Tony's buggy build

xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Last week I drained the oil in the 5.2 to see how it looked. There was a little gas in the oil, but nowhere near as much as I had feared. I filled it back up and started doing some checks. Spark and injector signal both good, but 5 of the 8 injectors were firing then sticking open, dumping gas into the exhaust. These were the remanufactured injectors I just installed. On Pritchett I was running on 3 cylinders. I ordered 8 new injectors and she fired right up.

I also welded in the other shock mount so I could drive it a bit and it seems to be running better than it ever has, so we will see.
119195
I have a buddy bending me some tube for gussets.
 
xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Well this year Pritchett taught me something. I've had a list of things that were questionable on the buggy. Stuff that I didn't like when I bought it, but hadn't fixed yet. This stuff has left me wrenching on the trail several times. It's time to start fixing.

Front passenger C/O mount ripped off.20191018_142127.jpg

These were questionable in design to begin with, and not welded very well.
20191108_121722.jpg

Busted out the plasma cutter and with some time and LOTS of grinding....


Busted out the plasma, and with some time and LOTS of grinding...
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Not fancy, but should be strong
20191108_151303.jpg

I didn't think that the break did any real damage until I noticed today that the C/O on that side didn't extend all the way. It's hard to see in the pic, but the shaft is bent at the end. I suspect that its bent the same at the top.
20191108_152554.jpg
 
xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Shock mounts finished up and painted. After I get the coilovers charged and add some keeper springs it'll be back on it's own weight.
20200318_142524.jpg
I also replaced the ECU with a backup (last trip to Moab it went into limp mode towards the end of the trip). I'm going to see if it runs better with this one. I also cleaned up some wiring, replaced a fan wire that melted last trip, and fixed a short in the rock lights. Making progress!
 
xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Should be able to get the buggy back on it's own weight this weekend got the C/Os charged today and found the parts I needed. Basically they were never set up right to begin with. I had to run tender springs to get them preloaded right.
20200320_174021.jpg
I got some dual rate sliders locally, but had to open them up just a touch to get them to slide over the threads.
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I also made some 1/2 inch spacers for under the bumpstops out of some UHMW I had laying around
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xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
I've gotten a ton done, and hopefully fixed a bunch of issues.
1. Realized that I measured wrong when I set up my fuel pump and the pickup was almost 2 inches off the bottom of the cell. Fixed that and added wiffle balls for baffles (after letting one soak for 2 weeks to make sure they were fuel safe)

2. Installed a new to me ECM. So far all of my engine issues are gone. Hopefully that lasts.

3. Replaced some brake lines.

4. Fixed some cracked mounting points on my belly skid.

5. Fixed my 0 degree caster issue.

I still need to nut and bolt everything for the season, and I need to rebuild my upper control arm from Pritchett last year, but I think it should be good to go.
 
xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Got everything finished up today. The buggy has always had an issue with death wobble and overall drivability (wandered real bad on the road). This weekend I was checking all the hardware and replacing lock washers and found the holes in the track bar mount totally wallered out. Added some weld washers.
20200428_150614.jpg
When I was making my maintenance list this winter I also found that I was running 0 caster.
Fixed the last damage from Pritchett last year. New bung on the UCA
20200428_140505.jpg
I pushed the lowers out some and shortened the upper. I'm now running 10 degrees caster, which is a little much, but I think it'll work. The only issue I see is that at full bump I'm really close to the balancer. 20200428_140457.jpg
There's about 1/4 inch at the closest point. I dont forsee any issues, but I will monitor it closely on the trail.
 
xjtony

xjtony

Well-Known Member
Location
Grantsville, Ut
Engine issue strike again. This thing has had literally no issues running it around town over the last few weeks. It also ran good in Moab last year until the very end of the trip where it went into limp mode once. Today I loaded it on the trailer with no issues, but as soon as I tried to head from the trailer to the rocks, nothing. No power, stumbling completely undriveable. I barely got it loaded back on the trailer, drove home, and low and behold its running perfectly again. I've replaced every sensor on this engine, as well as just about every component on the top end. With the intermittentness (thats a word right?) it almost has to be a bad sensor. I'm going to try a new TPS before i scrap the engine all together. A faulty TPS would cause all the problems that I'm having if it had a dead spot. The issue is always at light throttle, but makes it so I cant really get moving at all.
 
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