[XD2]

Well, there are a few who traded off their (only) car for a Jeep

In the two months of my Jeep ownership, I've had people travel with me for whom it was some trouble getting in and out of the Thar, even with the footboard. Although they manage, but when you sense the struggle, you start looking for solutions.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Basic fitness like strong hand grip, strong legs and back helps a ton in offroad.

Now why didn't i think of that?

Let's play out a little scenario:

Me: Hi wifey, i got you a gym membership to get into shape...

Wife: *silence* & *starting to turn red*

Me: What happened dear?

Wife: *turned a deep shade of crimson* you think I'm fat?

Me: No dear! So that you can get a stronger hand grip, stronger legs and back!

Wife: And why do i want that? *i can now see some steam rising*

Me: So you can climb into my jeep without stressing yourself... *giving a sheepish look*

Wife: Let me get this straight, you want me to workout so i can climb in the jeep many times without stressing? *starts reaching for a weapon*

Me: *readying myself to duck to avoid a missile that can be hurled at me anytime* Yes dear, you get fitter and the jeep doesn't need modifications...

Wife: *BANG!* Yippee ki-yay!!!!

Me: *coughing, bleeding and crawling towards by phone trying hard to delete Frankenstein's phone number...*

Wife: *BANG! BANG! Blows the smoke off the smoking gun ala cowboy style* Hmmm... now to book a ticket to Hyderabad to finish some unfinished business!

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Updates:

Have currently shelved the idea of the previously discussed boat step ladder.

Why? Well, one still needs to raise the foot high to get the foot rest down.

Thus, went back to the drawing board.

Brainstormed about using linear actuators, wiper motors, power door locks, worm gear drivers, motors from power jacks, pneumatics, hydraulics, etc.

Discarded all of them due to:
- high cost
- unreliability
- damage due to muck, physical impact, high pressure wash.

Back to square one and while in the shower today, in typical Archimedes style I had a eureka moment (no i did not run out naked). It's so simple. I'm gonna adapt it first on a model to see how it works first and then shall discuss it here. On paper, it's just too simple and effective for my application.

It ticks the following:

- need a step
- not affect ramp over angle
- not snag at anything
- be durable

Watch this space.

[AVR]

Stirrups make a lot of sense here. Have already got myself a pair of them and am going to use leather/canvas belts to fix them to the floor. They are retractable, possibly height adjustable and don't come in the way ever. Is Archimedes thinking differently?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by AVR

Stirrups make a lot of sense here. Have already got myself a pair of them and am going to use leather/canvas belts to fix them to the floor. They are retractable, possibly height adjustable and don't come in the way ever. Is Archimedes thinking differently?

Thinking Different. Using pulleys to retract the step. Gravity helps in the drop down motion.

I'll have a working model in two days.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

So here it is!

What i wanted in my jeep step is that when the door opens, the step should lower and on closing, it should rise up. Electrical options for these using actuators, etc cost upwards of a $1000 for a pair. Even a DIY for this was expensive and unproven as well as susceptible to failure as mentioned previously.

I wanted to use a pulley system but was flummoxed by how to get it work. If i used a pulley system by attaching a wire to the inside of the door, when the door opened, it would pull the wire and retract the step and on closing the door, the wire would slacken and the step would drop down. This was exactly contrary to what i was trying to accomplish.

And one day in the shower it hit me, think out of the box, literally. What if i had the wire running from outside? The door opens, the wire slackens and the step drops due to its weight and when the door closes, it pulls the step up.

Sounded simple and highly possible. Drew a sketch and it seemed probable.

Here's the basic theory the door acts as the force and the step the weight:



Once we get down to actually fabricating it, we may use the following principle depending if the simple above one doesn't work :



Here's the basic sketch of my idea:



Items need would be -

The pulley (a few would be required to act as rollers to reduce friction):



And the stainless steel cable:



Have already started working on a model to test the above principle. Have dug out my old meccano set and will make a working model and upload the video of it in action. Hope it works.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Yup it works on the meccano model!

Here's a video of the working:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZAi4MQc_7Q

Here are some pictures of the set up.













Yes, it's crude but i'm happy with the basic working principles.

Shall now make a real life cardboard mock up of the step and fix it to the jeep and try it with ropes before actual fabrication. Expect more updates in 20 days.

In the meanwhile suggestions welcome to help me improve upon the design.

[Twinn]

Tejas instead of using the cables, I'd say use small rods & springs, like the ones you see in the brake setup of atlas cycles. Because you'll end up having slags in the cables and its would not be firm enough for the same.

[voodoochild]

Tejas,
Very interesting design. I second Twinn's suggestion of linkages instead of cables. Another thought:
Use a three-piece articulating step consisting of two vertical arms and the actual horizontal step (like |_|). The cable/linkage pulls the rearmost vertical arm, pivoting it anticlockwise by 90 degrees about its top mount, this collapsing the step by making all three arms horizontal.

Might have already occurred to you, but since you asked for suggestions...

Hope it helps!

Cheers,
Rahul

[svsantosh]

How about this for a AL SWB Truck/tipper that does daily duty in a quarry full of mega sized pot holes! That hinge design looks good and move out of harms way (at least better than stock fixed step) in any jeep. Looks simple too. Concept can be replicated with any cast iron hinge seen on house doors (of course the longest and strongest one) and one can CUT the top most part of the side step and ARC weld (not Carbide Braze at a tinker) and give a pivot to the step.






Who can try this and post some pics here?

[quadra]

Another hydraulic step

https://youtu.be/OUHaXjMWJEw

http://youtu.be/OUHaXjMWJEw

[sriny_blr]

http://www.quadratec.com/products/12590_1207.htm

Bumped into this!

[AVR]

This is what I have on my Jeep.

Does the job. Can be pulled in when not needed.

Keeping it Simple...

Cheers,
Adi




P.S. Read Tejas's response to Franky again.

[sreejeshmp]

Looks Cool Adi , really simple and sure it will do the Job. Dont mind if I copy the same

-Sreejesh

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Yup it works on the meccano model!

Here's a video of the working:

http://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=OZAi4MQc_7Q

Here are some pictures of the set up.

Attachment 1034687

Attachment 1034688

Attachment 1034689

Attachment 1034690

Attachment 1034691

Attachment 1034692

Yes, it's crude but i'm happy with the basic working principles.

Shall now make a real life cardboard mock up of the step and fix it to the jeep and try it with ropes before actual fabrication. Expect more updates in 20 days.

In the meanwhile suggestions welcome to help me improve upon the design.

My favourite ... Meccano

One of the best creative learning toys. Something similar to 'Lego' but more sturdier as it uses Metallic plates and small Nuts /Bolts for construction.