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Help Support Hardline Crawlers :
French Tickler buggy
- Thread starter Bebop
- Start date
ridered3
Not Rigless
Time for a build update por favor!
ridered3
Not Rigless
Copy paste of the post I put on NC4x4:
Little RBD recap after I took my buggy out for the first time this long weekend.
I will start by saying that out of the 2 days of riding we had, every issue that rose up wasn't related to the chassis nor the suspension. These were the key factors of why I knocked on Bent Fabrication's door and I can say Tim delivered! Both of them performed excellent. The springs and shock valving are way off (I threw the shocks and springs on to make it to RBD), but it shows incredible potential already. Can't wait to spend some time tweaking these with my buddy Jake from Busted Knuckle Offroad!
I took it very easy on Thursday night, rode all day Friday with no issues and decided to beat on it Saturday.
Here are the extensive list of the issues I had with it:
- Loose lug nuts (my dumbass fault 100%)
- Loose beadlock ring bolts (new racelines tend to do this it seems, I'll keep a look on them)
- Burped all air out of a tire.
- Bent the passenger sway bar arm. It seems like the bracket on the link is a little off compared to the driver side. The arm bent itself very early in the ride on Thursday, then stayed there. I guess it found its happy place. I'll keep monitoring but won't do anything unless I see it move some more.
- Bent both front square lower links. I guess they didn't like my driving style. Will change for bigger/stronger.
- The engine is pretty worn. 7ish PSI at idle and 19ish at WOT. I'll try a couple of things, but if I can't fix it for cheap, I'll just run it until it blows.
- The torque converter gave up on the way back to camp on Saturday, right after a proper bouncer beatdown. Symptoms are textbook converter failure (high pitched whirring noise, trans slips in all gears, builds up A TON of heat). I can't be super mad at it since it's a used unit with unknown past and still allowed me to drive the buggy back on the trailer and inside the garage.
Overall, the buggy feels great!
A little on the bigger side since I'm used to samurais, but the 45deg steering angle helps maneuverability a ton. It front digs very nicely.
I never felt like I would hurt the axles at any moment. Big bells are an amazing peace of mind. I was really glad RCV allowed me to play with these and offers such a nice product at a solid price point. Not cheap, but in the ballpark of the higher end shafts from other manufacturers that don't offer the upside of the orange units (CV joints and best warranty of the market).
Stability is incredible. It feels like you can run it on its lid without actually rolling over. It probably comes from the fact the suspension is stiff but still, very impressive. All my friends agreed the grip is insane and as a buddy that has plenty of circle track experience noted, this unit has a lot of "forward bite". It really wants to climb over the obstacles with its front end.
Front rad cooling package works well. Stupid easy to bleed and no issues during the ride. I'm glad I put the radiator there. Another good thinking by Bent Fabrications.
Lastly, the unit feels way underpowered. I need to get a real number on weight but it's not "ultra light". I'd ballpark it around 4000lbs. I've been denied on a couple of obstacles due to the lack of torque/hp IMO. It doesn't spin the tires as quickly as what was needed for these big climbs. I guess it's a good thing to help me learn the vehicle. But it shows that if you want to do rockbouncer ****, you need a big thumping engine. I hope that adding NOS and a transbrake during the transmission rebuild will help mitigate the issue.
Also, I'm out of money so I don't expect to touch it before March ish.
Here are some pics:
On the go:
Arrived at RBD:
Buggy in its element (I love these pictures
)
Little RBD recap after I took my buggy out for the first time this long weekend.
I will start by saying that out of the 2 days of riding we had, every issue that rose up wasn't related to the chassis nor the suspension. These were the key factors of why I knocked on Bent Fabrication's door and I can say Tim delivered! Both of them performed excellent. The springs and shock valving are way off (I threw the shocks and springs on to make it to RBD), but it shows incredible potential already. Can't wait to spend some time tweaking these with my buddy Jake from Busted Knuckle Offroad!
I took it very easy on Thursday night, rode all day Friday with no issues and decided to beat on it Saturday.
Here are the extensive list of the issues I had with it:
- Loose lug nuts (my dumbass fault 100%)
- Loose beadlock ring bolts (new racelines tend to do this it seems, I'll keep a look on them)
- Burped all air out of a tire.
- Bent the passenger sway bar arm. It seems like the bracket on the link is a little off compared to the driver side. The arm bent itself very early in the ride on Thursday, then stayed there. I guess it found its happy place. I'll keep monitoring but won't do anything unless I see it move some more.
- Bent both front square lower links. I guess they didn't like my driving style. Will change for bigger/stronger.
- The engine is pretty worn. 7ish PSI at idle and 19ish at WOT. I'll try a couple of things, but if I can't fix it for cheap, I'll just run it until it blows.
- The torque converter gave up on the way back to camp on Saturday, right after a proper bouncer beatdown. Symptoms are textbook converter failure (high pitched whirring noise, trans slips in all gears, builds up A TON of heat). I can't be super mad at it since it's a used unit with unknown past and still allowed me to drive the buggy back on the trailer and inside the garage.
Overall, the buggy feels great!
A little on the bigger side since I'm used to samurais, but the 45deg steering angle helps maneuverability a ton. It front digs very nicely.
