buggie plans!!!

[chadschoon]

hey Ive been searching around for some ideas on what to do for when I start my tube buggy.
I look all over the interweb and can find all sorts of go cart plans. does anyone know if there is somewhere you can get something like that for a full on buggy? Im just looking for some ideas of how I want to do mine.

Also you guys out there that have them, did you start with all the drive terrain? I figure it would be alot easier to start with all that so you could set it up for it. But then again you see people that built them with no drive terrain and sell them. so my delema is this, I have tubing, and a bender, but no drive terrain

so what do you think????

 

[Caleb]

I don;t think you'll find plans for a buggy. Our market is not large enough for people to sell them, or even make them up. I think the closest you'd find would be a sand rail plan and modify it to your needs.

As far as having the drivetrain when you begin, I think if you have it you can get a lot nicer fit (obviously cause you have everything there for it) but it's not 100% necessary. If you don;t have it I think you'll have to build a lot more generic fit for stuff, like the engine bay won;t be as tight, the tranny/t-case area will need to be a bit larger cause you won;t be able to build around it, etc. It can deffinitely be done, hell most shops are buiding bare chassis' and selling them like that. Just depends on what you are planning, also if you know what drivetrain you want you can get measurements and get a little better fit without actually having the dirvetrain.

 

[Bart]

There are a few shops that will make a chassis and it gives you a big head start. Aaron Clough in Toelle (sp?) makes a sweet two or four seat chassis for a very reasonable price. Then you're not re-inventing the wheel.

If you're going to do your own, then yes, the more drive train you have, the better. Everything just fits better. Remember to leave yourself a little room to work on things.

 

[Rusted]

Sounds like you have a little more confidence with that bender. I want to see progress photos as you start this one. How did the back half of the Toyota turn out?

 

[RockMonkey]

Rules required me to use a square tube frame. I built the frame, mounted the drivetrain and built the rest of the chassis from there. Everything ended up fitting nice.

 

[chadschoon]

I have a tj frame that I thought about just building off that, what do you think about that?

 

[Tacoma]

I was going to say... Hendrix Motorsports' X-Chassis is a damn sweet deal. My wife is trying to talk me into that... but I should go see Aaron first I think!!

 

[RockMonkey]

I have a tj frame that I thought about just building off that, what do you think about that?

That would make the build super easy, because all the hard stuff is already done for you. However, all it gets you is a tube -bodied TJ. You still have most of the compromises and limitations that all TJs have.

 

[chadschoon]

That would make the build super easy, because all the hard stuff is already done for you. However, all it gets you is a tube -bodied TJ. You still have most of the compromises and limitations that all TJs have.

ya thats why I havent used that yet. you could stretch the wheelbase and stuff but I already have a tj

 

[Kiel]

azrockcrawler.com has some pretty good plans that you can buy for his tube buggies, also has some sweet links to ariziona trip reports

 

[rosedude]

ya thats why I havent used that yet. you could stretch the wheelbase and stuff but I already have a tj

use part of it. not the whole thing. it gives you a nice square starting point. then tube front and rear and a sweet cage. definetly start with a drivetrain and build around it. here are some pics of some of my stuff.:greg:

 

[rosedude]

i tried to show you some pics that show how i still have a lot of frame and am a lot lower to the ground than most rigs. this was a very capable rig. did the last waterfall on upper helldorado no prob. walked up it my first time.

 

[Crinco]

If you don't have the drivetrain, at least decide what drivetrain you want to run and get as many measurements as you can from someone who has the same, then you will have a better idea of how big your buggy needs to be in the engine, trans, and transfer areas. Also you will need to know what wheelbase you are wanting before you start and what type of suspension you will be runnin. As long as you know the dimensions, you could start without the drivetrain, IMO.

 

[rondo]

I think the first thing to consider is the drivetrain. Build your buggy around that. I agree with what was said above. When my pal made his crawler he thought about buying one of those mock up engines, made out of styrofoam or something that had motor mounts, etc. Makes custom building things a breeze 'cause you're not screwing with a heavy engine.

 

[anvil]

I've got a SBC block some heads and a cracked th350 I'd sell cheap that would be good for mocking up a drive train.

 

[Herzog]

Definately start with the drivetrain and build accordingly. I think you get the best results that way.

When I built my chassis, I took all of my measurements from my drivetrain and built around that. Everything turned out somewhat tight and works very well. Not much wasted space, although I don't have much room for cargo either.

Other things to do: Mock out your cab area by setting up a pair of seats on the ground, hold a steering wheel, and have somebody make measurements around you. Height, width, distance from dash and leg room, etc... That willl give you a good idea of what you need to work towards.

 

[reddman]

use part of it. not the whole thing. it gives you a nice square starting point. then tube front and rear and a sweet cage. definetly start with a drivetrain and build around it. here are some pics of some of my stuff.:greg:

dayum! who doesnt love 42's on a beautiful dana 70! :bow:

I miss that rig.


Also, here is a couple things to keep in mind for your buggy, in the order that i think of them

Don't make your belly too long, some chassis :cough:poison spyder :cough: have super long bellys, which means unless you run a rediculously long wheelbase to get any kind of decent link lengths.

DONT WELD YOUR SKID PLATE ON!!! You will regret it eventually. If you see the Red Bull RockHer at a comp or something (there may be pics floating around, I don't know), check out how her skid plate is mounted. There are no bolt heads to countersink on the bottom of the plate (if you look, you will see some bolt heads under there, but they only bolt the UHMW slider plate to the skid plate). Next rig I build will most likely mount like that. I think Jason Paule does it the way I am thinking of too.

Stay away from 3-piece rod ends, especially the teflon lined. Get the 2 piecers with the injected plastic race.

I'm a big fan of the 3 link with panhard for front ends. fitting triangulated upper links around the motor in something that sits low is a big huge fat beyotch.

On suspension geometry, don't get too caught up in antisquat, roll axis, etc. IMO instant center is the first thing to consider in link geometry. All those other things have an effect on handling, but they pretty much all calculated with the IC. Study up at least a bit on link geometry before you build. Build adjustability into your upper link mounts too.

Design/build it so its not a huge PITA to work on, especially the tranny and t-case. I can't think of one friend of mine who hasn't been through a couple trannys. Removing your seats, floor panels, wiring, shifters, lots of plumbing (especially if you have cutting brakes) possibly dash and guages, and cutting tubes (yes I know people who have had to cut their trans out of the rig) etc. just so you can get to the trans, and then having to hoist it out of a window blows.

I don't know anyone who doesn't wish they had more visibility from the drivers seat. If you can get away with expanded metal instead of sheet for some parts of the floor, go for it. But keep exhaust heat in mind if you do that.

Well, its past my bedtime, and I'm spent, Bender kept putting me in the wall at the local go-kart place.

 

[rosedude]

dayum! who doesnt love 42's on a beautiful dana 70! :bow:

:greg: just wait for the 80:greg: