This question really doesn't fit any of the categories so I stuck it here. I know driving syle, tire design & even tire PSI have a lot to do with how well a buggy can climb, but there has to be an ideal front to rear weight ratio that doesn't make the front too light but still puts enough weight on the rear tires to bite hard. I have watched front heavy buggys spin endlessly trying to climb easy hills because they dont have enough weight over the rear tires. Ive also seen guys backing off the throttle to keep from going over backwards because the front is too light.

I built that 75 inch wheelbase purple rail for this reason. I put all the weight to the rear & kept the front light so I could fine tune the balance. I had a weight bar out front to put barbell weights on till it was perfect. In dry conditions I hung 60 lbs. up there & in the mud 25. In the dunes I took the weight off the front & hung 40 lbs. behind the engine. This let me jump level, at full throttle without burying the nose on the landing. I was trying to dial in a percentage that I would build into my next rail. The problem is my soon to be EX gave it away because she is a C**T.

I have about 300 lbs. of movable weight which includes seat placement for my fat butt. I cant rely on getting that buggy back to weigh it so I am hoping someone else may have done this.

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Never add weight to any buggy for any reason .This is the KY set up ,,,go one seater and move your self foward to balance Don't add nothing

The front was so light on that purple rail you could lift it a foot off the ground with 1 hand. Without the added weight it was dangerous!!! Im sure there are a couple guys on here that remember seeing it out there.

This shot was taken at Silver Lake when I hit a small whoop (3 feet maybe) in 3rd gear. The weight at the back really balanced that sucker out.

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Rock is right, adding weight is not the way to go. Relocating weight is the proper way to ballance a car. Move the battery up front move your tool bag up front, beer cooler what ever you can. If you set it up for hills it will be too heavy in the front for the sand. If you set it up for sand it will be too light in the loafers for hills.

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I had one of those C**TS you were talking about i kept my boy and my rail got rid of her I am planning on building a single seater this spring I have been wondering too what some of these buggies weigh at the wheels Dave and Willie let me drive there rails this summer and a single seaters defently have a different feel than a two seater I took Daves up shaggy on the back wheels a little bit that ride felt awsome realy good balance THANKS DAVE

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This one time at wellsville

Trust me....I wont add any weight to the new one. I want to find the ideal weight bias to set it up with. Once I get the rolling chassis, tranny, engine & full tanks of propane loosely bolted together, I want to put it on 4 corner scales & then put the battery, cooler, toolbox & seats with me in it in different locations until I get the correct front/rear ratio. Odyknuck had a poll in his blog that gives some weights but it didnt say which ones were good climbers. Several of them were 30% front & 70% rear including Ody's. Question is....are those buggys good & stable on gnarly climbs? I plan on powdercoating my frame so I dont want to move stuff around after the fact. I plan on running my propane tanks vertical so I dont have sloshing fuel throwing my balance off. I can mount my seats anywhere from against the torsion to almost 20 inches forward of that. Me & a passenger 350 lbs. can significantly change the bias depending on where I put the seats.

Ive had 4 different rails all set up differently that performed nothing alike. I am taking great pains to get it right this time. I have learned a lot over 20 years & I want to apply it all to what I hope will be my last build.

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Luckilly my 4 seater was in my moms garage as well as the frame of my 1st rail. I still have my car trailer but the T-trailer was under the purple rail. I figure the whore gave away about 8 grand worth of my stuff. She's in contempt of court for doing it but that means nothing. She pulled a gun on me, threatened to kill me & assulted me in full view of the neighbors & even though I have it on tape & filed charges nothing is being done. I bet Id still be in jail if I had done any of that.

That balance you are referencing is what I am after. I bought a new frame

(mines bare steel) & I am trying to incorporate everything I have learned into it. I wanted to start fresh & this frame caught my eye.

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Is that a LOWRIDER or CHOPPED what ever awsome frame i am 6/2 to LOW for me can you say ow my head

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This one time at wellsville

its called a choptop from thebuggyshop.net nice cars but i wouldnt want it as a woods/hillclimbing car

That would make a nice sand car. Wouldn't see me in it in the woods.

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Yee of little faith....

Everybody is used to upright buggies with tall cages & a high seating position. I have about 5 million miles under my belt driving everything I could. I am the most comfortable with my seat angled back about 30 degrees. I am simply building a rail to suit my driving style. I am going to run separate clutch, brake & throttle pedals so I can place them right where my feet have been trained to go after 25 years behind the wheel. I guarantee 99% of you would be extremely uncomfortable behind the wheel of this rail. Thats how I have been feeling for years driving upright buggies. I try to lay the seats back but there was only so much room to work with in a woods buggy. By starting with a Sandrail designed for 30 degree layback seats I will turn it a comfortable (for me) woodsbuggy.

I should be getting started with the modifications on this frame this week. Ill try to post pics under my build as I go. I think some of you may change your minds as it takes shape. I doubt any of you will want one like it but you will hopefully see a capable woodsbuggy that started life headed for sand.

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i would be comfortable in it but its the roof that im talking about,most sand cars is built out of .065 tubing,saftey part is what i was talking about

Same here Chris. The extreamly long distance in between the "A" piller bace and the roll bar hoop is what I'm looking at. Without adding extra bacing, read extra weight, you flip in the woods you will be wearing the roof due to the lack of support. The more up right the vertical supports are the stronger it is.

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You got me wondering about that so I checked the Buggy Shops website & it says all their frames are built from 1 1/2" 13 gauge mild steel tubing. According to the conversion chart thats .095 wall tubing. Im not that worried about that weak looking roof since I always planned on building funny car style cages around the seats during my next build.

Trust me, I have some ideas for this build that nobody has ever seen on a rail before. I dreamed up a rocker arm setup for the front beam that will let me run air bags on the front. Im also planning on running a 4 corner blow down valve so if I get turned sideways on a hill I can dump the bags & set the frame on the ground. I have watched dozens of buggy roll vids & I think this feature could have stopped more than half of them. I think being able to air them back up individually could assist getting off the hill as well.

IVE BEEN PLANNING THIS BUILD FOR YEARS !!!

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The air bag thing is good .Curt has that set up on his buggy.....He can blow the bags and the frame hit the ground