So, what do you think it costs to build a one of a kind buggy/bouncer?

[pholmann]

I think it comes down to a few questions.

Are you a parts snob? By this I mean are you happy with an ls2 or ls6 out of a GTO or a vette? Or are you the person that has to have the lsx454 out of the catalog for 18k plus all the goodies. If you use your brain, there is no reason to spend 20 grand on an engine when you can get a perfectly good takeout from a wreck or dismantled vehicle and make a few upgrades to achieve 600 hp for less than half the cost.

Are you happy with welding your trusses on your junkyard axle with upgraded internals and axles etc, or do you have to have a full on custom 14 bolt with 3rd member drop ins?

What it all boils down to is how much money do you have and want to spend. I think you can achieve a bad ass bouncer by using your head and being thrifty for about 30-45k. I think you can spend twice that amount for the same build by having to have brand new **** that is the same stuff. A ton of money can be saved or spent by doing it yourself or having a big name shop do it for you. I suppose that boils down to ability, time, and money.

 

[TBItoy]

Re:

What amazes me is the huge price gap between a badass well built rig, and an "all in" buggy like Underrated, Plowboy2, etc.

I believe you could get 90% of the performance for 30% of the money (for parts). But for some people, its worth it to gain that extra 10% (especially when reliability of components is in question)

Paying a shop to build costs the same regardless of the parts, so that's a wash.


Also, I think there is a big price gap between reliable-driveable 600hp vs reliable-drivable 750+hp

 

[ATX780]

This is what I thought this thread was to be about. I had no idea the axle shafts alone were over $4,000 each.

Axle housing cost -

Axle shafts - $4k+ each

Spools - $1k+ each

Gears and install kits - $500+ per axle

Custom axle seals - depends on who makes them... but lets just say $500+ per axle

Ouverson spindles to accept 2" shafts - $1k+ per pair
OR
machine rockwell spindles to accept the 2" shafts - whatever a machine shop that can actually do it would charge

Knuckles and Cs that can accept the RCV big bells or Ouverson shafts - price depends on who you get them from, but it's not going to be less than $2k+
OR
Machine rockwell C's and Knuckles to fit the axle - whatever it would cost to get the knuckles and Cs and then whatever a machine shop would charge to machine them

Ouverson hubs - $1k+ per pair

Let's not forget that you also have to:
Build axle truss, install link mounts, brake caliper mounts, cost of the rotors, GOOD brake calipers and pads... and some axles will also require to have a custom offset. Mine had to be offset in the front and the rear... so you've time and $$ in the machined parts to make that possible.

AND now, if you can't put this all together yourself or don't have time to, you have to pay someone to do it.

By my count, you're over $10k right there...

 

[ATX780]

Are you happy with welding your trusses on your junkyard axle with upgraded internals and axles etc, or do you have to have a full on custom 14 bolt with 3rd member drop ins?

My post above this one is with Dana 80 axles sourced from the Junkyard, and then built. Still cost a lot of $$

 

[pholmann]

Re:

What amazes me is the huge price gap between a badass well built rig, and an "all in" buggy like Underrated, Plowboy2, etc.

I believe you could get 90% of the performance for 30% of the money (for parts). But for some people, its worth it to gain that extra 10% (especially when reliability of components is in question)

Paying a shop to build costs the same regardless of the parts, so that's a wash.


Also, I think there is a big price gap between reliable-driveable 600hp vs reliable-drivable 750+hp

I think there is a gap in general between reliability and high horsepower. Motors with that much power are going to wear at a much faster rate than more modestly built engines. Honestly if you want that much power and longevity and reliability, turbo's would probably be the best route. High lift, long durations, high spring pressures, and aggressive ramps on camshafts put some serious strain on the valve train. Super late model motors obviously aren't meant to go 100 thousand miles. That is why they generally get freshened up every year. Same should apply to a bouncer engine.

 

[TBItoy]

Re: Re:

I think there is a gap in general between reliability and high horsepower. Motors with that much power are going to wear at a much faster rate than more modestly built engines. Honestly if you want that much power and longevity and reliability, turbo's would probably be the best route. High lift, long durations, high spring pressures, and aggressive ramps on camshafts put some serious strain on the valve train. Super late model motors obviously aren't meant to go 100 thousand miles. That is why they generally get freshened up every year. Same should apply to a bouncer engine.

I wasn't exclusively referring to engine reliability.

Axles, trans, and tcase also.

How many people are blowing up Atlas and np205s with 500-600 HP vs 750?

Or 14 bolt center sections?

Or even Dana 60 size/35 spline chromo shafts?

To go bigger and badder than those parts costs quite a bit more.

 

[02Jimmy]

Bottom line is if you build your own Bouncer or have one built YOU BETTER ENJOY IT because your gonna spend way more than you will ever recover by selling... I am sure the $40,000 + I have invested will never return 1/2 that back. So Im gonna RUN The Snot Outta Mine!

 

[pholmann]

Re: Re:

I wasn't exclusively referring to engine reliability.

Axles, trans, and tcase also.

How many people are blowing up Atlas and np205s with 500-600 HP vs 750?

Or 14 bolt center sections?

Or even Dana 60 size/35 spline chromo shafts?

To go bigger and badder than those parts costs quite a bit more.

You have a good point. With all that being said, how much is just overkill on power? How much gets the job done just fine and how much is just **** measuring?

 

[TBItoy]

Re: Re: Re:

You have a good point. With all that being said, how much is just overkill on power? How much gets the job done just fine and how much is just **** measuring?

Just cause ya got it don't mean you gotta use it!

 

[cjunknxs]

I don't wheel my rig near as hard as a lot of folks but I'm not easy on it either. I'm running a bone stock LQ9 in my buggy and have yet to think that I need "more power". I thought I had figured all costs for my build and ended up with about %100 over that and that's 2yrs in the build and (minus the chassis) having friends help build it.

 

[74_Chevota]

Re:

Paying a shop to build costs the same regardless of the parts, so that's a wash.

Incorrect.

Say the words "race car" in a shop and your labor cost just doubled.

 

[Nuts]

There is a difference in a "race bouncer" and an average guy "trail bouncer"? If you want to go run every bounty hill in the south and be competitive $50,000+. If you just want to get in the woods and bounce around with your friends one can be built for less than $20,000. Mine falls into the second category, it has used rebuilt stock rockwells that I will upgrade as they brake,$2000, an old school 350 running on propane that's been rebuilt and will make 350-400hp,$1500, stock rebuilt T400,$300, rebuilt 205,$200, 2.0 coilovers and springs $1600,44" blem boggers on junkyard wheels for $2200, machined my own johny joint rip offs and used scrap metal for the links $250, bout $500 in all the bolts,$800 for tubing and random steel. That's most of the big stuff and only adds up to $9350, then even if you double that for all the random **** its still less than $20,000. I did all the fabrication, had a buddy rebuild the motor and another friend is doing the paint. It probably won't win anything ever, and I'll have to know when to let off a little, but its more than enough to have fun in without getting a second mortgage. Hell maybe its not considered a bouncer, but its sure ain't a crawler or a bogger