. That is all I am saying right now http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I will talk to rod and see if I can get some pictures for a Skunkz. I do no think he will alow it because there operation is real hush hush..

[Red_Star]

Does anyone know the show title? I want to watch this episode. Thanks.

Jeff

[TrademarkTim]

as far as I know this is similar to what the corvettes use. Mostly iron particles in the regular shock oil and an electro magnet is used to change the viscosity.

[zjohnson]

The show name is "rides" . . .The episode title is "rods" check out the TLC website.
Rides ft. Rod Millen (http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/rides/episode/episode_05.html)

[J_Lothringer]

Wow!!!!!! a can inside of a can???? Ive never heard of that!!!!!!!!! My uncle has only been doing that for ohhhhhhh 15 years or so, basially the same thing Robby also does...........thats nothing new................

[SANDlessNSeattle]

I don't know Jeff but I thought your uncle did a can outside of a can...you better check your source buddy

[Greg]

The only advantage to a can in a can is packaging, the fact that you can eun a spring on the outside. As for the metalic fluid shocks, i hear (and i think someone on this board said it too) is that the fluid is abrasive, and having to use non-ferrous materials seems like the life of the internals may be shortened. Where's Sheaves when you need him??

[ntsqd]

Ferro-Fluidic couplers makes ultra high vacuum rotary shaft feed-thru's for vacuum chamber use that has a similar fluid in them. Seem to recall that they have a 10 year life expectancy, far longer than the life of the average chamber itself. Imagine a chamber that can literally pull O-rings apart atom by atom and not be able to pull the fluid out of the coupler. Yet the coupler is easy to rotate by hand.

The Audi Quattro rally car center diffs used (reportedly) a Silicone based fluid that would change it's viscosity with an applied current or voltage. Change the current or voltage and the viscosity changed.

[erikh]

Despite seeing all that cool technology, advancements and the Wide Open stuff, I'd have to say that the coolest part of the show was seeing TT#7 for about three seconds while they were talking about SEMA. http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/smile.gif It was towards the end of the show if you missed it.

erik

[Bonzen]

The larger parts of the shocks are Bilstein parts...I helped one of his guys out a few weeks ago with the order. I was asked to keep it hush hush but now since parker is over it's no big deal anymore. Glad to hear the shocks worked great.

-Ryan