Build Gonna start a new build

[Drcaduceus]

Current line-up:

(Things have changed significantly. Orange 4runner is still intact and operational. Read below starting at post #17 to see the changes.)

It will be based in large part on Woody's JHF Trail rig buggy. Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

[woody]

ooohhhhh.....you're gonna love it! What's the plan??

 

[Drcaduceus]

ooohhhhh.....you're gonna love it! What's the plan??

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Well, the plan is to duplicate your rig.
Except, no portals, no rear steer for now. Plan to use the FJ80 axles I have under my orange 4runner.

The problem is the chassis I have is a knock-off of Jesse's Prickle chassis, so it's a bit smaller. Not sure if we can stuff everything in it but we're gonna try.

 

[woody]

Making everything fit is entertaining....as I was reminded a number of times, "it's only metal"...tack it on, cut it off and redesign if needed. You'll do that a lot. I know I did.

I've considered a Toy-based crawler, light and simple with 80 axles under it. hhhmmm

 

[Drcaduceus]

Making everything fit is entertaining....as I was reminded a number of times, "it's only metal"...tack it on, cut it off and redesign if needed. You'll do that a lot. I know I did.

I've considered a Toy-based crawler, light and simple with 80 axles under it. hhhmmm

Yeah. I initially wanted to put the entire drive-train from the 4runner in it. But an inline 6 (7mgte), r151, dual transfer cases and a rear disconnect is about a mile long and there's no way to fit that in this chassis.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Whose chassis is that?

 

[Drcaduceus]

Whose chassis is that?

It's a copycat of JHF Prickle chassis. It was built by a guy in New Mexico I believe. I forget his name. I'm the 3rd owner.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Well, a few more parts have been gathered.

-Supercharged GM 3800 (L32) and a 7004r with reverse manual valve body.

-a pair of Dana 60 front axles. So yes, gonna be a rear steer!

 

[Drcaduceus]

Rough idea of what we're aiming for.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Engine and transmission mated up thanks to a Speed Gems adapter.

 

[woody]

Coming together!!

 

[Drcaduceus]

So a little progress has been made over the last several months but with 1 MAJOR setback. I'll try and catch you up.

Wheels/tires:
Decided to get new wheels with the 8x170 pattern instead of changing out the hubs to fit the Toyota pattern TrailGear beadlocks I have. It was actually cheaper and I can sell the old beadlocks. Went with Raceline Avenger beadlocks. Got the wrong backspacing to begin with, but once I got that staightened out they came together nicely. I considered moving to a 20" wheel and getting new tires but the 40" Maxxis CreepyCrawlers still have a lot of life in them and are really just getting broken in.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Drivetrain:

I had wanted to go with a Midnight Metalworks transfer case, but we all know how that turned out.

So, after looking at options, costs, and lead times I ended up with a Phenom/Hero transfer case.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Axles:
Got the 2 Dana 60 steering axles cleaned up and trussed up. Truss is from Barnes and the steering ram mount is from TMR.

 

[Drcaduceus]

PRP Roadster seats
(With heaters!)

 

[Drcaduceus]

Now for the reason for so little progress.
This chassis was designed as a rear engine single seat buggy. But we thought we could make it work. After measuring and thinking, and thinking some more and talking and measuring, we decided it needed to be wider. So we hacked off the nose and cut the thing in half!

And then put it back together, 8" wider this time. And added a subframe.

And by "we" I mean Chris Mercer did it and I watched.

 

[Drcaduceus]

At this point we had all the major pieces in the same room and it was time to start tying them together and see what we had. It was looking pretty good...



Until we mocked up a seat and sat in it. No matter what we did, or how we tried, my feet ended up at the front of the engine! The cabin is just so short since it was designed to be a rear engine chassis. We thought about just extending the nose but I really wanted a compact short chassis. So after much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth (and several multi-hour evenings where nothing was actually accomplished other than staring at the whole mess) it has been decided that...











It ain't gonna happen.

 

[Drcaduceus]

But never fear!

Plan B is in the works.

 

[woody]

Looking forward to plan B

There are a couple nice front engine small chassis out there now...Iron Man has one, and Hulse is working on one too.

4 steps forward, one back

 

[Drcaduceus]

Looking forward to plan B

There are a couple nice front engine small chassis out there now...Iron Man has one, and Hulse is working on one too.

4 steps forward, one back

This time it feels like 1 step forward and 4 steps back...

I already have a chassis picked out and being assembled.

Instead of plan B, I should have called it plan 2.0.
Pics and details when I pick it up in a few weeks.

 

[Drcaduceus]

While waiting for the new chassis, it's time to work on the engine. It was pretty dirty, so sprayed it down with some Super Clean and gave it a scrub. Then I started pulling it apart to give a refresh. I hope I can get it back together.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Refresh complete!
All new gaskets and seals, injectors, spark plugs, fuel rails, timing chain and gears, valve covers, water pump, oil pump, oil pan and pickup tube AND a couple coats of paint.

 

[woody]

So pretty with fresh paint

 

[Drcaduceus]

Once it is together, it will probably never look like that again.

 

[Drcaduceus]

I decided the transmission needed some love as well.

 

[Drcaduceus]

So, it's been over a year since I updated this. Things have been happening; slowly for a while but picking up speed now. I'll make several posts to get everyone up to speed.

Late February of last year, after much research, I made a run to Parowan, UT and picked up a Fabn801 Rock Lizard 2.0 chassis. Really wanted a small package and Thomas at Fabn801 had the right lead time (short) and the right price (on sale!) for a nice chassis.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Next was a little knuckle work. Needed to change the Dana 60 knuckles to high steer. Got the JHF kit and got them welded up.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Then when I put them on, "high steer" wasn't enough.

 

[Drcaduceus]

Can you say "ultra high steer"?

 

[Drcaduceus]

With all the major pieces gathered, it was time to start putting them together.

Flexy!