French Tickler buggy

[Bebop]

Is that the same ledge that the Matt's did on the Cheap Jeep Challenge series(somewhere around the 22 min mark)?

Found the video of the ledge, with super slowmo haha



And just for fun, getting stuck on Little Mule. I went back around and made it up no problem afterwards. Just lil driver error...

 

[Bebop]

Some news from the Tickler !

When going over everything after the last ride, I realized my fancy trailing arm weren't real happy...
Turns out I managed to bend both of them, which I think is pretty impressive... They are 2.5x.250 DOM with a full 2" 7075 AL slug inside.

After discussion with Jake, it turns out I welded the shock mounts backwards which left a long unsupported piece of tubing. Oops...

BKOR let me borrow the big press to try to straighten them back and it took all she had to do so.

I did as good of a job as I could.
Massive thanks to Jake to let me use his equipment, I couldn't have done it with the stuff I have at home.

Then I started trussing/boxing so I don't have the same problem again.

TIG welded everything for the heck of it. Took me wayyyyy too long but I enjoy the process.
Nice weld pic below, I didn't post the crappy ones but they're here :LOL:

What the arm looks like after reinforcement. You can see the HAZ from the inside welds of the structure.

Done and installed.

She back !

Last week, my buddy Marvin (who owns the Youtube channel Flex, Rocks and Rollovers) hit me up. He was going for a day ride up to Tackett Creek on Saturday and offered me to go with him. Since I wanted an easy test day and just to get back in the woods, this was the perfect opportunity.

Plus Marvin is a great dude and it has been a moment since spending time with him.

He picked me up on the way. Love this Jeepster. I spent some sweat equity on it when it was built and I'm glad to see it kicking ass on the regular.

And we had a great day out in the woods. So good that I didn't even take my phone out of my pocket all day and didn't take any pics except this one when we were done.

There will be an episode on his channel I'm sure.

 

[Bebop]

Outside of wheeling, I also managed to locate a good used 43 sticky tire so I could mount it on my extra wheel and finally have a spare.

A million thanks to Lori for it !

And made some more soft shackles, it's a good time burner and a very useful thing to have.

 

[ridered3]

Glad to see you getting some good use out of the rig!

 

[wizzo]

Unfortunately, bending trailing arms with your previous shock mount design is all too common. Even with the slugged aluminum it's just not enough for the added stress. It wouldn't have mattered which way you had that mount set up.

Running a full length "back bone" is a must IMO. Glad to see that it was an easy fix.

 

[Bebop]

Unfortunately, bending trailing arms with your previous shock mount design is all too common. Even with the slugged aluminum it's just not enough for the added stress. It wouldn't have mattered which way you had that mount set up.

Running a full length "back bone" is a must IMO. Glad to see that it was an easy fix.

Thanks Chris, I'm glad I was able to bring them back and fix them.

For the next ones I'll look into HT 4130 material and definitely have a back bone from the start.
I'm also not a huge fan of the TMR wobble stoppers that are cureently on my arms and would go back to regular heims on the chassis side and use some shock eye spacers as a wobble control method..

Jason's rig was done as such and I liked the bronze bushings he had made.

 

[ridered3]

Got any updates since late May?

 

[Bebop]

I literally rode at Hollerwood then parked it and haven't started it since then. Working on other projects mainly.

I'm still stock pilling parts for the blower and rear steer. Added more things to the scope (of couuuuuuurse :rolleyes:) so now I'll change the cooling system, fuel cell, battery location and a bunch more stuff. Cause "it makes sense to do everything at once". ya know...



So in the mean time, I'm going to keep riding it as is and hope I don't wreck it. Next ride will be at Windrock with a rowdy bunch, then Tackett Creek clean up with Marvin, then Harlan HL ride. I'd like to make it to Chocco this year at some point too.

 

[ridered3]

 

[Bebop]

Drove it around AOP on Sunday.

Caught a lucky bounce up 46



Then one shot Gatekeeper and made my way up Mouthwash half way quickly. I love 2nd gear !

 

[ridered3]

Looking good! Any issues?

 

[Bebop]

Looking good! Any issues?

