My buggy in 09 Upgrades and a new direction / new thread

P · Jan 18, 2009

Alright, the buggy has been a blast for the past 9months and Im looking forward to this year and all the tuning , testing, changing has in store for good times ! Im gonna start with what Im up to on the rig right now and the things I have planned for it early this year. NONE of which I want to miss any riding for. I feel comfortable enough with the buggy and its reliability at this point that missing a ride will only be a matter of me deciding to do something else, like spending some time with my girls ! :dblthumb:

Anyway, here is how the thing started out.... yuck laughing1

Lots of things have changed, been altered, tweaked, fixed and forgotten since the buggy moved under its own April 21st 08. The most recent correction made was the steering Orbital change. Initially it had a horrible 6 turns lock to lock

Then I went the typical cheap ass role I do and put a steering quickner on it, that got it to 3 lock to lock but required a bit more arm to make it all happen and after several months of wheeling like that , I got a little extra money up and decided to make the move to an orbital actually designed to be put in my application ( and not the free 1950's combine orbital I had ran for so many years ! )
Yesterday I took it out for the first time with this orbital and MAN I could kick myself for waiting as long as I did. I took it down the road at way more speed then would be recommended , and in the trails it was wonderful and took no real effort on my part to put it were I wanted it. Im at 2.5 turns lock to lock and cant imagine ever going back ! Im in the process of curing another steering issue I've had from being cheap, and thats being hi-steer. I modded and installed the arm's I got from my buddy Chad that he fabricated and will be making a tierod and and all that this week to get it into effect. Here's the arm's . I want to fab something off the side of them to run a long 3/4 bolt through the stock knuckle TRE hole's and tie them in out at the tierod to help ease the "shear" force these knuckles see in full hydro application.

P · Jan 18, 2009

Another issue that plagued me in 08 was tires and wheels. I all but destroyed the H2 wheels from the beatings they took on rocks. The Irok's while strong and able to handle the abuse weren't really handling the duties since they were not on beadlock wheels. I shed the poor H2's of the Rok's several times, not only is it a PITA in the trial's to deal with this but for godsake Im in a buggy with no beadlocks... thats plain gay. So when Greg offered to put me on a "P" pal payment plan for the 20's and Xterrain's how was I going to resist that ?? They've been great and I like the tires alot. But these things have been around since 03 and the sidewalls are begining to look it. They have NEVER been rotated though, and that makes me happy as hell !!!
I plan to repair some "hole's" they have developed since I've taken possesion and been beating on them and have them rotated out to insure some life out of these bad boys... just look at the difference in sidewall !!! :wtflol:

It would take a measuring tape to find out what size these are, because there isnt any numbers anywere... you can barely see the Pro Comp, or the Xterrain !

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... Some fresh rubba !!

Here's an example ( and the worst one at that... ) of what Im going to have repaired this week hopefully .

And for now, this is how the buggy is sitting right now as it await's a tierod this week, and some flipped meat's ! :dblthumb:

Its gonna be a good year !!!! :woot:

kid rok · Jan 18, 2009

Looking good P. I'm need to go down the same path. After I got my buggy finished I let my dad have back his garage. I currently have it at my house ,but my garage isn't exactly working friendly. Keep posting up your improvements. Little sparks can make big fires.

P · Jan 18, 2009

Thanks man, I cant wait to see your's man ! i cant swing alot all at once, but I can hit a little all the time ! I love my junk it's the funniest vehicle I've ever owned. :dblthumb:

Marty · Jan 18, 2009

Nice work, glad you are getting it all sorted out. :dblthumb:

On another note....your picture taking skils are also getting better :flipoff1:

P · Jan 18, 2009

Those were still from the blackblurry work phone ! laughing1

Marty · Jan 18, 2009

P said:
Those were still from the blackblurry work phone ! laughing1

Must be the lighting :dunno:

CHASMAN9 · Jan 19, 2009

Damn son, you got to get that mouse problem in your pad fixed. They done ate a hole right through your tar. :flipoff1:

That is the one thing I told you about these tires and why I sold them. They are soft and have excellent traction, but with my heavy ass right foot, I knew I would waste them not to mention the weight of my ride versus yours. The tread life of those are still great and should keep you hapy for awhile.

BTW, you need to ride on the bottom side of the tar and not the sidewalls.

What's that new squirrel cage in the corner going into? aha, busted. :woot:

Bones · Jan 19, 2009

Nice to hear it that you got this thing well sorted out, and just tweaking it as it fits your budget/time. Trail riding is where it's at IMO :****:

P · Jan 19, 2009

The other motor is my dads for his 55 Willy's. Ill start a thread on it once we get started putting it back together hopefully pretty soon. :driving:

muddyblzr · Jan 19, 2009

man the pick up bed buggies are where its at, your backhalf was one of the ones that got me into doing the rear like a bed. i just need to skin mine out.
the 20s are pimpin :woot:

lookin forward to seeing what other upgrades you got for it

P · Jan 21, 2009

Wood's and I did the stuuring up last night. Since the stock knuckles are prone to breaking at the top and adding steering arm's just attributes more to that problem. I really wanted to capture or help the front of the arm's out as much as possible so the stud's dont get all that leverage from the Tierod being 8" away from them. So, here is my version of the "5 stud" steering arms ! There is a 1" tab on the outter edge of the arm with a 3/4 bolt that goes through the TRE hole on the stocker knuckle. Sleeved with a piece of tube ( so the knuckle isnt pulled downward on the studs.. ) I think she oughta work for me..

:dblthumb: