Build Bent Fabrication Elite XL Trail Buggy

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I finished up the chassis this weekend. I am purposely leaving out the door bars so I can get in and out easily while building the interior. I have lots of welding in my future, and we can start mounting the drivetrain. I am excited to move on to the next step!

Subframe 1.jpg


Subframe 2.jpg


Winch Mount 1.jpg


Winch Mount.jpg
 
I finished up welding the chassis. That took way longer than expected. It's pretty typical for builds. The table we have is too big to mount the drivetrain and suspension on. I bought a table from Busted Knuckle on Black Friday. It's a decent table for the price, but I had to modify the fixture clamps to work on the thinner metal. This table lets me set the chassis at ride height and then build the suspension at full bump.

The chassis is on the table and squared up. I welded up the engine mounts, and they are ready to go on. I am switching to Paul's at Bent Fabrications Atlas to TH400 mount to help locate the transmission and give me a good idea of where the engine needs to be set.

Drivetrain Rear.jpg


Engine and Trans Rear.jpg


Engine in place 1.jpg


Engine in place.jpg


Engine Mounts.jpg


Fixture tabel 1.jpg


Fixture tabel.jpg


Squaring the drivetrain.jpg
 
I have been working on getting the Drivetrain mounted. Paul at Bent Fab has a nice new cross-member with a new Atlas adapter. It's a super nice piece. After that, I mounted the engine, and we were on to the next thing.

Transmission Crossmember 1.jpg


Transmission Crossmember 3.jpg


Transmission Crossmember 4.jpg


Transmission Crossmember.jpg


Engine Mounts 1.jpg
 
Then, I started looking at axle placement and measuring for shocks and link placement. It looks like the front frame section is not high enough to get the portals to sit high enough at full stuff to get the shocks to sit where I want them without makeing it a monster truck. I was hoping there was more room, but I'm not sure. I need to do more measuring to see if I can get the upper links inside the frame rails. Does anyone have any great ideas on this?
 
My front and rear upper link mounts are outside the chassis rails.

ORI's are unfortunately happiest with more bump than an air shock...I run 3" of bump with 16" airs, what bump are you planning with the ORI's ?
 
woody said:
My front and rear upper link mounts are outside the chassis rails.

ORI's are unfortunately happiest with more bump than an air shock...I run 3" of bump with 16" airs, what bump are you planning with the ORI's ?
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That could be an option as well. How wide are your front frame rails? Do you know what the separation of the upper links is?
 
Keep the build updates coming. I just ordered a XL Elite chassis, it will be a slow build over the next three years or so. I can tell this thread is going to be my road map.
 
vogelj said:
That could be an option as well. How wide are your front frame rails? Do you know what the separation of the upper links is?
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The 9.0RC is 17-1/2, so another 4"(ish) for a total of 21-1/2" outside of tube at the winch tray. Front bumper is a bit narrower.
 
SSR75 said:
Keep the build updates coming. I just ordered a XL Elite chassis, it will be a slow build over the next three years or so. I can tell this thread is going to be my road map.
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Awesome! Paul is great to work with. You will have to post a thread once you get started.
 
I lived out there in Phoenix for 20 years Paul has an impeccable rep

makes a damn near unbeatable chassis. about a year ago I finished one of his Elite chassis I live in FL now so wheel east coast AL and TN.
Had a roll over beat the crap out of her no issues.

digging your thread. Wish I could afford portals lol. 60/14 rear steer here


buggy7JPG.JPG
 
Dave22 said:
I lived out there in Phoenix for 20 years Paul has an impeccable rep

makes a damn near unbeatable chassis. about a year ago I finished one of his Elite chassis I live in FL now so wheel east coast AL and TN.
Had a roll over beat the crap out of her no issues.

digging your thread. Wish I could afford portals lol. 60/14 rear steer here


View attachment 17578
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Do you have more pics of your steering in front? what arms are you running?
 
wish your build was a couple years earlier to use as an example it was a real challenge to figure out how to put 10 lbs of poop in this 5 lb bag. I think I re made the seat mounts half a dozen times. never run a two piece front shaft and getting that pillow block in the right spot took a few tries too.
pedals position ... one step forward two back lol. I ran seperate front and rear brake pedals too. There is room.

chassis was designed to run coolant through frame I used some weld on -16 bungs Paul prefers traditional water necks
had to chase two leaks but eventually got it.
Cleaning out the tubes after drilling...I used a garden hose and flushed the hell out of them. ran a magnet on a string through a few times before the hose treatment. Can use shop air trick to get the string through


man...those portals are sick! I cant wait to see this thing done
 
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Dave22 said:
wish your build was a couple years earlier to use as an example it was a real challenge to figure out how to put 10 lbs of poop in this 5 lb bag. I think I re made the seat mounts half a dozen times. never run a two piece front shaft and getting that pillow block in the right spot took a few tries too.
pedals position ... one step forward two back lol. I ran seperate front and rear brake pedals too. There is room.

chassis was designed to run coolant through frame I used some weld on -16 bungs Paul prefers traditional water necks
had to chase two leaks but eventually got it.
Cleaning out the tubes after drilling...I used a garden hose and flushed the hell out of them. ran a magnet on a string through a few times before the hose treatment. Can use shop air trick to get the string through


man...those portals are sick! I cant wait to see this thing done
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Thanks! It's a pain to package some of these parts in the chassis. It looks like you did a great job of getting yours to work. I plan to run AN lines for the coolant. I don't want to fight leaks. I have the same setup as yours in my current buggy. It would be a lot easier to package. The Portals are giving me all kinds of problems making it fit. I will likely have to cut the front apart and raise the frame.
 
I have been working on the packaging for the portals. The rear will fit, no problem, but the front doesn't go high enough at full stuff. I will probably cut out the front frame and raise it around 3"-4" unless someone else has a great idea.

Portal Clearance.jpg
 
Heres a pic I took at Pauls shop this is the way he sets them up. cuts that front main tube to allow ORIs to fit

I used 2.5 kings and mine just barely clear so I was glad I diddnt have to make this modification.
But you may.

bfaz1.JPG
 
woody said:
what's not clearing in the front? Top of axle tube to bottom of chassis tube is 9-1/2" on mine at ride height (3" of shock bump)
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This picture is a bad example of what I am talking about. When I set both axles in place, there is around a 3.5" difference between front and back. Since the front can't go as high, the shock placement goes from the middle of the lower C to around the middle to get the shock where it needs to be on the upper mount. One of the big benefits of running portals is the stability you gain by having the mounts lower on the C. The chassis was built for non-portal axles, so it makes sense that the difference is around 4".
 
Dave22 said:
other thing ...you engine looks a little low. At least compared to where Pauls mounts put it
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Mine does look a little lower! If you have a measurement, that would be great. How many inches is your transmission pan off the skid plate?
 
so these are Pauls mounts I had him weld in as part of the chassis build. I bought mine all welded up.
He also put in TH400 mount locators that were spot on

so.... both mounts. Front bottom mount bolt center is right in line with top of chassis tube which puts top front of mounts 2" above chassis tube. They angle backward same angle as tube
 
@woody, I agree! The way this is set up is also pretty close to the skid place. I can add some angle to the engine to raise it some, but I believe it's around 4 degree's already.
 
I have space under my moroso trans pan for rocks the size of a large grape I know because I have a remove them every time I go wheeling

had to go with that aluminum pan and their rubber gasket freaking cork...couldnt get it to stop leaking / weeping
 
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