Yes. Belt tensioner spring feels really weak. This let the belt rub on the rad hose.
Engine started misfiring at high RPM and pushing coolant out of the overflow.
I loaded up, let it cool down, put a new, shorter belt on and took it for a drive.
Neither problems could be reproduced.

I'm going to Windrock like that and hoping it's going to do good.

 

[ridered3]

Yes. Belt tensioner spring feels really weak. This let the belt rub on the rad hose.
Engine started misfiring at high RPM and pushing coolant out of the overflow.
I loaded up, let it cool down, put a new, shorter belt on and took it for a drive.
Neither problems could be reproduced.

I'm going to Windrock like that and hoping it's going to do good.

What are these "high RPMs" you speak of? Never heard of those before :rolf:

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

We ended up on gatekeeper and what ever the top half is called at dark sunday night when it started raining. That **** got real slick real quick, but 30mins of ray rowing reverse to neutral drop we made it to the top..only to miss the exit and end up stuck on that big tree laying across the right side. :driving:

 

[Bebop]

We ended up on gatekeeper and what ever the top half is called at dark sunday night when it started raining. That **** got real slick real quick, but 30mins of ray rowing reverse to neutral drop we made it to the top..only to miss the exit and end up stuck on that big tree laying across the right side.

Ohhhh yeah, Mouthwash is the upper portion. It's probably my favorite trail in the park.

I got lucky on gatekeeper and we hit it when it was dry. If it's wet you better have the line picked from the bottom and never stop.

 

[jeeptj99]

We ended up on gatekeeper and what ever the top half is called at dark sunday night when it started raining. That **** got real slick real quick, but 30mins of ray rowing reverse to neutral drop we made it to the top..only to miss the exit and end up stuck on that big tree laying across the right side. :driving:

Mouthwash is a good one. Gatekeeper puts mine in a bind that i'm just not willing to do.

 

[Bebop]

Mouthwash is a good one. Gatekeeper puts mine in a bind that i'm just not willing to do.

You had the line. A couple inches to the left and it was butter.
Next time I'll be all wadded up and you'll walk it like it's nothing.

This sport is stupid :LOL:

 

[Bebop]

Clean up day at Tackett Creek this Saturday with the FlexRocks and Rollovers team.
Unreal the amount of **** people toss on the trail. Truly sickening.

 

[neo]

People piss me off, don’t understand why they want to trash the place that they are enjoying and then they are the first to ***** about a place getting shut down.

By the way Your buggy looks a little familiar

 

[Bebop]

Hey @neo,
Your buggy is the reason why mine exists. It was one of the main inspirations during the build.

 

[neo]

Hey @neo,
Your buggy is the reason why mine exists. It was one of the main inspirations during the build.

Thats awesome, a friend of mine had tim build it for him, its been in my shop since it was built. After i got my sons buggy built i needed something to go wheeling with him so i bought it earlier this year, been trying to get some things lined out on it, gonna LS swap hopefully this winter. We'll have to meet up some time and do some wheeling and ill have to check yours out to get some ideas for future upgrades.

 

[ridered3]

Thats awesome, a friend of mine had tim build it for him, its been in my shop since it was built. After i got my sons buggy built i needed something to go wheeling with him so i bought it earlier this year, been trying to get some things lined out on it, gonna LS swap hopefully this winter. We'll have to meet up some time and do some wheeling and ill have to check yours out to get some ideas for future upgrades.

Sweet buggies on the trailer. Want to start a build thread on the kiddo buggy?

 

[ridered3]

Clean up day at Tackett Creek this Saturday with the FlexRocks and Rollovers team.
Unreal the amount of **** people toss on the trail. Truly sickening.

View attachment 155328

View attachment 155329

Not been to Tackett before but seeing the amount of trash y’all picked up in a single day is awesome and also awful that it had to be done.

 

[Bebop]

Not been to Tackett before but seeing the amount of trash y’all picked up in a single day is awesome and also awful that it had to be done.

Yup, sad it had to be done, but glad it was.

