Question: What's the best way to get sponsors? Should I first build up my Jeep a lot and then look for them, or should I start now? Is it hard to get sponsors, and is it worth it? How does sponsorship work? Would I have to go to certain shows or events?
Graham Cason
South Wales, NY
Answer: The best way to get sponsors for a vehicle? Tough question. Most likely, it's best to have a rich uncle who really likes you!
OK, let's get realistic. First off, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the sponsor. What are they going to get out of it? For example, let's say you want to contact Company A for a winch. How many people are actually going to see that winch on your vehicle? Of those who see the winch, why are they going to be convinced to buy that particular brand? How many winches will Company A actually sell as a direct result of people seeing the winch on your vehicle? Where will the vehicle be displayed? What events will you attend? Will you be able to talk knowledgeably about the winch and compare it favorably to other winches on the market?
What will the vehicle be used for when done? What is the overall concept of what it will look like? What's your experience in building vehicles? Company A doesn't want its winch on some cobbled-together winch bumper with bubblegum welds. Generally speaking, sponsors of products want to know and see what you've done in the past. They want actual proof that you're capable of building a vehicle that will represent the image they want to present. They want to be sure that you will follow through and not stop the project before it's done. These are just some of the questions you need to be able to answer before you can even approach Company A. In other words, they want to get the best use of their advertising dollar. Once you've gained one sponsor of a product, even if it's no more than a set of lights, it's then easier to get the next.
What it all comes down to, unless you have a "silver tongue" and are a dynamic salesperson, is that you need to build a show-quality vehicle first and then go after the sponsorships on the next vehicle. And just as a starting clue, you don't send letters in pencil on notebook paper with spelling errors. You learn to write a professional letter on quality letterhead paper.
Question: I have a '78 Suburban and the shifter boot on my transfer case reads:
L-Loc
L
N
H
H-Loc
I've been told the NP203 is a full-time unit, so what's the "Loc" for?
Cookfosters
via fourwheeler.com
Answer: You're right, your transfer case is a "full-time" system. However, instead of using special clutches or a viscous coupling within the transfer case, it uses a set of differential gears very similar to the ones found in a rearend. An easy way to understand its operation is to picture the transfer case as the rearend and the front and rear driveshafts as the axleshafts. With a rearend, as you go around a corner, one wheel has to go faster than the opposite one due to the arc of travel. The "differential gears" within the housing allow for this difference in wheelspeed. Well, the same thing happens with the transfer case. The front wheels travel in a different arc than the rear wheels when turning a corner. Actually, any steering input changes the front-to-rear wheelspeed as well as any slight differences in tire height due to size variation or wear. If you didn't have this differential action, the driveline would either bind up or the tires would have to slip.
However, all is not good. Just like a rearend, if you lifted one tire off the ground while in two-wheel drive (without some type of locking differential), that "free" tire will just spin as the power is directed to it. Now with your system, if you lift any one of the tires off the ground-that is, a front or a rear tire-the power is going to be transferred to that free tire and the vehicle will not move. On the highway and under light four-wheeling conditions, it works just fine.
When you get into low-traction situations, it obviously doesn't work very well. That's what the L-Loc and H-Loc positions are for. These positions lock out the differential gear action within the transfer case and couple the front and rear driveshafts directly together just like any part-time system. And like such a system, it then cannot be used in high-traction situations like a hard-packed dirt road or pavement.