The Budget Beater buggy

[Taco4life]

Man alive! Did you just put a buggy together in a weekend? That is a fair amount of progress for one weekend. Way to go, I really like the ride height on this one. 24" to the frame on 37" tires is pretty good.

 

[Greg]

Man alive! Did you just put a buggy together in a weekend? That is a fair amount of progress for one weekend. Way to go, I really like the ride height on this one. 24" to the frame on 37" tires is pretty good.

Lucky for me, I have 3 day weekends. Really, having the right parts goes a LONG ways. Plus, the rear frame brackets that were already in place really helped put me on track.

You probably missed it, but those are 40's... :greg: I sold the near-bald 37" rollers and picked up these 1/2 tread 40's. Still, 24" belly with 40's sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Coco]

mmmm I am liking it Greg

 

[Max Power]

I like my rigs slightly taller too. I have seen a lot of rigs lately dragging thier bellies. Also that 22R looks really clean. I like your build all the way around.

 

[Caleb]

Man alive! Did you just put a buggy together in a weekend? That is a fair amount of progress for one weekend. Way to go, I really like the ride height on this one. 24" to the frame on 37" tires is pretty good.

It also helps that Greg has gotten to this point more than a dozen times so far

Glad to see the parts finally starting to come together Greg.

 

[Hickey]

With a long wheelbase, LCG is a hindrance. I am jealous of your progress.

 

[Greg]

mmmm I am liking it Greg

Thanks Colton, I'm pretty pleased with the latest progress too. Plenty more to come, but so far so good.

I like my rigs slightly taller too. I have seen a lot of rigs lately dragging thier bellies. Also that 22R looks really clean. I like your build all the way around.

There's a happy medium that should be a decent compromise, a super low COG is awesome 90% of the time.

Life is too short to put up with greasy parts... I degreased & pressure washed the 22R the day I brought it home. I like working on clean rigs, leaks happen, but I do what I can to keep it clean.

It also helps that Greg has gotten to this point more than a dozen times so far

Glad to see the parts finally starting to come together Greg.

Those were all practice runs...

With a long wheelbase, LCG is a hindrance. I am jealous of your progress.

Agreed, still trying for a happy medium... we'll see how it all turns out. The progress is nice, but there's still a load of work to be done.

 

[Herzog]

On Facebook Tacoma commented on the front-upper frame link mount being sideways... I stole the idea from Shane, who used a similar setup on his old buggy, which maxed out 16" air shocks and was used for years. It looks odd, but allows for plenty of travel and the rod end doesn't come anywhere near binding up. Again, this is fully compressed... I probably could have gotten away with less angle on the link tabs, but it's a non-issue.

Just to add, the joints I used had even less misalignment that those heims. You will be good to go.

 

[skippy]

My upper link mounts are also mounted sideways like that and they work awesome.

 

[gtxracer]

I read this whole thread but I don't think I saw it...

I was planning to use a fj80 front under my TJ and even sourced one. I did a bunch of reading and research on it and added them to the Ultimate Wrangler thread on pirate if you want to check that out. Here's some cliff notes:

There are RHD fj80s out there, meaning you can find a RHD steering arm for a home brew high steer on the cheap. You may want to look into it, they're getting hard to find but not impossible. Some Canadian 4x4 stores still have them and of course Aussie 4x4 stores have them but you have to deal with customs. Still worth it since a lot of Aussies want to trade their RHD arm for our LHD arms!

Also, just throwing it out there even though you're using a dana 300, it's easy to flip a toy housing to driver drop and you can also make a 1 ton toy front end using fj80 outers and a fj60 9.5 center. There's a buildup on Pirate.

I'm a big fan of your TJ build and using random unique parts for a build so this should be good

 

[I Lean]

If it will still fit at full compression, move the panhard bar so it's more level at ride height.

And git 'er done! :greg: I'm rooting for you.

 

[Bart]

Really digging the progress Greg. Glad you didn't sell it a while ago.

 

[Greg]

Just to add, the joints I used had even less misalignment that those heims. You will be good to go.

Good to know, thanks Shane!

My upper link mounts are also mounted sideways like that and they work awesome.

I read this whole thread but I don't think I saw it...

