French Tickler Buggy

[Bebop]

Since I'm new here, I figured it'd be good for me to present my rig.

Called the French Tickler cause I'm french and a female friend dubbed it like that... Go figure...

I'm originally a lightweight crawler guy, samurai enthusiast and even had a campbell moon buggy for a little while. After riding around on the east coast, I decided I wanted more of a bigger trail riding rig. I'm a firm believer that suspension/tires are more important than engine output so I built the buggy accordingly.

Specs are :

Chassis : Bent Fab Evo3R
Engine : 5.3 Vortec
Trans : TH400, RMVB, 2800rpm converter, Ultrabell
Transfer : 3:1 Atlas2
Front axle : 14 bolt, housing built to my specs by Jake Burkey of BKOR, Mark Williams 40sp spool, 4340 40sp shafts and RCV Big Bells, 13 bolt shave, 05+ F250/350 outers with BJE.
Rear axle : 14 bolt, shaved, Detroit locker and 300M 35sp Black Mamba shafts. Will be swapped for a steering axle in the near future
Driveshafts : 1410 all the way
Tires/wheels : Raceline, 43 SXs
Suspension : 2.0 Coilcarriers + 2.5 Triple Bypass Radflo on Riot Trailing Arms + PAC Racing SwayBar
Steering : PSC with XR ram
Misc : Heated seats, Hydroboost, Griffin FRONT Rad, GoatBuilt Fuel cell with stock Silverado pump, Winters shifter, Moroso Accusump, Holley ECU, rear 8274 winch etc…

Tim from Bent Fabrications started on the roller September 2018 and I picked it up from him right before Christmas that year. Him and I and my best friend Donny thrash built the front 14 bolt in a day and a half right before I picked it up. I finished the buggy in my single car garage during 2019.

This was my first big buggy build and I learned a lot during the process.

Some pics during the build :

 

[Blase]

Cool build! can't wait to see more pictures and details.

 

[Bebop]

Are the pics showing ? I'm not sure... I had a hard time putting them on.

 

[No way]

Last pic showing is the tranny. Links are not showing.

 

[No way]

What are the overall measurements on this rig btw? Wheelbase, height, chassis width?

 

[Bebop]

I tried to fix the pics, then fucked it even more... Realized there is a 5 pic limit per post, so I'm posting here and going to ask the mods to move the messages up.

Austin : Could you help me with bringing the next few messages up after my first one ? Thanks

Buddy loaned me a HF press brake so I built the shroud and the interior panels :

 

[Bebop]

Holley EFI and switchPros 9100 for the controls :

Front cooling package going together :

Big bells !

When it was "finished" :

 

[Bebop]

First ride :

Buggy in its element (I love these pictures)

Broke the engine and trans on the last obstacle after a successful 3 day shakedown run. So, out they go :

 

[Bebop]

Quick engine rebuild:

Added some 2.5 AL links from BKOR :

Built a rear winch mount (Tim helped with the badass MIG welds) :

 

[Bebop]

Lil shock and sway bar tuning with Jake from BKOR :

He also helped with some nice CNC plasma cut brackets for the obnoxious, U4 inspired light bar :

And a riding video with the crew :



That catches it up pretty much to today.

Last time out I hit a ledge a lil crooked and landed on the driveshaft. Broke a bunch of shit and it's waiting for some love.

 

[Bebop]

Some build details :

I love TIG welding and practiced a lot during the build (def not my worst ones haha)

I ended up putting all the electronics into a waterproof amo can. It's an old old old throwback from 100dollarman for those who remember. The front 1/4 turn plug hosts all the chassis wiring. The engine wiring goes through the back hole but another quick disconnect plug will be added in the future.

Also I'm pretty sure I was (one of ?) the first people to try to fit some Big Bells in a 05+ SD axle. I've become very familiar with these and was able to work with RCV and Nick Barna of BallJointEliminators (both great companies) to make this happen. I'm a unit bearing / CV shafts / hydroboost guy for life haha

I tried to keep it somewhat short but I could go on and on and on about it.

Everything I know I owe it to the PBB and some good friends who shared their knowledge so I want to do the same.

If you have any question, just ask.​

 

[Bebop]

What are the overall measurements on this rig btw? Wheelbase, height, chassis width?

I tried to fix the pics, let's see what happens.

Wheelbase : 117"
Height : 79" top of B-Pillar (highest point)
Clearance under the belly : 18"
Chassis width : 56" (outside of B-Pillar, widest point)
Width : 93" (outside of tires)
Axle width : 72" (WMS)
Weight : 4450 lbs (full tank of gas)

 

[Rubirunner85]

Nice build man!

