Time for a Four Seater - Buggy Build

[big cherokee]

shane as far as harnesses go i have been using the rotory latch harnesses of ebay, they are good quality and easy to gen in and out of. i just added a seat in my yota for my two little ones and i will be putting another set in for them.

buggy is awesome and cant wait to wheel with you guys this year.

 

[jmaxj]

i've used those same harnesses in mine(the ones you installed for the kids) for about 5 yrs with no problems at all.

the buggy is looking grreat too

 

[Burts Jeeps]

Thanks for sharing, ooks Great!

 

[Herzog]

Problem: Tires rub pretty bad on control arms and limit my steering quite a bit.

Solution: I Lean-ification.



Full steer lock pass/driver




They still touch just a tad when the tire flexes (from steering hard) but now I have much more range!

Ready to go! First distant trip coming up, I'm pretty damn excited.

 

[Herzog]

i love this rig!

Diggin it!!!

Looking good

That is just cool looking. Love it.

Looks very nice.

Thanks for sharing, ooks Great!

Thanks everybody!

shane as far as harnesses go i have been using the rotory latch harnesses of ebay, they are good quality and easy to gen in and out of. i just added a seat in my yota for my two little ones and i will be putting another set in for them.

buggy is awesome and cant wait to wheel with you guys this year.

I'll check into it. I am nervous about the belts now knowing some of the stories. I've really hammered on them to see if they would release or malfunction and nothing as of yet... but I could see it happening after some dirt/sand buildup occurs in there. I will be swapping them out for some 2" junior lever-latch style belts soon. At least I know that style won't hold dirt and sand.

i've used those same harnesses in mine(the ones you installed for the kids) for about 5 yrs with no problems at all.
the buggy is looking grreat too

Thanks!!

 

[sixstringsteve]

brilliant! I was wondering who ilean made those for. Great idea.

 

[bryson]

Problem: Tires rub pretty bad on control arms and limit my steering quite a bit...

My front lowers are bent tube, shaped just like your arms are, but the tires STILL rub the arms... AND, my tube arms - .375 wall 2" DOM with a plate-fin reinforcement - are bent (not the way they are supposed to be) from proper use.

I need some arms just like yours, and some wheels with less backspacing to cure my issues.

Rig looks VERY good.

 

[I Lean]

My front lowers are bent tube, shaped just like your arms are, but the tires STILL rub the arms... AND, my tube arms - .375 wall 2" DOM with a plate-fin reinforcement - are bent (not the way they are supposed to be) from proper use.

I need some arms just like yours, and some wheels with less backspacing to cure my issues.

Rig looks VERY good.

Are you sure? I thought your arms were 1.75" .281 to start with, then the shark-fin.

 

[bryson]

Are you sure? I thought your arms were 1.75" .281 to start with, then the shark-fin.

Sh!t. I was sure until you asked me... Either way, they are bent, and need I Lean-ification. Is there internal bracing in 'Zoggy's control arms?

 

[Herzog]

Sh!t. I was sure until you asked me... Either way, they are bent, and need I Lean-ification. Is there internal bracing in 'Zoggy's control arms?

There's a vertical brace from end to end inside. These things turned out freaking beefy. Carl is wizard.

 

[Herzog]

Maiden voyage from EJS update.

Awesome. Sure there were issues, but damn it felt good to get out and wheel again. I had so much fun driving that I didn't even take any photos out and about. If anybody snapped any, I'd love to have them!

The issues:
Front needs to either get higher rate coils and stiffer compression valving, or one or the other. Still working out the details. I just bottomed out all the time on my bumps doing normal trail travel. Rear seemed much better and well matched, starting to wonder if it has something to do with the higher quality lower coils on the rear. I used Summit Racing brand on the front... anybody have rate change or excessive settling issues with SR coils?

The only other issue I had (besides my front tires loosing all pressure; remember to check your inner-air-lock pressurs dummy!) Was some power steering leakage (need a better cap/vent hose routing.

