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Subaru Powered Rockcrawling Buggy

Featured Replies

Specs:

 

- Subaru 2.2 flat-four engine

- Suzuki TH-180 tranny, coupled to a Vitara doubler box, coupled to a Samurai 4.89 t-case

-Dana 44 axles, with Alloy USA shafts, 5.38 gears

- ARB diff lockers

- air shocks

- ride height adjustment via air cylinders

- VW Beetle hood

- full tube chassis

- axle mounted Warn 9.5 xp winch

- 38,5 Super Swampers TSL/SX on beadlocks

 

 

Some pics:

 

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  • Author

CAD drawing of engine to tranny adapter:

 

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Finshed product:

 

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  • Author

Got some paint on the chassi on Saturday:

 

 

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  • Author

Assembly time:

 

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The air cylinder´s not connected at the bottom yet, I need to make an extension for the shaft so that it´s mid-stroke at ride height.

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The drivetrain will be going in next week, I´ll be bugging you guys with some questions to get it running.........

Great looking project! Man I wish I had a shop like that. Sure beats laying plywood down on gravel like I'm doing now! Ah well, one of these days I'll get around to paving it.

 

Will-

  • Author

I measured the crap out of the engine ans tranny to make the drawing....

air cylinders for ride height?that's ************ing sweet............still using two winches?or only one on the front.this is my eventual goal.but am stoked to hear your findings on power.

would be curious as to the weight as well.

 

cheers,i am pretty sure i hate you,no, i like you ...wait yeah, pretty sure i hate you.:grin:(no flip off emoticon):lol:

brian

  • Author

Just the one pulling winch in the front...........

  • Author

Air shocks are nothing more than nitrogen charged gas springs, with shock oil for dampening. They are tricky to set up and tune, but once you get the hang of it, they are really sweet.

 

On this rig, I´ve chosen shocks with 14" travel and have set them up for 5" uptravel and 9" drop, which is good for rockcrawling. If you´re pre running, it´s better to split the travel half and half.

 

The air cylinder is to suck the suspension down to minimize body roll on sidehill obstacles and to reduce the chances of going endo on steep up or down hills. Usually a winch is used for this, just running the cable from the chasis to the axle. However, I decided on air cylinders because of the added benefit of being able to lift the suspension as well, something that a winch can´t do. This will help me get off high-centering rocks with a flick of a valve........:grin:

Very sweet. Love the VW bug look too.

 

I'm just getting into CAD myself, trying to make some little subie upgrades.

 

What type of pipe bender are you using? Got some pretty sweet curves there!

i think that is a prefabbed chassis phizzy.......would be hell to bend until you got a pattern for it.sweet though.cheers, brian

Very sweet. Love the VW bug look too.

 

I'm just getting into CAD myself, trying to make some little subie upgrades.

 

What type of pipe bender are you using? Got some pretty sweet curves there!

 

 

If ya need any assistance with autoCAD let me know. I think cobcob also knows a thing or two about CAD.

  • Author
i think that is a prefabbed chassis phizzy.......would be hell to bend until you got a pattern for it.sweet though.cheers, brian

 

 

Prefabbed my rump roast, it was hand bent one tube at a time on one of these.....

 

img068.jpg

 

The problem is not bending one tube, it´s making the other side exactly symetrical....:grin:

 

You can see the bad boy bender there in the backgound....

 

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  • Author
Very sweet. Love the VW bug look too.

 

I'm just getting into CAD myself, trying to make some little subie upgrades.

 

What type of pipe bender are you using? Got some pretty sweet curves there!

 

 

Like the Beetle look???........:grin::grin:

 

 

 

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Haha, thats so awesome.. So what diameter and thickness tubing is it?

My brother and I built a bender fitment for our 12ton press that does 44 to 48 OD tube. Tired a piece of 38nb with 4mm walls, bend was very nice but was extremely hard on the press and actually broke a 12mm grade 8.8 bolt half way through the process. Then tried a piece with 3.2mm walls and it crinkled a bit. Still haven't gotten around to using the bender for any purpose yet though.

  • Author

The main hoops are 42 mm x 3,25 wall tube, actually 1 1/4" Schedule.

right on then,just saw the tag on the rear of the chassis that said "spyder"........

 

and by hand you mean,the hand on the hydraulic cylinder switch....:lol:kidding...kidding...

 

i like it.i really dig the air cylinder extension idea.good lookin out.cheers, brian

  • Author
right on then,just saw the tag on the rear of the chassis that said "spyder"........

 

and by hand you mean,the hand on the hydraulic cylinder switch....:lol:kidding...kidding...

 

i like it.i really dig the air cylinder extension idea.good lookin out.cheers, brian

 

 

As incredulous as it might sound, my factory coiled Samurai was nicknamed "Spider" in early 1998 by a freind who commented during a trail run that the rig "looked like a spider", never lifting a tire off the ground. The name stuck and I´ve been using it before I had even heard of Spidertrax or Spyder Customs....:)

  • Author
right on then,just saw the tag on the rear of the chassis that said "spyder"........

 

and by hand you mean,the hand on the hydraulic cylinder switch....:lol:kidding...kidding...

 

i like it.i really dig the air cylinder extension idea.good lookin out.cheers, brian

 

 

No hydraulic cylinder switch, hand pumped every bend....

nice.....i could only dream of understanding the math.i'd probably just buy software actually.:lol:......

 

i have been thinking of a "central drive unit" that i was going to call spider.

 

my friends use to call me spider man,some still do.i am currently trying to meld my climbing abilities with a vehicle.hence building monstaru2.

 

nice ************ mang.......cheers, brian

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

I put the other seat and harnesses in, as well as the dash and steering valve, just to see how it´d all look. Nothing´s bolted in permanent yet, I´ll do that after getting the drivetrain installed. The engine and tranny are in there, but I forgot to take pics.........:P

 

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