Light Buggies......... (1 Viewer)

[Radd Cruisers]

Are cruiser buggies a thing of the past........


Seems lighter is better, so cruisrt buggies with chromo frames are good, but goood old cruiser buggies are badddddddddd.


What are we looking at for axles, frames, ENGINES, to keep up with the gang????

Going back to mountain biking and big drops, everthing has a limited life span when it comes to continious pounding and fatigue. It all brakes eventually, chromo brakes fast and hard while aluminuim brakes slow and easy?


Personally nothing replaces buggies like Medusa....

 

[Advent]

I want to see a buggy built of titanium.

If it could be powered by a turbine engine, that would be cool too.

 

[coolcruiserfj40]

I want to see a buggy built of titanium.

If it could be powered by a turbine engine, that would be cool too.

how would you build it out of titanium?

 

[Mace]

Weld it

 

[Advent]

how would you build it out of titanium?

I said I wanted to see it. I have nowhere near the skills and money to actually do it

 

[coolcruiserfj40]

Weld it

so you have the "bubble" that is required to do titanium? and imo titanium is to brittle and near impossible to weld

 

[woody]

my present design will be simple....

4.3 TBI, 700R, D300 or Atlas, D60's front and rear, airshocks....affordable package, good strength, good aftermarket, easy parts to find....

lots of stuff on the shop floor now, awaiting....well, not sure what for, but it's there....lol

 

[sparky195]

Titanium actually isn't that difficult to weld if your a deccent tig welder, it is very similar to a high grade stainless or iconel. You can also get different grades of titanium and some that are not so brittle. There are a few companies that have already made frames for race quads out of titanium, pretty bad-ass stuff. If you have unough money to wipe you ass with and not worry about it Ti would be a great matterial to use. I know I sound like a salesman for the sh!t but I just thought I'd chime in

 

[coolcruiserfj40]

Titanium actually isn't that difficult to weld if your a deccent tig welder, it is very similar to a high grade stainless or iconel. You can also get different grades of titanium and some that are not so brittle. There are a few companies that have already made frames for race quads out of titanium, pretty bad-ass stuff. If you have unough money to wipe you ass with and not worry about it Ti would be a great matterial to use. I know I sound like a salesman for the sh!t but I just thought I'd chime in

got any info on how you tig it? everything ive read said you have to use a "bubble" with certian gases

 

[kirk]

A bubble or cabinet works for small parts. Large parts are welded in outside air. When tig welding most shops have a welders helper who has a second bottle of inert gas hooked to a wand with a bunch of holes in it. As the welder moves along the helper floods the cooling welds with inert gas until they cool down. Once cool the welds wont contaminate. If you were to weld titanium without constant inert gas sheild until cooldown the welds would crack and resemble a mig weld with the gas bottle turned off. It is prety easy to weld and TIGs just like stainless as others have mentioned.

Kirk

 

[Mace]

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Guess the axles are still big, could the buggy get light enough to go with the toy axles?

Would you have to drop big money into the Dana 60s to make them reliable?


Is there any aluminium sixs on the market that would bolt up to the 700R?

Expensive and difficult to weld, but it seems Chromoly is the lightest choice, next to Titanium.

Had a titanium mountain bike for years, near impossible to break, I broke my share of aluminium frames and cranks.

my present design will be simple....

4.3 TBI, 700R, D300 or Atlas, D60's front and rear, airshocks....affordable package, good strength, good aftermarket, easy parts to find....

lots of stuff on the shop floor now, awaiting....well, not sure what for, but it's there....lol

 

[bad_religion_au]

alot of the guys in Australia run 60 series cruiser axles, with treated birfs in their buggies, due to the difficulty in getting dana 60's

 

[woody]

Guess the axles are still big, could the buggy get light enough to go with the toy axles?

Would you have to drop big money into the Dana 60s to make them reliable?


Is there any aluminium sixs on the market that would bolt up to the 700R?

IMO, it's very possible to run toy axles under a buggy...I may do that for a time while I build the 60's....IMO, a front 60 can be done "reliable" for about $2500 and a rear for under $1000....or so....have my front 60 purchased, and rear's are cheap (stock)

not sure what a shortstar pattern is offhand, but that might work...they put 'em to PG's all the time, and for a buggy, that's a better choice than the 700r anyways


it's all about what ya got on the shelf...I have a 4.3 block/heads and two 700r's...the 4.3 "stock" will end up about $500 or less, the 700r is a grand to build...add on the Atlas (used for...mmm....$1800?)