The good: It freaking crawls nicely! With my long belly and low stance, I hit the belly much less often than the old buggy. 43" tires are sweet crawling tires and after a couple outings they softened up very nicely and work very well. I also got it up to about 50-55 MPH without a sweat, so it will cruise nicely... just need to fix the front coil-rate issue.

It's also very comfy ride. I raked the seats back a tad this time and I found myself with much less back pain after a long trail than I did before. Everything is well within reach and the kids love it and stay pretty well shaded and protected in the back. The front control arms that Carl designed are perfect. I have full range steering and I couldn't be happier. They are beefy! I may end up doing the rear arms just because I know it will be pretty hard to bend them.

So the next trip I will be a little more daring. I didn't do any hardcore climbs or anything this trip. This was more of a cruise with the family trip.

Thanks to the guy in the white XJ that showed up on Hells Revenge with the air compressor! Saved my day!

 

[chadschoon]

Glad to hear you don't have many bugs to work out. Sounds like you had a good trip. Hopefully mine goes as well at the end of the month

 

[kyojin]

I like it! Very cool.

 

[anderson750]

Maiden voyage from EJS update.

If anybody snapped any, I'd love to have them!

I snapped a few from Hells.

It looked like it worked really well while I was following.

 

[RockMonkey]

Do you have the dual-rate stops set up? If not, adjust those down so your top spring is taken out of the equation a few inches before you hit the bump stops. That might help.

 

[Herzog]

Do you have the dual-rate stops set up? If not, adjust those down so your top spring is taken out of the equation a few inches before you hit the bump stops. That might help.

Sorry, missed your post. I do have them setup and I did some adjusting before deciding to change up the coils. Looks like I got lucky, it pretty much rides how I wanted now!

I also changed up my bumpstop situation. I cut off the ones in the front and went with JK Jounce bumps on the coilovers. I cut about 1" off the bottom and they are working really well!



I also added a spare fuel carrier to the back for some of the longer trips. The 2 gallon tank is a test, I plan on stacking another 2 gallon or maybe picking up a 4 gallon for the camping/longer trips that I hope to take this on.



In it's natural habitat.

 

[chadschoon]

What rates do you have on it now? Im thinking I need to tinker with my rear rates a bit

 

[Herzog]

What rates do you have on it now? Im thinking I need to tinker with my rear rates a bit

I went from 080 secondary to 110 & kept the lower at 125. My rears were close to how I wanted already but I felt like the secondary was too soft.
For the fronts I went from 125 & 225 to 175 & 250.

 

[Herzog]

Photo from Oct 2012 Trip report

One thing I wanted to come back and talk about so far is the plastic brake lines. I had a compression fitting fail on Lock Jaw while trying to make the first climb. I tried to bump up the climb (didn't make it) and compressed my brakes pretty hard while backing off (decently steep area). I felt one of my peddles kinda pop and go soft. The other (rear brake pedal) held me in position, as well as my low gears...

I jumped out to find out what happened and notice some fluid had sprayed out near my passenger side tire. Inspecting closer, the compression fitting on the caliper failed and was leaking. I immediately started taking it apart to see why (the exact problem was not immediately visual). As I backed the compression nut off, I then found out what was wrong. The ferrule was originally tightened in crooked. Just enough on the lip to provide a seal, but with enough pressure it allowed fluid to spew out.

So, I cut the small amount of line off that had the old ferrule on it, added a new ferrule and made sure my line was really straight as I tightened the nut back down. Gravity bled it really quick and then a quick compression bleed to top it off and we were back on our way.

Total time to fix: less than 7 min.

Interesting that such a minor oversight could cause you to lose brakes quickly. But at the same time I still had great stopping power with my rear brakes. Had I been going faster down a road, I'd still have the rear brakes and the option to downshift to slow down as well. So far I'm not sure what to think because the brakes work really, really well and fixing the problem was extremely simple.

Maybe I will convert to solid lines... maybe not. I guess we will see.

 

[Cascadia]

Sounds like a very simple fix! Every time I've lost a brake line it turns in to an all day ordeal. Except for the time I pulled my hard line covered the nut with 2 layers of ziplock bag, the screwed it back in the mc. Put my old gum over that. Held the rest of the weekend. I like your way better though!