Time to start a new chassis

[fl-krawler]

 

[patooyee]

I have bounced back and forth on what axles I plan to run quite a bit lately.

So that is to say that you still haven't decided?

 

[fl-krawler]

So that is to say that you still haven't decided?

No.. I thought I had made up my mind to go with superduty outers, superduty front with the Currie d70 gearset, and d80 rear, but I am starting to lean heavily back towards 14b centers, fabricated housings and rockwell outers. If I go that route I already have everything but the housings and 3rds, and I can go with off the shelf rockwell shafts, saving me some money and getting me wheeling sooner. Then if I need to upgrade shafts I can at a later date, plus I really like the idea of having matching diffs/axle shafts so I only have to have one set of spares.

 

[fl-krawler]

Raised the chassis up and started on the side tubes. Out of the 30 or so chassis I have built, this is the first one I have built from the roof down, and it has been a huge pain in the ass. Scott (Addison66 on here) has been helping me with the build and it is such a pain to have to resquare the chassis every time it is raised up to add a new section. The only thing that is good about it is we have been able to keep the entire chassis to within a 1/16th of an inch of being square to the table, with the chassis being fully welded to this point.

Anyhow, unlike a lot of people, I prefer to tie my buggy down by the chassis, not by a strap around the axles. One of the things that suck, is when pulling multiple rigs, trying to fish myself in between them to tie them down to the trailer. On this chassis I added D ring clevises to the ends of the floor tubes. This should allow me to cris cross my straps easily on the sides of the buggy, and not have to worry about the front/back

Once those tubes were done, the chassis was raised to its final height so I could start mocking up the rear seat placement

The shallow belly and low ride height is going to force the front portion of the supercharger through the hood.

 

[fl-krawler]

Getting ready to get back on this project in a few weeks and get it finished. Back in March I had a structure fire at my shop which forced me to move the 9 builds I had going on to a small 2 car garage at my home. On top of that I have been working close to 120hrs a week between my day job (registered nurse) and doing builds for other people so this build had to be put on the back burner. I have set an October goal for this build to be done, and I just ordered all the remaining parts to finish the build. This showed up today:

Hero 3spd with 2.5 and 5.44 ratios. I also ordered a set of rock assault 9 housings which will be stuffed with Stange Ultra case's 5.43 gears and 40 spline spools. I am going with Rockwell steering knuckles, aluminum Super-8 hubs from ouverson and right now I have a set of Rzeppa rockwell shafts I am just going to have new inner double splined shafts made for. I am toying with building the rear axle with the same offset as the front, so I only have to keep one set of spare shafts since they will work for the front or back. The downside will be that since the buggy is street legal, I would have to run a CV at the tcase and at the axle to avoid driveline vibes at speed.I'll post more pics as the rest of the parts arrive

 

[TBItoy]

why do you think you'd have to run CVs at the tcase and axle just because the diff is offset?

Seems like you could make a standard single u joint at each end work fine.

 

[fl-krawler]

why do you think you'd have to run CVs at the tcase and axle just because the diff is offset?

Seems like you could make a standard single u joint at each end work fine.

There will be roughly an 11" difference in height from the T-case to the pinion. I could get away with using a standard u joint at each end but the 10" diff has a very low slung pinion. If I tilt the diff up, it helps to keep the driveshaft out of rocks. With an offset diff, there is no way I can point the pinion at the t case output if the pinion is tilted up so it would require two CV's to keep vibes away.

 

[TBItoy]

Re: Re: Time to start a new chassis

There will be roughly an 11" difference in height from the T-case to the pinion. I could get away with using a standard u joint at each end but the 10" diff has a very low slung pinion. If I tilt the diff up, it helps to keep the driveshaft out of rocks. With an offset diff, there is no way I can point the pinion at the t case output if the pinion is tilted up so it would require two CV's to keep vibes away.

Ah, for some reason I was thinking you were going to run the gear works HP10 diffs.

 

[fl-krawler]

Re: Re: Time to start a new chassis

Ah, for some reason I was thinking you were going to run the gear works HP10 diffs.

I wanted to, but the HP10 for the rear isn't available yet, unless I want a gear set that runs on the coast side of the gear. I looked at doing a SCS reverser box, and then flipping the diffs upside down, but the cost would have slowed the build down even more. Its something I may look into in the future though as I am leaving room to do so

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Re:

I was thinking the hero case could have the rear output offset?

 

[Technician]

Your pictures SUCK

 

[fl-krawler]

Not sure why they aren't showing up. They are linked from my facebook.. might have to move them all over to photobucket

 

[Technician]

Not sure why they aren't showing up. They are linked from my facebook.. might have to move them all over to photobucket

Well there's your problem

 

[Technician]

Jeremy's says his buggy is better

 

[fl-krawler]

At this point I think his buggy is nothing more than a figment of his imagination.. I'll see if I can get the pics moved over sometime this week

 

[nhl_bullitt]

Yep, facebook does not permanently host pictures. They disappear after about a month it seems. I'd love to follow this btw. Guess you should use photobucket.

 

[Addison66]

Re: Re: Time to start a new chassis

At this point I think his buggy is nothing more than a figment of his imagination.. I'll see if I can get the pics moved over sometime this week

Lol. I've heard of those figment buggy dreams before. I hear they get more expensive as they grow. Only hear say though.

Scott

 

[fl-krawler]

Re: Re: Time to start a new chassis

Lol. I've heard of those figment buggy dreams before. I hear they get more expensive as they grow. Only hear say though.

Scott

Mine are slowly turning into a reality though with no corners cut because of budget. Axle housings will be here today, and 3rd members, gears and spools shipped yesterday from Currie so they should be here Friday. Just about all of my obligations are met or close to being so, so by the end of the month I can cut back on my work schedule and focus on this build till its done

 

[fl-krawler]

Played around a little with the rear axle placement, and got the engine/trans/tcase slid into where I want them to sit. I think I'm gonna go ahead and offset the rear diff, so I only have to carry one set of spare shafts. After having a rig on rockwells for the last 8 years, its really odd being able to pick up the housing and 3rd member and carry it around the shop by myself with no help. I've also fixed most of the pics in this thread

 

[fl-krawler]

Hell froze over and I actually got a day yesterday to work on my own stuff. Made use of it by starting the front frame section and bracing, and getting the engine all buttoned up and ready to start once I get all the plumbing done. Unfortunately it will have to go back on the back burner again for the next 2 weeks as I finish up a few customers jeeps (on top of working 60-72 hrs a week as an RN). The county just approved my plans for a new 60 x 90 shop, so I'm hoping to have this as a roller before it comes time to move everything into the new shop. I'll get some more pics later in the week but for now here is a teaser