Lee's ride

[Leatherneck]

Damn Lee, what a potty mouth

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Damn Lee, what a potty mouth

Sorry, cleaned up the other day!

To sum it all up: the supplied bolts are way too short for all the components that make up what has to be held together. I don't think they accounted for the miss-alignment spacers on the shocks which, at a guess adds up to about an inch.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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The black object in the "grip"/stack is the bracket for the Truss bar. It has a wing that when the bar is adjusted hits the "U"- shaped bracket that goes under the seat and is now used by the rear down bars of the cage. I have one more idea tomorrow then I will know that I have to take the Truss bar back home and install it on the black buggy.

You can just see part of the cross-structure above the bolt stack. You can also see the miss-alignment/centering spacers for the Bilstein shocks I am using.

Lee

[Leatherneck]

What stress is going to be put on that black piece Lee?

[Ol'fogasaurus]

http://www.jbugs.com/product/17-2975.html

There is a tab on each end of black piece on each side of the torsion bar (see the URL). There is a rod with spherical rod ends at both ends to which the rods going down to the "pickle forks" which when preloaded ties the whole mess together.

That "U"-shaped piece under the seat of the body interferes with rotating the cross-shaft into a locked in position. I've tried so many times I have to replace both bolts that the shocks tie to (actually I can't find one of the bolts I removed. I thought they were all together but I guess not).

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I finally got the buggy running again after a couple of years of sitting. I thought it was the left carb again but it is looking like a dead cylinder. Started it up then let it run for a few seconds then toughed the exhaust tubes and one of them was barely warm.

Plugs have been changed but the plug wires are 20 years old and maybe the same for the cap and rotor so they will get done tomorrow. They don't have that many miles on the so they sit a lot which could be the problem.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Changed the cap, rotor and plug wires and it is pretty much back to it's old nasty self. Still have to clean the filters and put the cage back on.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Got the blue buggy out on the dunes today after a 2 year hiatus. What ever was wrong with the engine *still don't know) apparently was replaced as it went like stink and sounded so much better. Scarred the cookies out me combined on how rough the dunes are, needs a couple of good wind storms and rain to flatten things out. May have some pictures in a few days.

Saw some 2 wheelers, a couple of quads and a whole S-load of SXS's. They were looking where they were going but not paying attention topping dunes and not playing dodge ball, I almost got hit several times.

I did get a couple of thumbs up on the glass buggy by people which was fun .

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Got the pix this am but since they are high res. it is going to take a while to resize the 18 or so photos. I won't post them all.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Having problems posting again.

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This is the rotor for my ignition. I went on line to see just what it was as it is a Bosch rotor. It turns out that I did put it in as I am running a high lift, short duration cam shaft which is also known as a torquer cam. It give low end power but runs out at just over 5000 RPMs. This rotor stops the RPMs at 5400 RPMs. By changing to a stock rotor the engine came alive.

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Starting to go up Saunder's Lake dune. The hill is quite worn from all the riders tearing up and down it.

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Starting to "face" the hill otherwise know as going across the face of the hill. I'm not sure what the angle of the hill is but I am pretty sure it is over 30 degrees and maybe more than 45 degrees or somewhere in-between.

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Heading to the down "ramp" part of the hill but it was dug up so bad that it had become a trough I thought I was going to get into trouble going across it.

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Got down in one piece.

Lee

[BAJA-IT]

Looks like you were having fun.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Looks like you were having fun.

The looks were wrong! I had the crap scared out of me to be honest. I don't know if it was the change of the rotor, cap, plug wires, new plugs or just what or was it just a combination of all of it but the engine ran smoother (idled at 650 rpms) and revved very quickly... more quicky than it ever had with the 12# flywheel and I had way more low end torque than before.

I got out on the dunes, which were really roughed up everywhere, because all the riders and especially the SXS which just tore the place up (not meant to be sarcastic to them just stating a fact The relationship to the dunes were we were allowed me to hear what was going on on the dunes and it was pretty noisy and very aggressive). Rarely saw a rail, no more than a couple of quads and a couple of 2 wheel bikes. Buggies like mine are very rare now days but I have see two green ones lately that are both over the top design wise) so my right foot was bouncing around no matter what I tried to stop it which translated directly into the engine.

Went to the hill, dodging other riders, then went across it bouncing around where is used to be somewhat smooth. Then, just as it was time to head down the dune I hit that rut where people were climbing the hill in groups so it was pretty deep. When I hit the other side of it I bounced over it and thought I was going over the side but the steering tires got me turning in time (both hands TIGHTLY [and I mean a "death grip"] on the steering wheel so no turning brakes available which, to be honest, may have been not the best thing to do based on the edge I was going over).

When I got down my oldest stepson asked if I wanted to go across again for some different shots I NO!, I'm heading back in. Got lost since I hadn't been up there for a couple of years but finally got back to camp.

The next time out things will probably be more enjoyable as I now am somewhat more accustomed to the "NEW BUGGY" and it's actions.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I've been having brake problems so I haven't been out on the dunes. Since we have a lot of things to do here, I finally got time to take the hood off (not really that easy as some electrical in connected to the dash which is part of the hood) to check things out. The brake pedal goes to the floor easily and does not pump up with several pushings, the turning brakes are locked as are the rear wheels (rear wheel brakes only) I had the wife sit in the buggy yesterday (its up on stands as usual) and pull the right turning brake handle while I opened up the right side disc. brake bleeder, the lower one first then the top one I carefully opened up each of the two bleeders one at a time and got squirt. I then did the same thing on the driver's side and got a squirt off each bleed valve.

The brake pedal now works, the turning brakes now work but I will have to bleed using the pedal, then the turning brake handle then, holding the handle in place I will pump the turning brake handles (one at a time) back to the full cylinder position.

Still not sure just what happened.

Lee

[DHale_510]

Did you remember to run below 10 psi in the tires in the sand? My big paddles worked best at 4psi, made a wonderful growling noise too, but my buggy is lighter and the paddles wider. I ran the Baja bug which is heavier at 15 psi. Both track the ruts much better at low pressure.
Dennis

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Did you remember to run below 10 psi in the tires in the sand? My big paddles worked best at 4psi, made a wonderful growling noise too, but my buggy is lighter and the paddles wider. I ran the Baja bug which is heavier at 15 psi. Both track the ruts much better at low pressure.
Dennis

Dale, the Desert Trac tires I run now are designed to work at 6#s and at 5#s they loose air . At more than 6#s the ride and traction is different. this is a lot difference than when I was running paddles. I was running steel 15 X 15 rims with the paddles but did switch to the 15 X 12s just before I went to the Desert Trax tires. With the narrower rims the paddles did work better.

One of the reasons I made the change is that I have about a quarter of a mile of as(s)phalt to drive on and the paddles don't like it.

I'm seeing a lot of different tread patterns being used in the rear now and less paddles. Also I switched over to somewhat wider single rib steering tires which made a big difference from street tires (never ran baldies) and made the use of the turning brakes less and less. I am now seeing more and more multi rib and wider steering tires used also but then I tour more than get aggressive on the sand. But then the sand in one area can be very different than the sand in other areas.

Lee