Plowboy Rebuild - KOH Prep 2015

WideOpenDesign · Nov 21, 2014

http://www.wideopendesign.com/Project/24/PlowBoy-KOH-Rebuild-Version-3-0.aspx

Richie Keith came to us with his Plowboy buggy and plans to race it in the 2015 King of the Hammers. His buggy was originally built as a "rock bouncer". After some modifications it was taken to KOH 2014 and since then has been abused and sustained some serious damage. We evaluated the chassis and suspension and it was apparent that a lot of repairs and modifications were needed to get this buggy drivable and race ready again. We developed a plan, laying out what we could complete before it was time to head west to Johnson Valley. Here is the list of what we determined must be done in hopes to get this buggy to finish KOH.

1) Redoing 4 link front and rear to achieve proper geometry.
2) Redoing front and rear shock/bypass mounts to get full travel without components hitting and tires contacting shocks.
3) Retube rear axle and properly truss.
4) Build entire new front axle using Ouverson Knuckles, and Rockwell RCVs
5) Regear to 4.88 or 5.13 for ability to pull high range w/o too much load on the transmission (last years KOH failure)
6) Install new radiator in the rear for better protection.
7) Replace broken tubes in chassis and redesign as needed, correctly add bracing
8 ) Add few elements to pass Ultra 4 tech
9) Lower Ride Height while still maintaining proper up-travel
10) Address issues with the drive train mounts
11) Build a new skid plate

We have a lot more that we would like to do with this buggy, but we will have to see how time ends up at the end of this part of the transformation.

http://www.wideopendesign.com/Project/24/PlowBoy-KOH-Rebuild-Version-3-0.aspx

Chassis break from rollover damage

Seat damage resulting from the chassis shifting around in the roll..

Starting the cutting...

See more:
http://www.wideopendesign.com/Project/24/PlowBoy-KOH-Rebuild-Version-3-0.aspx

Matze1989 · Nov 21, 2014

Cant wait to see more

tonybolton · Nov 21, 2014

Re:

Sounds like it'll be a lot better than the last "make-under".

TacomaJD · Nov 21, 2014

Farming must be good. :drinkers:

tonybolton · Nov 21, 2014

Re: Re: Re: Plowboy Rebuild - KOH Prep 2015

TacomaJD said:
Farming must be good.

I think he sells LED lights on the side

tonybolton · Nov 21, 2014

Re:

Lol

Elliott · Nov 21, 2014

Why not start from scratch and build him one that works?

wannabe · Nov 21, 2014

Elliott said:
Why not start from scratch and build him one that works?

Cause farming good but it ain't that good

WideOpenDesign · Nov 21, 2014

Elliott said:
Why not start from scratch and build him one that works?

I'm pretty confident "PlowBoy" will live forever. The basic style/look of the buggy needs to stay intact.
There is not enough time at this point to build something new for KOH 2015 and that's the goal!
We feel confident we can equip Richie with a good machine for the race with changes to the current platform.

BUG-E J · Nov 21, 2014

Re:

tonybolton said:
Sounds like it'll be a lot better than the last "make-under".

Jesus if you roll it every single time you look at a hill its hard to not have damage like that. I think its been holdin up damn good considering. :****:
And what happened to the green and tan custom seats?

John Galbreath Jr. · Nov 21, 2014

Re:

BUG-E J said:
Jesus if you roll it every single time you look at a hill its hard to not have damage like that. I think its been holdin up damn good considering. :****:

But, it is only driven on the weekends! :fish:

rpf500 · Nov 21, 2014

The word "redoing" is used a lot. The rollovers didn't cause all the issues. So I'll ask the question...who's work you redoing? Guess I'm outta the loop up here in Indiana.

zukimaster · Nov 21, 2014

^^^^^^ Dude! This thing has been rode hard and put up wet! It has been rolled and wrecked probably more than any rig out there! We'll, Bobby Tanner a close 2nd, so whoever build it the first time, hats off to them!

TacomaJD · Nov 21, 2014

rpf500 said:
The word "redoing" is used a lot. The rollovers didn't cause all the issues. So I'll ask the question...who's work you redoing? Guess I'm outta the loop up here in Indiana.

There has been a few hands in this buggy's fabrication. The most recent was when EOR redone a lot of **** on it in this very same fashion to get it ready to compete in KOH last year. Same ole story, pressed for time, wanted to do more, but done what they could before race time, etc, etc. It done alright, had a tranny failure in the race, no idea if he competed in SRRS the rest of this year bc I don't keep up with SRRS anymore, now WOD is apparently getting a shot at prepping it for KOH and changing some things up. In no way, shape, form, or fashion, do I believe that this has any room to turn into a "Well WOD is now fixing EOR's ****" thread, but I assume some will try to illustrate that picture.

EOR was busy as **** last year when they had this buggy in getting it ready for KOH, because that's when I was in the middle of getting my front end linked and ordering coilovers/swapping springs with EOR. They had a lot going on then aside from all the work Jimmy was doing on this buggy, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were just too busy to make the commitment to **** with it this year. Or Richie could have just wanted to give WOD a chance to try their hand at KOH race prep, which is totally understandable. Both very renowned businesses in the offroad world on this coast.

TacomaJD · Nov 21, 2014

Nobody builds a bouncer on this coast that is KOH race ready out the gate, that's why "redoing" is being used. Far more demanding than racing up a 20 second long motor mashing throttle fest hill. Nobody is at fault for providing work that needs to be "redone."

mikeyg79 · Nov 21, 2014

if I had a chassis that moved enough to bend a seat like that - I'd chuck the whole thing and start over.

rpf500 · Nov 21, 2014

TacomaJD said:
Nobody builds a bouncer on this coast that is KOH race ready out the gate, that's why "redoing" is being used. Far more demanding than racing up a 20 second long motor mashing throttle fest hill. Nobody is at fault for providing work that needs to be "redone."

This makes sense. No idea EOR did work on this. I Dont really "follow" anyone's builds, races, etc. I probably just read into the term "redoing" the wrong was it was intended to be used.

Interesting thread anyway. I know this is a tough rig. Like to see the finished product

wizzo · Nov 21, 2014

Should be interesting to see the changes

Neal3000 · Nov 21, 2014

Elliott said:
Why not start from scratch and build him one that works?

This all day long, build or buy a chassis designed for go-fast.

patooyee · Nov 21, 2014

Re:

I would also not want that chassis any more. I wouldn't want to work on it either. Surprised that a shop like wod would take on redoing of that magnitude of anyone's work. Commendable to be willing though.

Stop throwing money at rocks. Buy a co-dawg seat in a racer that actually has experience with success at 2015 koh. Learn what it takes to win. He'll still be in the race having fun. Build new chassis, do it right. Take 2015 experience into 2016 along with a rig that was built to race with some seat time. That sounds like a plan with higher chance of success to me.

Quit half assing it with your back up against a deadline. We all know you got dollars. Now get some sense!