My Own Buggy Build

jpmassey · Nov 26, 2006

I've been working on my buggy design for, well, a long time.
Finally got around to starting it.

What I've collected so far:
97' 350 Vortec w/ 4L80E, painless wiring harness, other parts from the truck
2 Front Rockwell 2.5 ton axles
Random electro-hydraulic valves and electronics to run them
8 1" heims from ebay that don't look too quality...
A pile of tube for a chassis

Will get:
NP205 (a couple leads right now)
Probably 47 LTBs
Coilovers
More heims, and link tubes

So far, I've got the rockwells dissambled, soon to replace a few missing bearings, new boots, etc.

Bought government surplus, somebody had robbed the hub bearings:

Cut the bottom off:

Redrilled the holes for the rear rock:

jpmassey · Nov 26, 2006

After hundreds of hours of solidworks time to get the profiles right, a buddy of mine that works at a laser cutting shop cut the tubes for the chassis:

Chassis construction:

Crazy tube intersections seem to come out pretty good:

Where I am currently:

I hope to have the chassis done by the end of the year.

Quan · Nov 26, 2006

looks good, do you have a shot of the chassis design?

jpmassey · Nov 26, 2006

phishs toy · Nov 26, 2006

Looks good . Man laser cut tubes , you are not screwing around . Nice welds to .

XJ_ranger · Nov 26, 2006

no bender?

interesting...

bignissan · Nov 26, 2006

wow! how do they laser cut tubes like that? got a price estimate?

bignissan · Nov 26, 2006

houston huh? who did the laser cutting?

jpmassey · Nov 26, 2006

bignissan said:
wow! how do they laser cut tubes like that? got a price estimate?

A big laser lathe.
No, it was done free for me by a friend. It requires alot of programming (which I did myself), so that would probably be a major cost factor. I don't know if it would be cost-effective for consumers. If you were a big chassis shop turning out a frame every couple days, then it would be an option.

vanguard_anon · Nov 26, 2006

XJ_ranger said:
no bender?

interesting...

I was thinking the same thing. Is he avoiding the cost of a bender or the strength loss of bent tube? I'm not criticizing (I've never built a cage) but I'd like to know about the thought process. What made you go with a bendless design?

jpmassey · Nov 26, 2006

vanguard_anon said:
Is he avoiding the cost of a bender

or the strength loss of bent tube?

Yes, I had enough tools to buy for this build as it was.

Yes, node based is stronger.

And third....I don't have to grind the tubes by hand!

Weasel · Jan 6, 2007

jpmassey said:
Yes, node based is stronger.

How do you figure? Aside from maybe some minimal thinning of the tube I don't think that mitered joints are any stronger. In fact for our SAE baja the safety judges prefer bent members to mitered ones. Also I have no found any information that a conglomeration of tubes into a node is a benefit. Having that many welds concentrated in one area and overlapping doesn't seem like a good idea. Also sprint cars don't run any nodes on their chassis. Just wondering, would be interesting to see a comparative analysis done.

mudtruck44 · Nov 26, 2006

That looks like a really well designed chassis. Nice work.

grtmtbiker · Nov 26, 2006

looks awsome I love the idea of having everything pre cut! One question, what will the strength differences be with this design compaired to a design that uses more continous bent tube?

jpmassey · Nov 27, 2006

I don't have any analysis to back up how much stronger. In normal use, most chassis are alot stronger than they have to be, so probably doesn't matter then. I guess we will find out first time I roll it!

Tolly · Nov 27, 2006

Looking good. I am working on a project right now that is similiar in design (but with bends). We are using 1" heims as well.
Do you have your suspension link brackets done yet?

jpmassey · Nov 27, 2006

Tolly said:
Looking good. I am working on a project right now that is similiar in design (but with bends). We are using 1" heims as well.
Do you have your suspension link brackets done yet?

No, still to be done. I'm still trying to iron out the front suspension geometry so that the center chuck can get as high as possible. I want a higher roll center, its got some sway right now.
Hopefully my buddy will laser cut them too. I'm going to look at a big plasma cutter this week, so I don't have to bother him quite as much.

redcagetoy · Nov 28, 2006

looks like fun! What side of town are you on? I am in the process of building a CJ...

powdr7 · Nov 28, 2006

:grinpimp: :smokin:

Tolly · Nov 28, 2006

Hey, I am Houston right, working. Would love to come look at the rig. Buy ya beer?

SirMrManGuy · Nov 28, 2006

If alot of people like the frame you might be able to make some cash by selling pre cut tubes. Would be nice for some of us without benders.

87JeepWrangler · Nov 28, 2006

awesome. good to see a new approach. i'll definetly be watching this thread.

jpmassey · Nov 28, 2006

Tolly said:
Hey, I am Houston right, working. Would love to come look at the rig. Buy ya beer?

redcagetoy said:
looks like fun! What side of town are you on? I am in the process of building a CJ...

I'm on the west side, come on by whenever yall want.

SirMrManGuy said:
If alot of people like the frame you might be able to make some cash by selling pre cut tubes. Would be nice for some of us without benders.

Yeah, i've thought about that. Just don't know what the cost would be. Like I said, its alot of work to program the machine.

extremetoy · Nov 28, 2006

wow thats crazy. did you say you you spend 100's of hrs doing the laser cutting? very nice work, looking foreward to the rest of the build

Cheepin · Nov 28, 2006

Only other rig I have seen built with no bends was Pat Gremilion's "Tube Shark" I think you can still see it on truckworld.com

AggieTJ2007 · Nov 28, 2006

did you do any destructive welding to make sure that your weld procedures are going to be strong enough?

other than that it looks good i just think that bends are much more asthetically appealing than the square design

jpmassey · Nov 28, 2006

extremetoy said:
wow thats crazy. did you say you you spend 100's of hrs doing the laser cutting? very nice work, looking foreward to the rest of the build

Well it felt like 100s of hours. The big thing was just learning how to do it. It would be easier the second time around.

My Own Buggy Build

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