I was planning to use a fj80 front under my TJ and even sourced one. I did a bunch of reading and research on it and added them to the Ultimate Wrangler thread on pirate if you want to check that out. Here's some cliff notes:

There are RHD fj80s out there, meaning you can find a RHD steering arm for a home brew high steer on the cheap. You may want to look into it, they're getting hard to find but not impossible. Some Canadian 4x4 stores still have them and of course Aussie 4x4 stores have them but you have to deal with customs. Still worth it since a lot of Aussies want to trade their RHD arm for our LHD arms!

Also, just throwing it out there even though you're using a dana 300, it's easy to flip a toy housing to driver drop and you can also make a 1 ton toy front end using fj80 outers and a fj60 9.5 center. There's a buildup on Pirate.

I'm a big fan of your TJ build and using random unique parts for a build so this should be good

I've been searching for a FJ/FZJ80 RHD knuckle for awhile without any luck. If I can find one, I'd love to use it. In the meantime, I hope this setup will work.

The 1 Ton Toyota front axle sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out! My biggest concern is the pinion in the 8" 3rd member. Hopefully it'll last.

Glad you're liking the random parts use... :greg: I'm trying to do something a bit different, while not spending too much additional money.

If it will still fit at full compression, move the panhard bar so it's more level at ride height.

And git 'er done! :greg: I'm rooting for you.

I would like the panhard to sit more level at ride height, it's only sitting where it is because that's where I put it when I was tacking it all together. I can move the panhard to where it's more level, but I loose more than an inch of up travel.

Really digging the progress Greg. Glad you didn't sell it a while ago.

Thanks Bart, I'm glad I kept it... I did have some 'bigger & better' plans, but I need to stick to the original plan.

 

[gtxracer]

I've been searching for a FJ/FZJ80 RHD knuckle for awhile without any luck. If I can find one, I'd love to use it. In the meantime, I hope this setup will work.

The 1 Ton Toyota front axle sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out! My biggest concern is the pinion in the 8" 3rd member. Hopefully it'll last.

Glad you're liking the random parts use... :greg: I'm trying to do something a bit different, while not spending too much additional money.

Maybe that's just a typo but just fyi you need just the rhd arm, not the entire knuckle, IIRC.

Here's the 1 ton Toy axle:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=761670

And Bobby Long can cryo and heat treat your gears for $45. I'll be sending him mine and maybe even my d300 outputs. Supposed to be up to 30% stronger but realistically about 20%.

 

[Greg]

Maybe that's just a typo but just fyi you need just the rhd arm, not the entire knuckle, IIRC.

Here's the 1 ton Toy axle:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=761670

And Bobby Long can cryo and heat treat your gears for $45. I'll be sending him mine and maybe even my d300 outputs. Supposed to be up to 30% stronger but realistically about 20%.

Yeah... arm. I'm tired.

Thanks for the link, time to read!

I've heard a lot about cryo treating drivetrain parts, probably not a bad idea in this case.

 

[Badbuggy]

It is looking great. You may be hard to keep up with. Looking forward to trying.

 

[ClintE]

Lookin good greg!! Let me know if you need ANYTHING else!

 

[Gravy]

Greg you could flip that upper trackbar bracket to the outside of the frame and get a lot longer trackbar.

Looks pretty slick.

 

[Greg]

It is looking great. You may be hard to keep up with. Looking forward to trying.

Thanks Jeff, I wouldn't worry about my being hard to keep up with, I'll still have plenty of handicaps beyond my own driving... 4 cyl engine, manual transmission, etc.

Lookin good greg!! Let me know if you need ANYTHING else!

Will do, matter of fact, I may be stopping by later today for some more custom plasma table requests.

Greg you could flip that upper trackbar bracket to the outside of the frame and get a lot longer trackbar.

Looks pretty slick.

Unfortunately the FJ60 steering box will eventually be sitting in that position, so there is no room there for the trackbar bracket outside of the frame. I know my trackbar isn't the longest and I may have some steering issues, but I'm happy with the length, angle and fit. For a buggy, I think it will work fine.

Since we're on the subject... I am going to eventually notch the frame on the passenger side, so I can run the track bar in the most level position at ride height and still have the maximum up-travel to full bump.

 

[Panos]

have you seen these Greg, problem solved. Now the FJ 80 axle it the Sh*t And the 8" ring gear is reverse cut, which I am sure you already know. And is much stronger than a 8" ring gear in the front running on the coast side, It will hold up.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=997804