New Build info

[Leatherneck]

So you guys who have done a build (or two), what are some suggestions and good ideas for those who might be getting ready to start one? Throw it out there, anything is a help.

[chuckput]

Set a budget and stick to it, but expect to break it . It is real, real, easy to go overboard. Don't be afraid to change your mind. Shop for good, used parts to keep you on budget.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

To add to what 'put said get a build book and write your plan in. When you are done see how close you were to the plan.

Keep a photo record as well as all receipts. You never know when it will come in handy especially and if some time in the future you sell it the new owner will have a good idea of what has been done.

Lee

[bikesndbugs]

I should probably start saving more things from mine im just going at it and buys what i need at the time

[jps1145]

Save your money and spend it on the best parts you can get rather then cheap knock off parts. You'll end up replacing them anyway.

[CentralWAbaja]

Ha! I have not even had mine running long enough to give advise.

[Leatherneck]

On construction, what tube would you suggest? Different Tube thickness for different areas, not talking Tig, just Mig in this case.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

What kind of riding. type of buggy/Baja, power and where?

[Leatherneck]

Hard, Baja, Not VW lol in the back off road of course.

[no1clyde]

I built my Baja using 1 1/2" CREW for most of it. .120 wall for the main hoops and suspension mounts and .095 for the bracing and bumpers. I think one of the biggest things one can do is to research as much as you can about what you want do and try to understand a car is a package deal and things need to work with each other. Also there will be frustrations and successes along the way and if something is not right to you don't be afraid to scrap that and redo it before it become a permanent part of your car.

Ed

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Hard, Baja, Not VW lol in the back off road of course.

I think that used railroad track is available but you have to know the weight of track you want first.

If you are going to play hard then I would recommend DOM as you probably don't want the flex of seamed tubing.

[Leatherneck]

Good info Ed and Lee, no railroad track buggies in the future.

[dustymojave]

Ya know...ERW gets dissed a huge amount these days. But if I were in charge of SCORE rules writing, as my dad was 2 Chiefs of Tech ago, 4130 is the material I would have banned for use in race roll cages, like NASCAR has long done. DOM is my favorite material for offroad chassis and cage work. But I have NO problem with building an offroad play or race car with ERW tubing. I won an offroad race championship with a car made of CREW tube and beat a bunch of racers made of 4130. My car is still around 40 years after I ordered the frame. Not too many 4130 cars built at the same time are still around. My car got endoed when flat out pedal to the metal in high gear. The chassis got a 1.5" twist from the beam to the dash bar. So I parked it a while. Then my buddy talked me into using it to play. The 1st time back out in the desert and the frame came back straight. A far lesser mid-2nd gear crash with a Funco 1600 buggy of a customer of mine needed an entire new cage and some tubes in the main frame replaced as well due to cracking.

I've been a race car Tech Inspector since 1963. I've had duty of crash inspector to check race cars after crashes to investigate for failures. I've spent decades making a living building race cars, from Baja 1000 class winning buggies and trucks, to 800hp Super Modifieds, to post-World War 2 Indy cars, to a Championship winning Trans Am (tube frame/composite body, fabricated suspension) race car, to GT350s and Trans Am champion Mustang and Javelin racers with a roll cage built inside the factory uni-body. In all that experience, I've never yet encountered a race car roll cage or frame made of seamed ERW tubing that has failed along the seam.

So phrases like "the flex of seamed tubing" bug me.

[jg210302]

Where is the best place in So Cal to buy tube? I am thinking DOM 1.750" x .095" for all of the main structures... BITD says that is good for up to 3000lbs?

[fl_buggy]

My advice is not to shoot for the moon on your first build. I get it, we all get excited watching our "heroes" blast through anything at 100mph, but remember, this isn't THEIR first rodeo, so you shouldn't try to match them on your first attempt.

When I was planning my first woods buggy build years ago, my dad tried like hell to get me to buy a bender and build a frame from scratch. I held firm, bought a berrien knock-down kit and went from there. My reasoning is, a simple, kit built car got me into the woods where I was riding, having a blast, but more importantly learning. It got me around those with much more experience than me, where I was able to glean from them what works and doesn't work. I thought this was very valuable because now I know what I want and don't want in my next build. And guess what, what I want is DRASTICALLY different than what I thought I wanted at first.

Also, when building your car, stop, look, think. Every piece, analyze if there's a better place for it, how hard will it be to remove and replace that part in the middle of nowhere, etc. It took me a long time to build my first car, but I have to admit, it worked VERY well in the woods, and never left me stranded.