MovieChat Forums > Damnation Alley (1977) Discussion > Landmaster vs. Stryker

Landmaster vs. Stryker

posted 19 years ago by TheBob67
6 replies | jump to latest

Think GM and General Dynamics got a few design clues from the landmaster? Paint the landmaster OD green and you pretty much have a Stryker.

[–] cg11144 16 years ago

That star wheel configuration is something the military considered back in the 60s. Check out Lockheed's Terra Star-
http://www.visi.com/~dc/tristar/bkground.htm

[–] speculator-1 10 years ago

http://www.visi.com/~dc/tristar/bkground.htm

That page is dead, but here's the Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-star_%28wheel_arrangement%29

---
Blood of Thrones - proceeds to Action Cancer:
http://www.orb-store.com/blood.htm

[–] eyeonyouproductions 9 years ago

I'm trying to find a page that explains how it works. I thought I'd seen one a few months ago, but can't find it. My stepson was wondering exactly how the wheels and the axle were driven...

[–] Goettschwan 9 years ago

Center Axle: Rotating freely around the drive shaft. Suspension holding the drive shaft.
Inside the wheel hub, a gear, with smaller gears in the hub of the three wheels.
The wheels are always rotating all three because the drive shaft gear is rotating.
In case of obstacle, the whole section can revolve around the center axle freely.
The bottom wheels are kept from rotating by vehicle weight.
This video will show you the gear mechanism, built with lego. It will be easier to understand (and maybe even your stepson can copy build it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Cch5XuG3I

[–] eyeonyouproductions 9 years ago

Awesome! Thank you for that. I found an animated thing a ways back, but can't find it anymore. This might even be a project for my daughter, who appears to be the prodigy of the family. :-)

[–] jeffyoung1 16 years ago

Hey, you've got a good point about the resemblence to the STRYKER vehicle. The Stryker is designed to be near all-terrain, rugged, and survivable. But the Landmaster is absolutely luxurious inside by comparison. The Landmaster integrates the living amenities and spaciousness of a Winnebago RV more than a fighting vehicle. Still, the external resemblence is there.

I didn't know that the star-wheeled configuration was actual technology until I read the other post. All this time I had thought it was pure Hollywood fantasy fiction. In theory it would work. I suspect the concept was dropped for practical reasons. You can obviously anticipate the undesirable massive extra weight from the three-wheeled star axles, not to mention the added automotive complexity and resulting costs.