Storm Chasing Vehicle Project and Suggestions!

[Travis Cruz]

Ugh, why must you disturb my slumber. No, we don't have the same profession. I'm merely a recreational chaser that does it so I don't strangle the necks of the idiotic society in forced to exist in. I'm actually a mechanic by trade. No, you don't know how to handle that beast on a muddy road with a powerful tornado breathing down your neck. No, you haven't chased with 500 other chasers on the same exact road as you trying to get the same vantage point. To me, that truck is pointless for chasing and more about standing out and showing your vehicle off to other young groups of chasers at the same has station as you. And let's clear one thing up Cruh-zer, I don't hate you as a person. I just hate your ideas that nothing bad is going to happen to you or your team. Its a trend that'll inevitably catch up with you. I have a feeling you'll end up hating storm chasing after about 5 years. But maybe I'm wrong. One thing I do know though, is the herd does tend to thin out within that last 1/2 mile. So maybe we shall meet there?

"No, you don't know how to handle that beast on a muddy road with a powerful tornado breathing down your neck." No, maybe not with a tornado breathing down my neck, and I hope it never gets to that situation, but I do know how it handles in mud. On one of the slower days this past summer we took the truck out 80 miles in the New Mexico desert so I could get used to how it handles in the mud. And since then, I've done plenty around here in Virginia, in the truck in some much deeper mud, since then. Nothing that would harm the truck, but enough to get to know how it handles. I haven't experienced 500 other chasers trying on one road, but the Denver storm was up there, and so was the Torrington one a few days before that. We were in El Reno 2 hours before the tornado. We got the hell out of there because of the extreme chaser convergence, and we didn't want to get caught chasing in a more urban area. Again, we were safe about it. I don't know for sure that nothing bad will happen to our team, but I don't see any problem with making sure I have the best chance for survival, if something were to happen. I am an amateur. And I don't have much experience. But the only way to get experience, is to get out there and chase. I don't hate you as a person either, but I do take your first comment as immature, and a personal attack. Maybe next time you can try asking a few more questions before you judge me so harshly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfbQRXNO7kA

 

[Travis Cruz]

But I digress.. I didn't create this post to argue. I don't mind if anyone disagrees with the design of the vehicle, but there's no need for negativity.

 

[Caleb Grunzke]

Okay Marcus and Justin, the original post probably said some things it shouldn't have but, that doesn't give you the excuse to act like arrogant snobs for the rest of the thread. We're trying to bring in new people to participate on the forum, not drive them away. There is plenty of information on this site to help someone become a better chaser and better understand supercells and tornadogenesis.

 

[Dan Robinson]

To original poster (forgive me for calling you that, but didn't see your name), I hope you're not too discouraged by the responses here. You've obviously put a lot of time and money into your setup, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to have fun with a vehicle build. Some chasers enjoy the process of outfitting a vehicle, it's kind of a sub-hobby of chasing itself. I love getting out and working on my car for the new season once that first warm spring weekend arrives. That said, I hope you can understand that this is one of many controversial topics in chasing, and the negative responses, while seemingly harsh, only serve to inject some reality into your expectations. I don't see anything wrong with your truck as long as you realize that any vehicle has its limitations and that nature (and the hazards of the road) can often get the upper hand on any of us. I hope you'll stick around and keep sharing ideas, I'll be interested to read how things turn out.

 

[Travis Cruz]

If you would have just asked someone, or at least done a little of your own research, you would have an idea as to why some storms produce tornadoes and some dont... But being a "professional", you should already know that aye?

I've done plenty of research. Yes, we can look back at storms, and see some didn't produce a tornado. But we cannot do that in real time. And I never said im a professional. I called it a profession. And if you could read, I said that I would like it to be my profession "some day."

 

[Travis Cruz]

To original poster (forgive me for calling you that, but didn't see your name), I hope you're not too discouraged by the responses here. You've obviously put a lot of time and money into your setup, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to have fun with a vehicle build. Some chasers enjoy the process of outfitting a vehicle, it's kind of a sub-hobby of chasing itself. I love getting out and working on my car for the new season once that first warm spring weekend arrives. That said, I hope you can understand that this is one of many controversial topics in chasing, and the negative responses, while seemingly harsh, only serve to inject some reality into your expectations. I don't see anything wrong with your truck as long as you realize that any vehicle has its limitations and that nature (and the hazards of the road) can often get the upper hand on any of us. I hope you'll stick around and keep sharing ideas, I'll be interested to read how things turn out.

Thank you for the kind response. I realize that the truck has major limitations, but I'm still puzzled why anyone would talk it down to the extent they are. The goal of the truck is to be more safe and capable than a smaller vehicle.. Not for recklessness, but for overall safety. I'm not sure why anyone would argue against that.

 

[Mark Blue]

I don't really understand the dog pile mentality here either at times Travis. This feels like Mike Tobin's thread from a few weeks ago all over again, only the players have changed. The mentality that if a person spends the time studying, preparing, practicing, and thinking through all the scenarios under which a person can get hurt while chasing seems to have taken on a life of its own since El Reno. I'm all for teaching newer members about safety in chasing, but the cold, hard facts are if it happened to Tim Samaras and his crew it can happen to anyone of us. I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy that throws stones at every new chaser that comes along, only to find myself rolled in a field ala Mike Bettes this coming chase season or anytime in the future.

It isn't the safety message I have a problem with, it's the delivery that needs work. I also hope this won't discourage you from pursuing your apparent passion for storm chasing.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

I think the thing that irked me about all of this is you say you'll never get close enough to be put purposely in harm's way, yet built this thing in case you do. The only thing running through my head is how non-streamline that truck looks. So doesn't matter if you're pushing 500 bhp to the wheels if the wind is going to pull you back on a slick surface. You're driving a big sail boat in a ferocious sea of wind. So I hope you do, for the sake of your life and everyone inside, that you do indeed have a handle on that thing. Maybe I'm just envious too. Envious that you have $80k to throw at a chase vehicle when I'd put all that money in a chase fund and chase in my Fusion. It just all seemed unnecessary, especially since *knock on wood* I've never been in that position.

