Portal buggy build #645

[Fl-Krawler]

I've been wanting to start a new thread here for my portal buggy build since this site's inception, but time has just not allowed. The build thread on the other site pretty much left off with the buggy being loaded onto a trailer and getting moved to my new shop


That was almost 2yrs ago. The buggy sat dormant in the corner of the shop with me getting about a day once every 3 months to work on it. When we moved to the new shop, we added a Haas VF3 mill, Daewoo puma ms230 lathe, Bendtech dragon, and 5x10 plasma table to the list of tools available to complete the build. I thought for sure having all the new tools would speed up the process and I would be able to finish this build in no time.

Over the course of last year I redid the front tube work, mounted the hood, cowl and mounted the seats. Nothing really groundbreaking, but forward progress








imgur.com

 

[Fl-Krawler]

So fast forward to last November. I was unhappy with a few small aspects of the chassis, but with the hopes of getting a rig finally finished I kept moving forward with the build.. That was until I had a customer come through the door with cash in hand for the chassis, and that is all it took

Since we had planned to offer a production based chassis, I began working on a few aspects of a new chassis, mainly the fixturing, and how the chassis lays out. I certainly have some newfound respect for guys like goatbuilt, JHF etc. I've gone through probably 6 different styles of fixture, and 4 designs on the chassis, mainly how the main frame rails go together, the windshield to beltline tube intersection, and how the rear portion of the chassis attached to the front. Some of these pics are of the older style and the early fixtures. I wanted to be able to use the same fixture for a 2 seat, 4 seat, and truggy chassis

With the bendtech dragon it is absolutely insane how quickly a chassis will go together . Most of the notches require minimal work. We actually have a lov/hate relationship with the dragon. When it works, its amazing, but up until this past Nov. we were plagued with electronics issues that cost us almost as much in wasted material, as it produced. We hopefully have all tat behind us, but I can say that for the money we spent on it, the components are definitely not industrial grade. Here are some pics of the chassis going together

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Hell ya!

 

[TTMotorsports]

Looks awesome. I've always wanted to get a dragon and bend tech to draw tube stuff much better. Solidworks is good but takes way too long to do tube structures for me.

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Some more pics. When I started this chassis, I stepped up to 2"tube, so I would meet the 4400 class rules, in case I got a wild hair and wanted to run KOH for fun. Chassis is a mixture of .120, .095. and .065wall tube. Final weight on the bare chassis welded out is 580lbs

We are a dealer for Fyberworx, so naturally we would use their glass

That pretty much catches things up to about 3 weeks ago. I have set aside every sunday to work on this till it is done so hopefully this thread will get atleast weekly updates

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Looks awesome. I've always wanted to get a dragon and bend tech to draw tube stuff much better. Solidworks is good but takes way too long to do tube structures for me.

I love the bendtech software. The dragon is love/hate.. There are days it is a $40k paper weight. I also would have expected servo motors and higher quality components like the cable guides and electronics for the money spent. With that said, there is no comparison to anything being hand built when it is running. Since we have had it, my tubing notcher has been used only once in the last 2yrs

 

[TTMotorsports]

Yeah I've heard the same about the dragon. It's a good idea but it has issues. I would hope after making/selling them for this long all issues would've been addressed but I believe it's the same as when it was first done.

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Boat sides vs. no boat sides. Before this build,100% of the chassis I have done, all had boat sides. I've been asked a lot about building a non boat side version and offering it as an option on our chassis kits. I came up with the idea to build all the chassis as non boat side, but then offer a bolt on boatside skid for those who wanted it

This created a clusterfuck of epic proportions, as the already cramped belly area of the buggy was made even worse. After dwelling on it for the last 2-3 months I went back to boatsides

I also got the head and trans mounts in for the drivetrain

 

[gt1guy]

Do I see a air shifted Hero transfer case in those pics?

 

[Provience]

you build cool stuff thanks for posting.

new shop looks way better than the pictures it seems like from years ago

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Do I see a air shifted Hero transfer case in those pics?

Yeah. Not sure if they are staying or not. The really don't like shifting the hero unless the detent balls are removed

you build cool stuff thanks for posting.

new shop looks way better than the pictures it seems like from years ago

Thanks. Its a little better than the old shop behind my house. It comes with a lot of overhead and stress too, but all the fancy tools are definitely spoiling me and the guys in the shop that work for me

 

[Dan]

Yeah. Not sure if they are staying or not. The really don't like shifting the hero unless the detent balls are removed

Does air pressure keep it in gear with no detents? Sounds sketchy, like your can have front and rear outputs in different ranges at the same time.

Looking forward to the build!

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Does air pressure keep it in gear with no detents? Sounds sketchy, like your can have front and rear outputs in different ranges at the same time.

Looking forward to the build!

So far they have but I haven't really put the tcase to use yet

 

[chaplinfj60]

boat sides look cool but either is also cool. again its back and forth.

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Bump for an update..

This build has turned into a total mess. How I had planned to mount the shocks didnt work out as you can see. Trying to package 18" travel shocks and keep them under the hood of a low ride height rig with lots of uptravel is a colossal clusterfuck. Before anyone says a word about buying shorter shocks, let me preface by saying I already own these, and with a new business I have no expendable income to buy different shocks (an 18 sway away measures the same as a 16 fox compressed anyways)

So this is the dilemma I am dealing with

So what came next was a gigantic clusterfuck of me experimenting with different options, cutting tubes etc.

Passenger side under the hood (sucess!) I just have to build a new lower frame rail and I have the CAD done on the new shock tower crossmember.

Since we sell 7075 aluminum links it only made sense to make some for this build. Upper arms will have more of a L shape to them and be fabricated so they will clear the rear seats at full stuff

Hood and cowl mounts are just about done as well

 

[Fl-Krawler]

And now it rolls. I still have to do a little plate work up front and I think I may redo the shock tower to raise the full stuff height by an inch. At full stuff on 45" tires it sits at 69" tall currently. Raising the stuffed height 1" should also prevent me from having to cut the hood for the shock towers to poke up through

 

[Fl-Krawler]

Started mocking up the rear suspension this past weekend. Fitting portals that steer 45* in a 4 seat buggy while keeping the wheelbase and width somewhat reasonable has been a challenge. One huge peeve I have is that I don't like my tires to rub on anything.

Full flex in the rear with the tires straight

Tire to tube work clearance at full stuff with the tire turned all the way

From the back turned the other way. I should have just enough room to clear an antirock sway bar as well

At ride height (77" to the top of the cage). Now that I know where the shocks are gonna sit I'll get the bracketry drawn up and cut this upcoming weekend