I never felt like I would hurt the axles at any moment. Big bells are an amazing peace of mind. I was really glad RCV allowed me to play with these and offers such a nice product at a solid price point. Not cheap, but in the ballpark of the higher end shafts from other manufacturers that don't offer the upside of the orange units (CV joints and best warranty of the market).
Stability is incredible. It feels like you can run it on its lid without actually rolling over. It probably comes from the fact the suspension is stiff but still, very impressive. All my friends agreed the grip is insane and as a buddy that has plenty of circle track experience noted, this unit has a lot of "forward bite". It really wants to climb over the obstacles with its front end.
Front rad cooling package works well. Stupid easy to bleed and no issues during the ride. I'm glad I put the radiator there. Another good thinking by Bent Fabrications.
Lastly, the unit feels way underpowered. I need to get a real number on weight but it's not "ultra light". I'd ballpark it around 4000lbs. I've been denied on a couple of obstacles due to the lack of torque/hp IMO. It doesn't spin the tires as quickly as what was needed for these big climbs. I guess it's a good thing to help me learn the vehicle. But it shows that if you want to do rockbouncer ****, you need a big thumping engine. I hope that adding NOS and a transbrake during the transmission rebuild will help mitigate the issue.
Also, I'm out of money so I don't expect to touch it before March ish.
Here are some pics:
On the go:
Arrived at RBD:
Buggy in its element (I love these pictures
You've done a great job on this Frenchy, especially with the budget you are on and doing most of the work by yourself. you can't be disappointed in it at all and know it will be what you want in time. I did see it at RBD but didn't get close enough to gauge it, but it looked like a winner from what I can tell. Good job sir
muddinmetal
Guntersville, AL
I am betting the biggest reason the motor is feeling weak is the torque converter. You should always have PTC spec you a converter whenever possible. Also, did you have the factory torque management tuned out of the ecu?
Beerj
Sonzabitches!
I had them spec one for me and it made it feel waaay more powerful.
money_pit_yj
Well-Known Member
Good job Enzo!!! I'm glad you finally got to get out there and ride!
Markrobinson
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2010
- Messages
- 700
- Reaction score
- 82
When Patrick sent me the link to all his RBD pics, I texted him and said I really liked the raw buggy. When he told me it was this one, I felt like a dumbass because I had seen the build thread and looked it over before.
Looks good out in the woods. Can't wait to see it in person!
Looks good out in the woods. Can't wait to see it in person!
Eddyj
Well-Known Member
Awesome to see it in the woods!
You did a hell of a job overcoming all the challenges that popped up during this build. I think you may have drove more miles to get your rig to the point it is now, then most people realize. I know all the sacrifices and buying and selling you did to make this happen. This is truly YOUR rig. This rig was built not bought. I know you've made 100 friends on your journey to drive this rig for the first time. I'm glad I am 1 of the few that got to tag along. I wish I could have helped out more to build it, but you can bet your sweet little French ass I'll be there encouraging you to tear it up every chance I get.
"You did something most people never will, you made it to your first ride" -an awesome man in a purple rig
You did a hell of a job overcoming all the challenges that popped up during this build. I think you may have drove more miles to get your rig to the point it is now, then most people realize. I know all the sacrifices and buying and selling you did to make this happen. This is truly YOUR rig. This rig was built not bought. I know you've made 100 friends on your journey to drive this rig for the first time. I'm glad I am 1 of the few that got to tag along. I wish I could have helped out more to build it, but you can bet your sweet little French ass I'll be there encouraging you to tear it up every chance I get.
"You did something most people never will, you made it to your first ride" -an awesome man in a purple rig
Engine isn't tuned at 100%. I dicked around with it, but I'm not a pro. ECU is a Holley unit so no torque management BS. Even with a stock ECU, AFAIK you can';t have torque management with a th400 behind it, the tune won't allow it.
I am looking forward to have the 400 rebuilt with some billet **** in it and a better TC in front. Maybe add a Reid case. PTC is a great company, but I know a good guy in knoxville, he's been extremely nice to work with and I'll probably go through him this time. Randy @ Jimmy's4x4 is a trans guru and puts together amazing units too. I haven't made my mind up yet.
BeerJ's TC is about 3000 stall, was spec'd by PTC and is absolutely NOT what I want. It is impossible to trail ride IMO.
Thanks man !
Thank you ! Can't wait to have it back together and ready to rock.
Thanks man, it means a lot! I'm honored and glad I have gone through this journey, met that many good people and made that many friends. The offroad community is really amazing !
I haven't touched it since Thanksgiving, barely washed it. Been busy moving to NC and setting up. There are some upgrades in the pipeline for it (outside of the trans and engine) I have to work on.
Ed, I still owe you a driving lesson at Stony
Last edited:
Beerj
Sonzabitches!
I'll admit I don't have any experience with anything besides this and a basically stock one. Maybe it's just my ignorance but I'm happy with it.
muddinmetal
Guntersville, AL
I personally would NEVER go over a 2500 or 2600 stall on the trail
onepieceatatime
I like turtles...
It sounds cool so what else really matters?
I agree. That's why I was kinda surprised after hearing what PTC spec'd for BeerJ's.
TBItoy
Well-Known Member
overall gear reduction plays as much of a role in the actual stall speed as much as the "spec'd" stall speed on the converter... you know that though.
