Hulse Engineering Shop Thread

[Richard Hulse]

Had a few customers remind me that not everyone is on social media and those that aren’t might want to check out some of the builds that are going on in the Hulse Engineering shop. I’ll try to check in on here from time to time and share some of my personal and customer cars.

Here’s a roller that went out to a customer at the beginning of the year. Hulse Engineering 3 Seat Trail Chassis, Spider 9/JHF Portals, 16” King 2.5 Air Shocks, 42” BFG’s

 

[Richard Hulse]

3 Seat Trail chassis fully welded out for a customer. This one got link tabs, shock tabs, winch mount, and fuel cell

 

[Richard Hulse]

Customer built car. I supplied Matt with a welded and tabbed out chassis and he built this amazing car in just a few months and has been wheeling it multiple days week all year long in Sand Hollow.

This is the 3 Seat Trail chassis, 8” JHF Portals, 3.9/700r4/d300, 16” ADS Air Shocks, 42” BFG’s

Matt kills it in this car, check him out on IG @__matty.j__

 

[Boomtacoma01]

You and your shop are turning out some amazing Chassis and accessories.

 

[Richard Hulse]

Another customer built car. Jeremy purchased a DIY 2 Seat Trail Chassis kit and some DIY tab kits and built this sick car. He’s on this forum and can chime in with some specs and more pics.

 

[Richard Hulse]

Some insight into how much work is put into designing these chassis in CAD, having full Jigs designed and built, and how each chassis is fixtured and assembled, then pulled off the jig and fully welded out. The nice thing about having these all CNC cut, bent, and etched with part numbers and tube junction outlines is that even without a jig they are incredibly easy to assemble like legos with just a flat surface to build off of and stay square and true. These pics are of the v1 chassis which had the longer (uglier, lol) nose, they all have the shorter much sleeker nose now.

 

[Richard Hulse]

Laser cut and CNC bent panels, makes life so much easier when you smash a body panel and a fresh one is just a click away

 

[Firstram]

WOW

 

[Richard Hulse]

I got tired of the PSC clamps for the 3” rams that are way too tall and have no positive stops for side to side movement along with relying on just the shear strength of the long mounting bolts to hold the ram on.

I designed these clamps that lower the ram 7/8” lower than the PSC clamps, have integrated stops for side to side movement to remove all shear stress off the clamps, and have steel bases so the can be directly welded to your truss or frenched into the housing for maximum clearance. They also use 1/2” studs and ARP 12pt nuts instead of cheaper bolts.

 

[Richard Hulse]

Ram mount/truss/skid I designed for Trail Gear 9” housings and JHF Portals. Designed to use my 3” slammed ram clamps for maximum clearance and to tuck the ram as close to the housing as possible.

 

[snivilous]

I was wondering if Matty chassis was one of yours! One of the best looking buggies out there imo. I also like your weld on ram mounts, always thought bolting the clamps on was a stupid idea.

Did you make your chassis table or is it a lot from somewhere?

 

[Offroadman83]

Such sweet chassis!!

 

[RTH]

stoked to see this thread. hopefully i can own of your chassis someday. keep up the good work!

 

[2big bronco]

That roller... above or below 40?

 

[KB6Chris]

I've been following your pages for a month or two now, really like the chassis. I'm looking at trying my hand at a tube car soon and have been eying your 2 seater XL chassis. Are there any pictures of one finished floating around?

 

[Richard Hulse]

I was wondering if Matty chassis was one of yours! One of the best looking buggies out there imo. I also like your weld on ram mounts, always thought bolting the clamps on was a stupid idea.

Did you make your chassis table or is it a lot from somewhere?

Chassis table is a 36x96 Fab Block from Weld Tables, I just make my own legs so I can set the table height at 20" which is belly ride height.

That roller... above or below 40?

I'm not a vendor so I won't be posting any pricing, just wanting to share cool stuff.

I've been following your pages for a month or two now, really like the chassis. I'm looking at trying my hand at a tube car soon and have been eying your 2 seater XL chassis. Are there any pictures of one finished floating around?

There's no XL chassis finished yet, that chassis was only released a couple months ago so there hasn't been enough time for anyone to get one completely done. I do know there are some getting fairly close though.

 

[06h3]

Absolutely beautiful chassis's. Thanks for posting here. How tall can you be to fit in a regular one before needing an XL one?

 

[chaplinfj60]

more to add to that question. can the uprights be extended for taller peeps? or wider and if so how much?

 

[Richard Hulse]

Absolutely beautiful chassis's. Thanks for posting here. How tall can you be to fit in a regular one before needing an XL one?

The smaller Trail chassis is designed to run passenger drop, that way you can slam the driver seat only 3.5" off the skid, this still allows plenty of room for someone in the 6' range (although everyone's torso and leg lengths are different, I have customers that are 6'2" that have shorter torso than customers under 6' but super long legs). The passenger seat will have to sit a little higher though due to the tcase.

The XL chassis has a 2" deeper subframe, 2" taller roof, 2" cockpit stretch, and 2" engine compartment stretch. The door bars from the wing window bar to the b-pillar are also bumped out 2" on each side for a little extra elbow room while still keeping the a-pillar and rockers narrow for performance. This allows someone in the 6'-6'2" range to run driver drop with adequate head room or for taller people to run passenger drop and drop the driver seat lower for extra headroom.

 

[UTAuzzy]

Some insight into how much work is put into designing these chassis in CAD, having full Jigs designed and built, and how each chassis is fixtured and assembled, then pulled off the jig and fully welded out. The nice thing about having these all CNC cut, bent, and etched with part numbers and tube junction outlines is that even without a jig they are incredibly easy to assemble like legos with just a flat surface to build off of and stay square and true. These pics are of the v1 chassis which had the longer (uglier, lol) nose, they all have the shorter much sleeker nose now.

MMMM that jig setup is gorgeous, damn fine work!

 

[Richard Hulse]

more to add to that question. can the uprights be extended for taller peeps? or wider and if so how much?

check the post above with specs on the XL version of the Trail chassis that is taller and wider

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

When your doing the cad work, do you finish out the buggy assembly with a drivetrain, seats, etc..., or just leave it at the tube and panel stage?

 

[YJ4Rox]

I love my 2 seat trail chassis. Its working well here in the sloppy east even without water in the tires.
To anyone considering a DIY set up, I can say its extremely well laid out and easy to fit up. I work at a large fab shop so I see a lot of good and bad.
IMO Richard's DIY kit is 100% top notch.

Now i just need to save up for Rear steer oh and move out west.

 

[chaplinfj60]

i saw that after i posted hahahahaha

 

[YJ4Rox]

i saw that after i posted hahahahaha

How tall?

I am right at 6ft and did not get the XL. Its cozy but comfortable on the trail all day.

 

[Mike Honcho]

DIY tab kits.

I am interested in this kit. I don't see it on your site. Can't you post more details or shoot me a PM. Thanks!

 

[Grendel]

Thanks for Vendoring up.

Gorgeous stuff.

 

[chaplinfj60]

How tall?

I am right at 6ft and did not get the XL. Its cozy but comfortable on the trail all day.

i am short. buddy is tall, how tall no clue everyone is a giant to me. but i would say 6'3" area

 

[Richard Hulse]

When you’re doing the cad work, do you finish out the buggy assembly with a drivetrain, seats, etc..., or just leave it at the tube and panel stage?

It’s not 100% completed in CAD, but all drivetrain and seats and critical components are verified for clearances.

 

[chaplinfj60]

how small is the rad that works with the LS, or do most do a rear RAD.