Hey guys!
I thought I’d put together an introductory post/build thread. I’m a 27 year-old R&D Engineer, working in Columbus, OH (living a bit north of Marysville) and am big into off-road stuff. I race ATVs in the Grand National Cross Country series and over the years have learned a lot about how to put together a machine for woods riding. I started this project in Bronson, MI in High School when I had nearly no money and even less knowledge. I worked full time through college, so it was a little hard to get to, (especially since I didn’t know much about what I was doing and my dad was too busy to really help much,) but I finally got it moving under its own power in early 2008. I tore reverse out of the type 1 transmission after about 5-10 hours of easy shake-down test-riding around the field and stuff, and then took the job in Columbus and moved away. I spent the next couple years in a small apartment, but eventually bought a house. I finally had enough space to bring the rail down and try to resurrect it, all that was missing was the time. I still don’t have a lot of that between the constant work on quads (my own and others with my side business), work (with travel, and some weekends as of late), and racing most weekends, but I’m trying hard to get back into it.
I’ve got a bit more knowledge now, and even a little money, so I’m trying to turn this thing into a solid woods rail! I had a 3 rib transmission that I bought just before I moved, but when I tried to install it a month or so ago, I found a crack in the gear carrier. So, I bought the 5-rib you see below, which is a 2000 mile-old rebuild from Rancho that a guy had in a bus. Just got it installed last night, with converted stub-axles, Type 2 CVs, and so check out the pics below.
My plans are to get it moving again, then do some long-travel coil-over work on the front and rear end, and eventually build a stroker motor for it. Originally, it was going to be mostly driven on the roads, but I’m changing my focus to woods riding, so there’ll be a lot of changes to what you see here. I’m thinking this whole thing is going to take at least a year or so to complete as I’ll be upgrading things whenever I get the money around and having fun in it between upgrades, so I’ll just post up stuff as I do it. Hopefully, it should be up and running within a week or 2.
I’m really looking forward to getting involved in the woodsbuggy community!
Thanks!
-Walt # 728
Schumacher Race Works LLCedit: Click the pictures, idk why they're getting cut in half?