Hi Mike,
Your buggy looks sharp.
When you put your beam on, what angle is it leaning back?
I have mine at 7 deg but I have not welded my top mount yet?
I guess I'm asking what would be best for a trail riding buggy?


Norm

Rake is for high speed stability and not really a concern for trail riding. Also as you increase the rake the steering will get harder.

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

That is a good answer, I set mine in at 8 deg. The more rake the harder it will be to steer.
I cut off the old front end and stretched it out 4" giving me a wheel base of 101"
Built a custom beam, extra heavy duty for Wellsville. And made the fiberglass fit around it.
Norm, That is looking real good. You need to start a build post

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

I like the heavy beam! I used regular .120 4130 for mine and then sleaved the ends 12" with 2-3/8" .120 wall (i think) and ends up the same wall as yours.

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

2 1/4" OD - 1 3/4 ID - 1/4" wall If I bend that I have way bigger problems.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Looking good man. What is the rear arm dimensions? What did you finally settle on?

_________________
________________________________

Buy the best and cry once.

4" wider, 5" longer

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Quick progress report. All of the steering stuff is finished except plumbing and I'll do that when I do final assembly.

Saco Magnum rack

Sweet power steering servo

2" Howe ram mounted to the beam


I installed the ram so when the steering is all the way to the left the ram is fully extended and the only ram stop I need to install is an external spacer in the shaft.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Looks real nice. That Magnum rack is a nice piece. The ram looks nice and compact. The ram I used is way too long of a throw for what I needed but I guess it works. Nice project.

_________________
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Looking good!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see the finished product!!!!!!!!!!1

_________________
Run what you brought, and hope you brought enough!!

Got a few more things done.
The front brakes are finished. Wilwood single piston floating calipers and 11" aluminum cross drilled rotors.









And the part I have been waiting for. Roy located a motor for me, thanks my friend.
2009 Subaru 2.5L SOHC 15,000 original miles 170 SAE net HP. I got the motor, computer, the entire wiring harness from the drivers seat forward and the electric gas pedal for $1,600 shipped to my door. If my weight projections are even close, 1400 pound car with me in it divided by 170hp, that gives me a HP to weight ratio of 1 hp for every 8.24 pounds. That should make it get up and go.
More to follow.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

ARE you going to use the drive by wire or are you gonna by pass it? Motor looks awesome. I am glad it worked out!!

_________________
________________________________

Buy the best and cry once.

Unless I use an aftermarket ECU there is no way around it. It shouldn't be a problem it is water tight, not water proof but it can be sealed up better and it mounts up high, so we'll see.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

I believe that you can change the throttle body you can use a standard cable. With electronics never use RTV silicon. It can eat the semiconductor boards.

The front brake set up is real nice. You did a great job with the fab. What spindles are you running or are they custom as well?

_________________
Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

All my research and two ECU experts tell me the electric throttle body can not be exchanged for a cable throttle body and still retain the stock ECU. If I wanted to take the time to program a Link or Motec ECU then it would work. The idea behind this is the little Jap in the box knows more about fuel and timing curves than you or I do, and I kinda like that. Plug and play, the rest is fun.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

I made them and the arms.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

I get what you are saying, the same reason I am running a tweaked factory Acura ECU for my 3.2 V6. I can tune a AC all day but I have very little fuel mapping knowledge. I have a great appreciation for your fab skills I always prefer to make the parts that I have the tools for. Keep up the good work.

_________________
Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

Mike, those brakes look great.
By any chance did you make a extra set for me?
The steering/ram looks really strong.
A professional build.
Norm

Norm,

It's funny you say that because when most people really find out how much these parts would cost them, they run the other way. Yes these parts could be bought and no they are not affordable.

_________________
________________________________

Buy the best and cry once.

I would have Norm, except I thought you were on a tight budget. Then I would have had to make 5 sets for everyone else that said wheres mine.

The parts weren't to bad, I think for what you get. I know they are way better than the buggy parts that are out there. The calipers cost about $92 and the rotors were about $62. Where the problem comes in is no one makes a caliper bracket that goes from a VW ball joint brake backing mount to a Wilwood caliper so that needs to be made. The hubs are, reluctantly, EMPI. I took a chance on them and for $65 each If they fail I'm not out a bunch. The material to build the hubs would have been almost $200 alone. So all 'n all, I made everything cheaper than I could have bought it and got way better parts. This set up in Jamar is over $600

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Outstanding fab work as usual!!

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

Yes Mike my budget is tight.
Its what ever I can sneak on the card and pay off before the wife notices.
The next things that I'm looking to get are 10" fox air shocks for the front.
They are shinny and I think she may notice then on the front of my buggy.
I will probably have to fess up on those.
Sometimes I feel like I'm on "Probation" too.

X2 Nice Work

But u get what u pay for

_________________
i wana ride, i wana ride, i wana ride

Got a few more things done. Got the mounts for the front coil over remote reservoirs installed.


And the wings, I mean tree bars are almost finished. From the cage to the end of the tree bar is almost wider than the cage is.



The Width of the tree bars is right at 83" (This is wrong it should read 87")

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A