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Pulse Outrigger troubles and inspections

 
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Bob Hichborn



Joined: 12 Feb 2004
Posts: 404
Location: Orlando, Fl

PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 4:04 am    Post subject: Pulse Outrigger troubles and inspections Reply with quote

I spent most of this past weekend removing the interior and outrigger support structures from Pulse #77. After removing the Outriggers last week and finding them in bad condition, I knew I needed to dig deeper.

For anyone that has fiberglass cracks, buldges, or an "unusual" amount of play in your outriggers, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY INSPECT THEM CLOSELY!

As you'll see from my pictures posted at:

http://community.webshots.com/album/148097077SMkaUz

From the casual inspection things looked OK, what you might expect in a 20 year old car, but after peeling back the "foam" and you can see someone was driving on "borrowed time"!

Imagine making a turn and putting a few "G"s on one of these outriggers. Best case...you come to a scraping halt, crawling from your Pulse, which is now laying on it's side. Worst case you go spiraling into on coming traffic.

The only thing holding my outriggers together was that foam they sprayed. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but from my years of surfing I learned un-protected foam just loves to suck up water, which does a nastly job on fiberglass and, in the case of the Pulse, it eats up steel.

Lucky for me I'm using this unit to do some well needed redesign to the frame, so pulling it apart was part of the plan, anyway. The parts going back in #77 will be powder coated and NO FOAM!
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elden simons



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 369
Location: Brampton, Michigan

PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2004 2:18 am    Post subject: Egads! Reply with quote

This "heads-up" is very helpful, yet what is one to do if situations have it that qualified repairs jobs are impossible...
Sell it to someone that can! Then miss the darn thing? Ya, I know...such is the luck of the draw.
After six years of being parked outside, I finally had my vehicle garaged in '94. It was in 1992 that I noticed the rust bleeding through the carpet and tore it all out to repaint it all.
Before having read your findings, I had faith that the "sticky" foam would have coated the steel in the out riggers just fine.
Sure, the stuff is porous, but geez...
So, anyways...keep us informed.
_________________
Tammy and Elden have Pulse #308 from 1988.Built in Butcher's Barn and presently sets inoperative in their garage. We are still keeping it!
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Dewayne Dickey



Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 1
Location: Richmond Texas

PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 12:46 am    Post subject: outrigger mounts Reply with quote

I would like to second Bobs warning on these critical mounts. I am in the process of rebuilding mine on #103. They look identical to his and the foam can really give a sense of false security. I picked at mine with my pocket knife to apply touch up paint and found that only rust was holding it together. Every one should take a close look at this area ....Dewayne
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Bob Hichborn



Joined: 12 Feb 2004
Posts: 404
Location: Orlando, Fl

PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm setting my new outrigger construction on steel jigs, so if anyone wants a set I can certainly build them. Feel free to email me at:

bob@n-space.com

There's been alot of discussion about the compatibility of various parts between units, so fit may come into play. I'm checking my old #77 parts, the new parts, and those from another unit that is pretty good shape, but is also completly disassembled. If everything compares satisfactorily, then if you have a Pulse with 8 inch outrigger wheels, the parts I'm building for mine have a good chance of fitting yours too. If youts is dissassembled, a few simple measurements should surfice.
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