Sweet82

Re-Bump! Updates...? Inquiring minds want to know.

There's a number of Buggies out there. http://www.ulitimatesubaru.org/gallery/member/494-sweet82/ This is a just an 82 GL with a different body.

I installed two park brakes. One goes to each front wheel. Whichever one is in the air...gets the brake. The welded diff is the real ticket.

Bump! Think of this as motivation to get back into Finish Mode!

So... Updates?

Snow is down to 26-28 inches now. On a good cold morning I could probably get Summer out over the top of the crust. Maybe. As Winter drifts away Summer will come out to Play! Still looking for some update pics...

I did most of the work on Summer over the Winter? Just had the welder and a space heater to keep me warm. Lets have a winter progress report! (Summer is doing well but in a garage surrounded by a little over 3 feet of snow) I need to adapt a plow! Or pack some snowmobile tracks?

The Stalker and the bandit are the same basic frames/plans. There are only minor differences in the top side & rear end designs. I dropped the front of my hood by 9" from that the plans called for. Why have the hood and fenders blocking your view? I also minimized anything that goes farther forward than the radiator. I wanted a good angle of approach. Us a Chevrolet S10 rear seat as it fits nicely. It will include integrated seat belts. Design in some head room for the rear passengers. They will be sitting slightly higher than the front passengers. After talking with other rock crawlers and asking them what they would do different. No one put in a heater. Everyone wished they had. I transferred the heater core to the buggy. Even in an open air buggy it make a difference on snowmobile trails.

Did you get RhinoBuggy plans? I stretched the Bandit plans to make it a 4 seater. Easy to do! There are some issues with the plans. I uploaded some pics that show a brace behind the front wheel that will need to be moved to the rear. Your front wheels will hit this brace if you build it to factory specs. Converting the plans from right hand drive to left hand drive is not as straight forward as you would think. I also lowered the gas tank from what Rhino called for. No reason to have it up high where they put it. Lower center of gravity, still well protected, gives room to haul gear or people in the back of the buggy. I'll text you over the weekend.

There are a few Subaru board members here! Good to have another.

And the best part is its coming from a car that's 25 years old:banana:!!!

I just turned on Mad Max's blower this weekend. Got showered with grass and bits of weeds seeds and sticks. Took about 15 minutes to blow it all out. I hate mice...

...so what did you decide to do? Have you checked the wheel well clearance? My Pugs will rub a bit on my GL with a 27" tire.

For what it's worth... About the last thing I'd do is run those on the road at 60 mph. They are not a highway tire and not street legal and never designed to do that. I've run my tires to about 30 mph on the road. That's plenty fast for that type of setup. I have DOT truck tires with DOT rims for any real highway use. My .02

Like GD said, What's wrong with pulling an axle for your commute and when you go wheeling, pop it back in? I'd suspect, you'd be able to insert/remove an axle in 5 minutes or less?

Been there done that! My Buggy is a modified version of the two pics above. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/album.php?albumid=54 Subarus make a great starting point for buggies!

Has anyone found out what they would cost? Off road, slow speeds they may work fine? No doubt they are not DOT approved.

Last months snowmobiling pics. Around 8,000ft on Uinta National Forest Snowmo trail. Basically stock 1982 Subaru GL Hatch. Modifications; Light bodywork done. Non-factory wheels rims. Stays on top of the snow well!

I don't do sand only...I throw in a little dirt and snow too. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/album.php?albumid=54 It's possible to run a Subie on ATV tires.

Check to see if your CV is 180 out of alignment? I've used nails as roll pins on non-daily drivers. It's fairly easy to pull the CV's I've had them out of the rear in 5 minutes. You can do it with out a jack. Good luck, Glenn

I have a wind noise too. It's the side view mirror area. Sounds like it's a problem for everyone.

I have an 01 Forester. During the last few weeks it has been extremely cold. (7 degrees.) Every time I start the car I get a loud squeal from the belts. It goes away with in 45 seconds or so and does not return while driving. Is this a cold deal or is this a loose belt deal or is this an alternator bearing giving me warning? No the belt has never been replaced. I have 89k on the car. Now it's warmer out, it's squealing much less (5 seconds). I have not noticed any electrical issues. What do you think?

Been there done that! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/album.php?u=584 It's RhinoBuggy from AZ. I stretched my plans to make it a 4 seater. I'm using a 26X12X12 tire. I used the plans more as "guidelines".

I use both. I have the factory one plus I'm using the AC fan off another Subie as a backup fan. The AC fan fits because it's Subaru. All the holes are in the right place. The wiring harness is already there. I use a switch to turn it on & off. Go get a junkyard Subie AC fan and install it on the other side or the rad.

...waiting (impatiently) for trip report Personally I'd pass on Subies in sand esp. with no low range. Sand is just hard on everything. I've had my Subie on sand--back when it was a hatchback. It did ok but it's not a sand rail. Sand eats power! ...waiting...