Thursday, October 16, 2014

Nom, Nom, Nom...Time For More Burgers...

Given my poor little Rally Truck's lack of power and looking ahead to 2015 I am continuing to look at ways to reduce weight, simplify my setup and improve performance.  Well, here was a simple item to start with--the damn safety triangles.

If you look around at rally teams I think you will find that most use the most common triangles as shown here.  These have a weighted base filled with sand.  While they are nice and stable and visible they are heavy at more than 3 1/2 pounds a piece.  As you are required to carry three of these, this adds up to more than 10 1/2 pounds.  Since I had broken one and needed a replacement before next season I've been looking for a better alternative and I finally found it.

Do a Google search for "lightweight caution triangle" and you'll find lots of listings--most not really lightweight or sold by a specialized European company (due to the fact that European countries require motorists to carry such triangles in their vehicles) or versions that are ridiculously expensive for what they are.  Today however I came across the perfect replacement.  100% plastic, snap together, stable, wide based triangles almost the same height/size of the triangles I am replacing and weighing in at whopping 5.4 oz per triangle.  So all together these will come in at less than a single pound and save me more than 10 pounds in the rally truck.  Every bit counts and dropping 10 pounds here allows me to carry a more appropriate offroad jack without increasing the weight my truck is carrying--improving performance and capability.  Oh, and the cost?  A whopping $5 each vs. $13+ for each of the older, heavier style triangles...

I guess I could also just keep the old, tiny vehicle jack and continue to "bulk up" via cheeseburgers too...

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