Transaxle builds

whiskeymakin · Aug 13, 2015

Honda v6 is the same as any other honda 4 cyl but opposite sides...standard rotation.

ranger11 · Aug 13, 2015

Re:

I put a starter and belts on an Acura the other day that was perpendicular. Think it was an 06 or 08 tl. I know its not a Honda but its a Honda lol

whiskeymakin · Aug 13, 2015

Or just say the heck with it and try a ls4. Has anyone used one before? I think I saw jimmy (essentially offroad) with a red rear engine buggy but I don't think it was a transaxle. It was a ls motor tho. One of the builds for a magazine or something to do with xtreme4x4? Someone refresh my memory, I saw it at iron gap a while back

zjtrey · Aug 13, 2015

the ls4 would be awesome! its mated to a 4t65e that has some upgrades over what im running, i bet it would be expensive to get your hands on though...

patooyee · Aug 13, 2015

Re: Re: Transaxle builds

zjtrey said:
the ls4 would be awesome! its mated to a 4t65e that has some upgrades over what im running, i bet it would be expensive to get your hands on though...

I would rather have a 6l or greater mounted to a normal transmission in rear engine configuration. I think that's why you don't see it. The ls4 is kind of the bastard step child ls with little aftermarket. Shorter crank, shorter accessories, unique water pump, etc. Ls4 is only 5.3l.

JDodd · Aug 13, 2015

Has any thought about building a transaxle buggy with independent suspension front and rear? I started a design that was going to pretty much be a oversized rzr ( a-arm front, trailing arm rear) with 35's. Since the gearing with 35's would be way too low I designed a 2 speed overdrive unit that would go on the out puts of the transaxle, this would allow a high gear for high speed fun and then switch it to the 1:1 if you needed the low gearing.

whiskeymakin · Aug 13, 2015

Sounds like a lot of $$ are you saying transaxle with over drives , then to a front and rear center section, a arms and shafts to the wheels?

JDodd · Aug 13, 2015

whiskeymakin said:
Sounds like a lot of $$ are you saying transaxle with over drives , then to a front and rear center section, a arms and shafts to the wheels?

Thats right. I had it designed to be some what on a budget, Its used toyota ifs parts (diff and hubs) which can be found really cheap. I found everything for $150 from guys who swap straight axles.
The base frame with the front and rear suspension was going to be around $4000-$5000 we looked at a finished one being around $20,000

whiskeymakin · Aug 14, 2015

20k is a lot to gamble with on possibility of being a turd...but if we never try new things we wouldn't be where the hobby/sport is today. Nothing is wrong with trying new things as long as you don't mind throwing the cash at it

zjtrey · Aug 14, 2015

Re: Re: Transaxle builds

patooyee said:
I would rather have a 6l or greater mounted to a normal transmission in rear engine configuration. I think that's why you don't see it. The ls4 is kind of the bastard step child ls with little aftermarket. Shorter crank, shorter accessories, unique water pump, etc. Ls4 is only 5.3l.

this is where the northstars become attractive, i believe they have a 4t80e trans... however the engines are HUGE and there isn't much tech out there on them... I wonder if you could mate the ls4 to a 4t80e for the extra beef...

patooyee · Aug 14, 2015

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I think the 4t65 is fine. There's a good bit of aftermarket for it and it's beefy in stock form. By 6l I meant 6.0 liter. With an ls4 and 4t65 you're not much lighter at all than say an ls2 and th400. So you would be losing high range and complicating the drive line with a bastard engine and relatively unknown trans for nothing.

zjtrey · Aug 14, 2015

the packaging and the options are the big difference, weight is negligable, unless your gonna build it without a t case (which is one of the options TA opens up).. the transaxle also allows you to run a rear engine setup without flipping diffs which was a huge factor for me as it would have been a lot more work and possibly money.

patooyee · Aug 14, 2015

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The transaxles are generally about 30-60 lbs heavier than an equivalent longitudinal trans since they have a differential, chain, and sprockets that longitudinal transmissions don't have. So you would need to really really want a transaxle rig to justify the ls4 imo.

kmcminn · Aug 14, 2015

Re:

patooyee said:
The transaxles are generally about 30-60 lbs heavier than an equivalent longitudinal trans since they have a differential, chain, and sprockets that longitudinal transmissions don't have. So you would need to really really want a transaxle rig to justify the ls4 imo.

JJ, since you sold big buggy you need to build a small buggy.