 

[Alex123456]

I love these chassis, nice build

 

[Bebop]

Thanks guys !

 

[Bebop]

Back to the top !

Started on the Rear Steer axle.
4" tube 14 bolt with 05+ F250/350 outers.
40sp spool and big bells.

Also replaced the little 3.5" screen that took a shit on me by a 7" with custom layout

 

[ArTi54N]

sweet pics and machine...

 

[Ted]

my best friend Donny

would that be Godevil ? Team flatbillerkiller?
Tellum his futherest nort buddy says hey.

 

[Weasel]

nice to see the rig and the build!

 

[Bebop]

would that be Godevil ? Team flatbillerkiller?
Tellum his futherest nort buddy says hey.

He is not. But he's a good guy and says hi back to ya

Also, middelfangers !

 

[SteerAndStuff]

cool build. thanks for sharing, keep it up.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Bad ass buggy!

Thanks for posting it.

 

[ArTi54N]

maybe its just me, but you were showing a few different buggies in those pics right? i think at least 2.. maybe 4 ???

 

[Bebop]

maybe its just me, but you were showing a few different buggies in those pics right? i think at least 2.. maybe 4 ???

There are pictures of 2 buggies in this thread. The raw metal one is mine, has never been painted.

The black and red one on the picture above is the Shop Buggy from Busted Knuckle Offroad. Jake and Matt are friends and I was lucky to be able to use some of the equipment they have when building my housing. Jake was shock tuning the buggy at time of the pic, hence why the low stance.

Weasel , SteerAndStuff , SLOWPOKE693 : Thanks for the compliments guys. This is my first buggy build but I planned it for about 4 years before being able to make it happen. I have 2 upgrades for it (rear steer and a blower) and then it'll be "done".

 

[ArTi54N]

cool cool

thanx for the pleasant reply :)

 

[DesertCJ]

Nice. How is the steering with the spool in the front? I've always ran Detroit's front and rear, but almost everyone I wheel with has a spooled rear now and say they hardly notice a difference...

 

[Bebop]

It turns amazing.

Better than 99% of my friend’s rigs. I spent a lot of time getting to 50° of turning capability. Hard to do with the 43s and dual shocks.

It is limited to less due to the big bells but coupled with front dig ability, I still love it.

My other friends who turn better have all rear steer. Which is why I’m going this route.

 

[DesertCJ]

Cool. The RCVs are limited to 45 degrees aren't they? I'm steering mine to about 43. What's the wheel base and how did you manage to take out an engine and a transmission on one obstacle...lol?

 

[Bebop]

Cool. The RCVs are limited to 45 degrees aren't they? I'm steering mine to about 43.

Same here.

What's the wheel base

WB was posted earlier in the thread but it's 117".

how did you manage to take out an engine and a transmission on one obstacle...lol?

Legit beatdown bouncing between 3rd and 2nd when the poor thing couldn't stay above 5000rpm. At some point 3rd didn't work anymore so I stayed in 2nd at the rev limiter for about 30 seconds more.

I actually made it up the obstacle, but when I crested it, the engine was knocking and the trans wouldn't pull.

It shat a rod bearing (#7, for some reason LS's like fucking this one up) and the direct drive clutches completely de-laminated themselves sending bits and pieces of friction in the converter, which in turn clogged the filter and the rest is history.

I had a good friend of mine overkill build the trans (36 element sprag and the works). The 5.3 crank went in the lathe, used some emery cloth to make the surfaces cleanish again and slapped it back together with some less bad bearings I had laying around. I reused headgaskets, TTY fasteners and everything else ALA Sloppy. I do not give a single shit about this engine and the worst it could do would be shitting its rods though my expensive ass MAST oil pan, which would make me mad. I'm planning to boost it at some point soooo that may happen

Edit : I changed the oil pump too and cleaned the pick up for at least 30 seconds, I'm not a monster.

 

[DesertCJ]

What year is your 5.3? My DD is a '10 Silverado and it ate a cam and a few lifters. The AFM as well as the oiling system royally sucks on those engines. The pre '07s don't have the afm but from what I can tell the oil system just bypasses the filter if it gets too clogged. The stock filters are pathetic like the same size as my riding loan mower:rolleyes: I use a PF63E now which is quite a bit taller/ more filter element. I also installed a Melling high volume/high pressure oil pump. Not saying any of that is what caused your problem, just fyi if you didn't know.