Mark - thanks for putting that voodoo on me this season. I'll make sure to wear my seatbelt.

I don't really care if I offend anybody anymore. I'm not looking to be the star of chasing so I'm just speaking my mind. My only goal is to go out and see tornadoes. It's the best hobby I can pursue for the person that I am. I have enough good people that I can chat to and not hurt anyone's feelings.

 

[Travis Cruz]

I think the thing that irked me about all of this is you say you'll never get close enough to be put purposely in harm's way, yet built this thing in case you do. The only thing running through my head is how non-streamline that truck looks. So doesn't matter if you're pushing 500 bhp to the wheels if the wind is going to pull you back on a slick surface. You're driving a big sail boat in a ferocious sea of wind. So I hope you do, for the sake of your life and everyone inside, that you do indeed have a handle on that thing. Maybe I'm just envious too. Envious that you have $80k to throw at a chase vehicle when I'd put all that money in a chase fund and chase in my Fusion. It just all seemed unnecessary, especially since *knock on wood* I've never been in that position.

Mark - thanks for putting that voodoo on me this season. I'll make sure to wear my seatbelt.

I don't really care if I offend anybody anymore. I'm not looking to be the star of chasing so I'm just speaking my mind. My only goal is to go out and see tornadoes. It's the best hobby I can pursue for the person that I am. I have enough good people that I can chat to and not hurt anyone's feelings.

I've put no where near $80,000 into the truck. Most of the modifications are sponsored, and even including full retail price, I would be no where near $ 80,000. I don't ever want to be in "that position," but if I find myself in it, I want to make damn sure I have a better chance to survive than in a smaller vehicle

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I see so many vehicles out that are set up like this and everyone has their own twist on it, and it's fine. I never quite understood the Rhino lining thing because your changing the outward appearance to avoid hail dents which changes the outward appearance. Personally, I think of hail dents as small trophies The financially responsible side of me says you just spent a ton of money for maybe 20 days of use, and within those 20 days maybe there are 4 hours of chase time...so maybe $60k for 80 hours of use a year. This to withstand being in RFD or heavy rain in which you can't see anything at all. I'd be more for avoiding being in that position and saving my cash for other things, but that's just me.

I drive a Pathfinder so I can relate to driving the large vehicle, and it can be a PITA when you pull of on a dirt road and need to turn around quickly especially with a lot of other chasers on that same dirt road. And the muddy roads really don't care what kind of vehicle is on it, one slides and sticks just as well as the other. I have 4WD and try to stick to pavement as much as possible, but then again I'm not much for having my chases cut short by a bad move.

I think it's a cool setup though and glad you are enjoying it. If anything your truck will stand out and you'll get to talk to people about it along the way.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

Okay Marcus and Justin, the original post probably said some things it shouldn't have but, that doesn't give you the excuse to act like arrogant snobs for the rest of the thread. We're trying to bring in new people to participate on the forum, not drive them away. There is plenty of information on this site to help someone become a better chaser and better understand supercells and tornadogenesis.

I don't really understand the dog pile mentality here either at times Travis. This feels like Mike Tobin's thread from a few weeks ago all over again, only the players have changed. The mentality that if a person spends the time studying, preparing, practicing, and thinking through all the scenarios under which a person can get hurt while chasing seems to have taken on a life of its own since El Reno. I'm all for teaching newer members about safety in chasing, but the cold, hard facts are if it happened to Tim Samaras and his crew it can happen to anyone of us. I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy that throws stones at every new chaser that comes along, only to find myself rolled in a field ala Mike Bettes this coming chase season or anytime in the future.

It isn't the safety message I have a problem with, it's the delivery that needs work. I also hope this won't discourage you from pursuing your apparent passion for storm chasing.

Oh he went back and edited his original post. Had he said that from the beginning I would have just laughed my a55 off behind my monitor like everyone else and kept it movin. Why coddle things like this? And you cant throw the Twistex accident out there like that. Theres no way I would have made the decisions they made.

 

[Travis Cruz]

The only thing I edited was the first paragraph. I left the rest the same. And I called him an ignorant asshole because he took a personal shot at me without knowing anything about me.

 

[Travis Cruz]

But I apologize. I came to these forums seeking advice from more experienced chasers. Instead, I was put down and greeted with hate and anger. So yes, I was a little angry.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

Right, that edit clarified everything. And for the record, my main concern was with the rhino lined mud missile flying around at 70 mph. I dont care how much money you spend on a vehicle to do the same thing as Randy Hicks. Before your edit, I understood you wanted to be able to fly 70mph down slick mud roads, and I will be damned if I cant voice concern over that. You're not the first, and definitely wont be the last. Its nothing personal man. I had a Skywarn T-shirt and decal once.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Seeking advice from more experienced chasersis very welcomed in these forums. Especially those seeking forecasting and chasing advice. Coming in here, showing everyone you have a big expensive chase vehicle, and then asking everyone what you should add...that just speaks for itself. You just have to believe that you're not the only person to we've seen invest more in equipment than knowledge. If you invest in the knowledge, you won't need a big fancy duelly truck to get close and stay safe. And yes, I can be an asshole at times. But 95% of the time, I'm a big loveable guy. You just came off as every other newbie chaser with lots of money/"sponsors" that think they can buy their way into being a successful chaser. The best way to become a great chaser is go out and fail hundreds of times and learn everytime. If you score a great day, then remember what led you there and repeat. That's about as bone basic as I can put it.