$7800 for motor, trans, case, d-shafts, axles....$5k for a chassis and all the links...$1k for steering/seats....$1k for skins...

$16k total? (round up 20% for miscalculations....just shy of $20k...and I know of suhweeeet rigs done for that or less now)

 

[lowenbrau]

Use one of these LSJ engines. 250 HP factory in a 2liter light tiny package.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Family_II_engine#LSJ

If you run argon through the tubing you don't need a bubble to weld titanium. I'm not sure the strength to weight is better than Aluminum in this application though.

There is a real movement toward light buggies around here now. Lots of guys are finished with the tried and true, big block,700r4, 205, Dana 60, Corp 14, 44" Boggers and are now headed to something lighter and higher tech.

Behemoth60 has a whole recipe he keeps reciting for the replacement for TippyR but he's busy earning the money for it by flipping real estate. (better than flipping burgers I understand)

 

[Waggoner5]

I remember built Cruisers weighing 4k lbs or so, being considered light. Now I am seeing 2k lb buggies with Cruiser bezels. I love the idea of being able to go anywhere I point my rig, although I have never owned one, but I am still drawn to the complete Cruiser deal. I have no beef with the Cruiser bezel'd buggies, I think they are as cool as anything else, but I like the idea of having the heater and doors and a top and being able to say yep its a Landcruiser. I am no purist as you all know, but I plan on leaving a pretty large gap between my stuff and the 2k lb comp style buggies. My 45 is now a heavy weight at 4300 lbs.
Gary

 

[Radd Cruisers]

With ya on that one, I will prolly never build a buggy and prolly never leave the big heavey diesel engines.

For me and my family a typical cruiser with lockers with fit the bill, maybe four link or something and factory axles.

But I have noticed the trends and they are a changing and if I had extra money I would prolly start with mini truck parts and build from thier.

Pile of tube and learn how to tig.

I remember built Cruisers weighing 4k lbs or so, being considered light. Now I am seeing 2k lb buggies with Cruiser bezels. I love the idea of being able to go anywhere I point my rig, although I have never owned one, but I am still drawn to the complete Cruiser deal. I have no beef with the Cruiser bezel'd buggies, I think they are as cool as anything else, but I like the idea of having the heater and doors and a top and being able to say yep its a Landcruiser. I am no purist as you all know, but I plan on leaving a pretty large gap between my stuff and the 2k lb comp style buggies. My 45 is now a heavy weight at 4300 lbs.
Gary

 

[woody]

my FJ40 is 3800# or less.....full bodied still (dented, but all the metal is technically still there...lol)

For what it is, no complaints...but my abuse over the past 8 years has taken it's toll on the frame...it should survive this year, but it's gettin pushed pretty hard now....

I'm planning, and collectin...

 

[fj40charles]

Guess the axles are still big, could the buggy get light enough to go with the toy axles?

Would you have to drop big money into the Dana 60s to make them reliable?

I like the idea of having a good deal of unsprung weight. D60 works just fine for that purpose. If I ever got a buggy (built or purchase), there is a good chance I'll install some Dana60 axles under it.

I would tend to agree with Gary. I like the full bodied look of a FJ40. If I want something lighter, I'll buy/build another rig and keep my present junk for trails like the Rubicon.

 

[wngrog]

Well, I tired and tried to lighten my last rig. 3800# was about as light as I could go based on the Cruiser frame it was still based on.

My axles were light as hell, the LT-1 had aluminum heads, everything I could gundrill or speed-hole I did. Moly was used in lots of places and it was still heavy for the trails I like to run.

This new little "bezel" buggy is light as hell. 2600# and some change from what the previous owner told me. I have added a little and taken away a little weight, so I think it is still right in that ballpark loaded and trail-ready.

I love the unsprung weight of the D60 in the front. I was just beginning to experiment with water in the tires before I sold Kate and the D60 in the front of this ultra light rig kinda does the same thing. It is around 40% of the entire weight of this rig. Climbing is awesome because of it.

Putting a D60 in the rear of an ultra light rig though is a mistake to me. Smaller axles can survive in the rear of a light rig. Take the taco axle I have or a 9" and save the weight.