Thats awesome, a friend of mine had tim build it for him, its been in my shop since it was built. After i got my sons buggy built i needed something to go wheeling with him so i bought it earlier this year, been trying to get some things lined out on it, gonna LS swap hopefully this winter. We'll have to meet up some time and do some wheeling and ill have to check yours out to get some ideas for future upgrades.

Absolutely.

If you want to come down to KY, I'm sure we can organize a Hollerwood ride in oct/nov before it's too nasty to be out.

Depending on how my life is going this winter, mine is going under the knife. I'm hard on it and it starts to have a few too many bent / patched up things. I've got a bunch of upgrades/ideas in mind too.

 

[Bebop]

Bent the light bar a few rides ago. Had to drive out of Tackett Creek with no light which was a lil sketch.

Removed it and swapped it for some pods. As much as I loved the big bar and the look it gave it, it also turned me into “that asshole” every time I’d turn it on and blind everybody around.

I’m hoping the pods will be more protected and the light output will be enough for what we do around here.

Everything is done with half decent wire and Deutsch connectors as usual.

 

[neo]

Sweet buggies on the trailer. Want to start a build thread on the kiddo buggy?

thanks, I have one on facebook , but i could do one here also if theres enough interest

Yup, sad it had to be done, but glad it was.



Absolutely.

If you want to come down to KY, I'm sure we can organize a Hollerwood ride in oct/nov before it's too nasty to be out.

Depending on how my life is going this winter, mine is going under the knife. I'm hard on it and it starts to have a few too many bent / patched up things. I've got a bunch of upgrades/ideas in mind too

the last two weekends of october wouldnt work for me, but just about any other weekend should be a go. we're about 5.5hrs away, let me know the details if you get one organized and i'll see if i can get some people to come down with me also.

 

[ridered3]

Bent the light bar a few rides ago. Had to drive out of Tackett Creek with no light which was a lil sketch.

Removed it and swapped it for some pods. As much as I loved the big bar and the look it gave it, it also turned me into “that asshole” every time I’d turn it on and blind everybody around.

I’m hoping the pods will be more protected and the light output will be enough for what we do around here.

Everything is done with half decent wire and Deutsch connectors as usual.

View attachment 155334

View attachment 155335

Glad to see you have some working lights on the front of that thing prior to the Harlan trip. Can't imagine how much that would suck to come out of the trails at night without lights. Although Shannon got to experience that last year with my using my roof lights for his lights.

thanks, I have one on facebook , but i could do one here also if theres enough interest

the last two weekends of october wouldnt work for me, but just about any other weekend should be a go. we're about 5.5hrs away, let me know the details if you get one organized and i'll see if i can get some people to come down with me also.

I'd say there is more than enough interest for a thread over here too.

 

[Bebop]

Replaced my P-Pump that died last ride with a new RD steering system (CB-X pump, filter and fancy resi). Moved the pump to pass side, way higher than previous setup. Everything is located the way it is in order for maintenance to be easy.

I chopped the steps that were bent to **** and replaced them with a 4ft piece of solid rod to help distributing the impacts and hopefully let it slide better on the rocks. I also added a .188 wall kicker going to belly.

Went to Stony Lonesome for testing last weekend. Rode with Jake Burkey and the BK crew.
Didn't have to turn a wrench once. This rig impressed all day and made everything his biotch.
RD setup delivers ! (I'll write a more detailed report about that in the future). My face had a **** eating grin all the way back home.

Got it done before end of May as I wanted. I'm ready for the ride I can't miss, next weekend at AOP. Friends graduation !

Next mods will be a few tubing changes, adding some lights for a night ride and a chase bar, and eventually I'll replace the rear axle that's on its last legs. After careful consideration, I will not be going rear steer. I've pondered biting the bullet and building a rear Fab10 axle with gearworks center-section, but can't justify the added cost. 14 bolts are so damn cheap and readily available, I'll go this route again.







Also, I ****ing love America !

 

[ridered3]

Glad to see you enjoying the rig again instead of collecting dust in the shop!

What kind of French NSFW stuff are you doing/having done to you by the blue buggy??

 

[Bebop]

We were making fun of Jeep people...