Partially Committed Racing #006 another trail buggy build

[extremetownie]

got it .

 

[zsavage81]

how is the buggy coming? lets get an update!

 

[slravenel]

Made a little more headway this weekend, getting closer and closer to being a roller. Should be able to roll it out under its own weight after a little welding!

Got the steering set up where it will be so we could finalize full bump and get the final lower shock tabs cut out. As it sits, we will have ~7.5" of uptravel in the front when at ride height. Its not as much as the rear obviously, but its going to be more than enough to get a really well tuned suspension setup working great. We are using builder parts from WOD on the front axle that were supplied by the customer, and I've got to say...they build some stuff that makes some real pain in the ass jobs A LOT easier.

You can also see the swapped over upper truss tabs, so the front 4 link is completely done now.

Then we moved over to get started on the interior layout. We played a bit with seat mounting locations and with this buggy being 57" wide we are learning to love the luxury of having so much room inside for options There will be no lack of space in there and with the doghouse and console in there everything should be within reach easily and the big holley EFI screen will be front and center. Passenger side dash lid will be removable and will house all of the electronics. Battery will likely be behind in between the seats or maybe inside the doghouse if there is enough room in there to share with the exhaust.

Then another shoutout to Fybr Concepts on this fiberglass. The glass is thick, well made, and even with it being rough mold cut...they give you plenty of easy mounting locations that are strong enough to support the weight. You can see here where the coolers and all will be fitting in front of the motor like a normal radiator would be. The gap between the hood and that cross tube will likely hold a little tray to rest tools, parts, etc while working on things. We put a similar tray in the last buggy and the owner of that one has said he loves that tray, so we are going to be finding a place to put one on all builds going forward.

 

[redneckengineered]

This thing is going to be so bad ass.

 

[slravenel]

Big weekend for this one - it rolled out of the shop on its own weight for the first time

To make that happen we needed to get a few things knocked out...mainly being to tie in and finish weld the main supports and add in some gusseting on the front of the chassis. There will obviously be some more tube going in up here, but are waiting on the CBR trans and steering coolers that will sit in there like a normal radiator would before we add in that tubework. We also made some new lower shock mounts that tied into the truss as well so there was a little more support on that lower link tab. Im not sure if it was totally necessary, but figured it couldnt hurt to add in another plane of support there.

Also not the greatest picture of the trailing arms, but realized I didnt take any once they were cleaned up before we closed them up. They are stuffed with 2" 7075 aluminum that butts up to the weld bung so hopefully they last. They weigh a ton...so I feel pretty good about them. Got those all finish welded up and done as well. They are going to be hot for a week after all that welding...but they shouldnt go anywhere.

 

[slravenel]

Then we rolled it outside to get a full look at it - we are very happy with how its sitting. For how big of a buggy it is, it is pretty shocking how low it is and how much travel it really has. This one is going to be really good looking (in my opinion at least ) when its done. The body fits on there well and with some (ok...A LOT) of trimming, it should have plenty of room and actually be pretty decently protected.

 

[slravenel]

Here you can see the rear and how low it actually is (43" tall tire obviously). The fiberglass will need a ton of trimming back here, but we will cross that bridge once we get there to make that happen. We have some ideas to make it look as proportional as possible.

This gives a little bit more perspective on where the coolers will fall. Once those are in, we will tie in the rest of the tubework and get everything strengthened up in here.

Front end tucked up in there as far as it will go. Clearances are TIGHT around the steering ram, but we are going to make a slight adjustment to the ram mount that will give us a little playing room and let us keep all the uptravel we have.

Shot showing the clearance around the front fenders. I think we are going to be OK here and not need any more trimming. The highline setup from Fybrworks is the ticket. The non highline set wouldnt even be close to clearing the tires. The grill may get a little bit of trimming on the lower corners, but more so to protect it than to keep the tires out of it, they look like they will clear just fine.

 

[MattyB4x4]

Low belly, big travel numbers....and the shock hoops aren't even with the driver's forehead. What sort of sorcery is this?

 

[CHASMAN9]

I SOOO want to build a Early Bronco Bouncer BASHER. Nothing too pretty but ALL the right parts. Someday it will happen after following this thread and wheeling with Joe Matlock.

 

[TBItoy]

Low belly, big travel numbers....and the shock hoops aren't even with the driver's forehead. What sort of sorcery is this?

the chassis layout is more typical of a "normal" automotive vehicle...

 

[MattyB4x4]

the chassis layout is more typical of a "normal" automotive vehicle...

Oh I know, I'm being facetious. It just seems the rule of thumb in the SE is that the more uptravel you want, the taller your shock hoops must be.

 

[slravenel]

Tinkering away on this, working on some of the smaller stuff that doesnt show well in pics (working on finishing up the headers, playing with seating positions, figuring out how we want to do the front end tubework, etc). We did get the seats mounted in and the tcase shifters in place. I think we will edit this a bit to get the shifters onto the console instead of where they are now, but that will just be with some bent rod for the handles, the shifters themselves will probably only slightly move.

The center console will be really big and nice and we have a pretty cool little thing planned for that, but Im not going to share what it is just yet There will be a ton of room for comfort in here with it being 57" wide

 

[slravenel]

no huge updates at the moment...still working on stuff that looks like you arent doing anything (programming interior sheetmetal in the machine, waiting on our die for the console tubing, waiting on tubing for that, finishing seat mounts, planning pedal layout, fitting coolers, etc)

Really only one thing that looks like anything has changed is the shifter linkage for the Atlas - we got it laid out where it needs to be and built up using some tabs and bushings. We initially tried to use the stock atlas shifters, but they just werent getting things exactly where we wanted them, so this was easier than modifying them to work.

Now we are ready to start laying out the interior and console - thats next on the list! Plenty of room to get that going

 

[ridered3]

Got any updates on the Bronco buggy?

 

[slravenel]

Yea - Sorry kinda forgot about this thread

it's in wire and plumbing at the moment before we tear it down for final welding and fitment. Aiming to be riding by New Years.

Here are a few pics of it as we were moving it to get wired and plumbed

 

[slravenel]

Few other detail shots over time. It's been a while since the last update

 

[Lil ugly]

What do you use on the headers and exhaust to keep the heat transfer from becoming an issue with the intake?

 

[slravenel]

What do you use on the headers and exhaust to keep the heat transfer from becoming an issue with the intake?

a few things - there are little heat shield plates that will get coated and covered in shielding, but the headers / exhaust are also getting covered in headshield which will take care of it all no problem. Its not cheap...but it is top of the line and comes highly recommended

HeaderShield™ – The Ultimate Thermal Management System

 

[Lil ugly]

Damn, that is big money for a garage build, probably not bad for a top of the line shop build. Of course if it works then its money well spent.

 

[slravenel]

Damn, that is big money for a garage build, probably not bad for a top of the line shop build. Of course if it works then its money well spent.

its pricey, but its not out of this world when compared to the big picture (or a high end coating on an exhaust) - I know it works, its the same stuff that a lot of the U4 / desert teams are running

Its all relative anyway ... this buggy hasn't had an expense spared yet, why start now!