Free plans for a single seater buggy

[sportiva]

Paolo from Italy mad a nice looking single seater buggy with all around A-arm susspension! Here is the link [url=http://www.buggywonderland.it/paolo.htm:i6j4ew1s]http://www.buggywonderland.it/paolo.htm[/url:i6j4ew1s] CAD plans for the frame are avaiable free 2 download in PDF format



I would like to konw the opinion on the frame from the more expoerinced fabricators/builders.

[bdkw1]

It's sitting to low to the ground and the front spindle geometry could really use some help. It looks like a decent starting point though, with a little research you should be able to work around it's shortcomings.

[tenaja]

It's not too different from a Piranha...you'd probably get a better buggy by spending a few dollars on plans.

[minibajaman]

Definitley not enough ground clearance for real off-road use, but would work ok for dirt tracks/roads. *Also the roll cage should be round tubing instead of square.

[boilermaker]

I bet it's a lot of fun to drive/ race on roads or track as it is obviously designed for and as anyone can tell not dirt/sand.

[Kludge]

Hi sportiva,

I looked at the web site.

If you are going for off-road capability, I don't think the design looks that good. It appears to rely on the square tube instead of triangulation in a number of areas.

Either better frame design in terms of triangulation will be needed or you will need *thick wall tube to be rigid and strong enough for off-road, but would make it excessively heavy.

/Frank

[sportiva]

I'm starting my first build and don't have access to a tube bender or tube notcher. I think the square tubes would be easier to work with than round tubes. In my country there isn't a suplyer of go kart/buggy parts so I intend to use uprigts, spindles, brakes wheels and other bits from donor cars like FIAT or VW.
The buggy is not going to do heavy off road. Paolo's buggy uses hight adjustment a-arms. Is that a clever idea?

[Gene]

Sportiva,
Welcome to the site.

I looked through Paolo's build and it is interesting. Square tubing will work if you don't have a bender or notcher but the comments made by other members have real merit.

We have a saying here about aging women - nice from afar but far from nice. It is used in a somewhat derogatory manner to shield yourself after alerting your friends that a pretty woman you called their attention to turns out to be somewhat shapely but post menstrual with requisite mustache.

So for some members that's the way it is with Paolo's build. When you get very close to see detail it reveals itself.

The driver's compartment is very small and will not afford much protection in a rollover. The driver's head needs about 5 inches clearance to the top rails. The roll cage is too narrow. The frame should have sme triangulated members to create strength. Some of the welding and tabbing appears weak.

We understand that you will use automobile parts to create your build and we see that Paolo did as well. From my view the idea of adjustible shock mounts on the lower arms is interesting but the way it has been done looks poor. I doubt that there is a driving condition for each mounting option. Really he had no idea where to mount the shock for best performance so he made a lot of mounting locations for experimentation.

So it is clever but only slightly. One reason is that if he chooses to change height by moving the lower shock mount toward the center of the car he must also change spring rates and shock valving to make it work. Based on the shock selection (an automotive strut) I don't think many height changes are made.

I'm sure that a car similar to that could be built with safety improvements and some refinement. There are many builders who would be pleased with Paolo's car as their first attempt. Perhaps yours will be a bit better than his!

Happy New Year!

[sportiva]

Originally Posted by Gene\";p=\&quot

I looked through Paolo's build and it is interesting. Square tubing will work if you don't have a bender or notcher but the comments made by other members have real merit.

That's why I'm here. I need your knowledge

We have a saying here about aging women - nice from afar but far from nice. It is used in a somewhat derogatory manner to shield yourself after alerting your friends that a pretty woman you called their attention to turns out to be somewhat shapely but post menstrual with requisite mustache.

LOL

So for some members that's the way it is with Paolo's build. When you get very close to see detail it reveals itself.

The driver's compartment is very small and will not afford much protection in a rollover. The driver's head needs about 5 inches clearance to the top rails. The roll cage is too narrow. The frame should have sme triangulated members to create strength. Some of the welding and tabbing appears weak.

It seams that I'm only going to use Paolo's drawing just like inspiration and design my own frame. Just recently I started to experiment with Solidworks so designin a new frame won't be a huge problem.

We understand that you will use automobile parts to create your build and we see that Paolo did as well. From my view the idea of adjustible shock mounts on the lower arms is interesting but the way it has been done looks poor. I doubt that there is a driving condition for each mounting option. Really he had no idea where to mount the shock for best performance so he made a lot of mounting locations for experimentation. So it is clever but only slightly. One reason is that if he chooses to change height by moving the lower shock mount toward the center of the car he must also change spring rates and shock valving to make it work. Based on the shock selection (an automotive strut) I don't think many height changes are made.

Automotive parts are the only way to go for me as I can source themn localy and don't have enought money to order from foreign suplyeres.
Nice point on the Paolo's suspension issuses. What about the [url=http://www.sadik.net/gokart/a-arm.html:1hfr3nzm]Sadik a-arms[/url:1hfr3nzm] setup?

I'm sure that a car similar to that could be built with safety improvements and some refinement. There are many builders who would be pleased with Paolo's car as their first attempt. Perhaps yours will be a bit better than his!

Happy New Year!

With the help from you guys it will be a much easier job *[smilie=ext_beer2.gif]

[Bugpac]

there is no real way to have height adjustment a arms and utilize the same shock, one way or another the car is going to bottom out really hard....the only way to adjust ride height not being in spring rate and air shock pressure is to have the shock movable on the top and bottom, and then it would still take a genius to get it worked out properly....