I'm posting this here because it's made up of mostly leftover Jeep parts and it says "Non Hardcore" right at the top of this page, so all of you :rainbow:HARDCORE:rainbow: tuff guys out there can't rip on me... :flipoff2:

Anyway, I figured I'd post some pictures of my XS-650 Yamaha-powered buggy since I pretty much finished it up this fall. Not really a rock crawler per se (open diffs; limited suspension travel), but...

http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=lWwD9%2Bup3wEqmcfKOy4NrQ%3D%3D

Built from an '81 Yamaha XS650 engine (inline twin-maybe 50 HP), narrowed Jeep axles, re-engineered Jeep suspension, Jeep x-over steering and a Jeep transfer case. The reversing gearbox is out of some sorta Chinese buggy (found it on the internet) The steering box is a manual unit out of an old C-10 Chevy and the brake master cylinder/booster is out of a Dodge Dakota. Tires and rims were also pretty much junk that was laying around. Other'n that stuff I fabbed everything myself.

I use it to plow my driveway and I’ve got a little trailer for it that I use to haul firewood. It’s small enough that it’ll go pretty much anywhere in the woods without a road and it’ll plow a foot of snow no problem as long as you’re deflecting it off to one side with the plow.

Not sure what it weighs, but a big guy (me) can pick up either end of it clear off the ground with a full tank of gas so i doubt it's much over 1500 lbs.

The axles/transfer case I had laying around from when I upgraded my Heep to 3/4-ton running gear/V8 a few years ago. I’ve maybe got $1700 into it otherwise.


Peace,
Jake

Hmmm, that pretty cool man. Needs bigger and better tires though.:D

Im sure it gets down in 4wd....but how fast can ya get it?

Hmmm, that pretty cool man. Needs bigger and better tires though.:D

Im sure it gets down in 4wd....but how fast can ya get it?

You know, I've never really tried. It should (theoretically) be good for around 65 MPH in 2-HI according to gearing, but I didn't make it to the ripe old age of 36 by exploring the speed limitations of under-engineered, expirimental, off-road vehicles so it may remain a mystery...

I've had it up to 30+ and that's plenty fast for what it is.

Unlike a lot of motorcycle engines, the engine makes all of its torque down low, so that worked out pretty well. It's almost like Yamaha had tractors in mind when they designed her...


Jake

Someone attach the picture using the red star. i am getting WEBSENSED here at work so i can't go to tinypic and would love to see this thing

Someone attach the picture using the red star. i am getting WEBSENSED here at work so i can't go to tinypic and would love to see this thing

Can you see if I hotlink to em? Here's a few:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2uhs64l.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/339sq5l.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/5vwxsk.jpg


Jake

little Mad Max rig....haha.

Thanks alot man. It looks pretty sweet. How bout some flexin shots:)

...Or close up driveline shots...Maybe a build thread in chit chat:)

I guess just add to this to keep it all in one spot

2 thumbs up from me. At least you get some fun from your leftovers

slap on some baby boggers and take it to the mudbogg..

I have a marine engine that I would like to do that with.....225hp 4 cylinder all aluminum, use a gm transaxle positioned lenghtwise for the shifting and trasfercase and keep it fulltime 4x4....Tim

Thanks alot man. It looks pretty sweet. How bout some flexin shots:)

...Or close up driveline shots...Maybe a build thread in chit chat:)

I guess just add to this to keep it all in one spot

It's not really much of a flexer... I removed two leaves from the stock wrangler springs and that's enough to keep the tires in contact with the ground over most terrain, but it's still a bit over-sprung and with open diffs and whatnot it's not difficult to get it crossed up and spinning diagonally opposed tires. I've had it out on 4-wheeler/dirtbike paths in the woods behind my place and it does well enough on those, but it really is more farm implement than recreational vehicle.

