Oil is worth negative money now, right? You go to the gas station, ask for ten gallons, and the attendant gives you three hundred bucks. Okay, maybe not really, but what would happen if you used oil drums for wheels? The great guys at Garage54 have decided to answer that question.
As it turns out, it’s not as simple as just bolting them up. Even these guys (surprisingly) aren’t irresponsible enough to just drill some holes in oil drums and bolt them to the wheels. Some serious reinforcement takes place to ensure the UAZ truck they’re using doesn’t just shear the bottoms of the drum off. They weld a set of reinforcement bars, and an actual set of wheels into the drums to make them stronger. This, in addition to a series of steel hoops, ensures they stay rigid.
After bolting on some steel treads–I’m sure these wheels are balanced perfectly–they take the truck out on the snow and it does… poorly. As it turns out, this is a bad idea.
This is disappointing. I was going to do this modification to my personal vehicle later, albeit without the treads. I was gonna take my car on the road with these things, maybe add some Plastidip for a little extra cornering grip. It may have been a little shaky at the top end, but having metal tires a meter wide would have certainly been a huge flex.
Since the spread of COVID apparently isn’t that bad in Russia, I guess these guys are still making videos. Thank god for that. Something insane to keep us all sane. I recommend the video where they design and build their own steam engine.