I don't really have any good close-ups of the drivetrain, but I uploaded the unfinished pics I had to Tinypic..you can kinda see what's going on in these:

http://i39.tinypic.com/2ijlnrs.jpg

The engine drives the reversing box via a chain. The reversing box also gears it down a bit (maybe 2:1). It has a jackshaft that goes right through it that was meant to be connected to each driveshaft in an IRS rear-drive buggy. I just had a machinst buddy make me an adaptor to mate it to that beefy, badass NP207.

http://i43.tinypic.com/sc6w7r.jpg

When I first was shaking it down after I first built it, I left the tank and pipes like that so I didn't have to deal with fueling/exhaust issues while I figured out everything else. It ran fine, but looked quite comical and the transverse boat headers made it really hard to see where the hell you were going:

http://i37.tinypic.com/x3q5e.jpg

I eventually finished the exhaust by welding up a header/collector using the stock downpipes and some miscellaneous exhaust bits which I then plumbed back to a cheap exhaust can I got down at the local Fleet/Farm supply:

http://i40.tinypic.com/21kb1ud.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/24e3x9c.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2m4vwc9.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2mqizbb.jpg

And I used a low-pressure fuel pump and lots of experimentation to figure out a fuel delivery/bypass system that would deliver fuel to the carbs without overwhelming the float valves and flooding out the engine:

http://i43.tinypic.com/rknh38.jpg

You can't see the pump (it's under the tank) but it basically just pumps fuel in a loop with just enough extra pressure to get it up to where it fills that clear fuel filter and the carbs take whatever they need. I put the return line bulkhead fitting on the cap because I didn't want to drill on the tank and blow up. I was able to just remove the cap, install the bulkhead/barb fitting in the cap and then re-install the cap. It works pretty slick.

Sorry, no action shots and we're sitting under about a foot of snow right now so I couldn't take any even if I wanted to... Maybe I'll get the wife to take a picture of me plowing the driveway with it tomorrow since we're supposed to get another 5 inches of the white stuff today...


Later,
Jake

If you're a bigger guy, can you get it to wheelie on dry pavement? Looks like a lot of fun

Interested in the reversing box.

If you're a bigger guy, can you get it to wheelie on dry pavement? Looks like a lot of fun

Oh yeah... It'll wheelie if you pop the clutch, but I don't like to do so because of the stress I'm likely putting on the motorcycle clutch and that light-duty Chinese reversing box. Here's what I used for reverse:

http://store.awesomebuggy.com/titanreversegearbox.aspx

I only paid like $220 for mine when I bought it a year ago from the same outfit (WITHOUT a core)... I can't believe the price has gone up by about 50% since then! :eek:


Jake

That's cool :smokin: I like it.

I have been thinking of building a buggy like that for my kids. Same way of thinking with spare parts (dana30 & 35)231 t case and maybe a lawnmower eng. My question is would you do it differant or you like that way.

Cool idea. I'd wheel it. I agree with one of the above posters but some boggers on and see what it will do in the mud.

I have been thinking of building a buggy like that for my kids. Same way of thinking with spare parts (dana30 & 35)231 t case and maybe a lawnmower eng. My question is would you do it differant or you like that way.

It works pretty well for what it is, but other than it's narrow track and light weight, it really isn't much more capable than a stock heep.

It's funny you should mention using a lawnmower engine...most of the bits of the buggy were originally built into a 4WD bar stool racer:

http://i42.tinypic.com/11gk0pj.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/1oab6r.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/fx8ba.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2d6tlu.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/mm1km.jpg

I used a new, 5.5 HP Briggs and Stratton Horizontal Engine (not quite a lawnmower engine, but close enough) along with a heavy duty centrigugal clutch and a seriously huge sprocket on the front of the NP207. No suspension. No rear driveshaft. No reverse. Just a 4WD transaxle bolted to a frame powered by a rototiller engine... It worked O.K., but it didn't really have the power or wheel travel to go off road and not having reverse just sucked. It was too easy to get cross-centered. That was why I originally narowed the axles--because it was originally much shorter and the front pumpkins had to fit between the frame rails. If I would've been building an actual off road rig, from the start, I would've just left them alone. I also tried to make a belt-driven reversing system that acted on the front driveshaft, but that never panned out. (That's why there's a belt pulley in the middle of the front driveshaft.)

When I built it into the buggy, I had to lengthen the frame so the suspension and rear driveshaft would fit and I added the motorcycle engine, power brakes, reversing box, etc.

And to all of you guys telling me to put boggers on it an mud it: it really doesn't have the power to turn the tires fast enough to clear the lugs. And, IMHO, putting bigger tires on there would probably start to break stuff.

Jake