750 virago buggy

[pvanheck]

The front and rear suspension are equal lenght A arms with the front upper pickup point stagered in 1 inch to compensate for the Yamaha yzf450 steering nuckles, spindles, hubs, and brakes the frontend has 5 degrees of caster, 1.5 degrees camber and 1/8 inch toe in. I used a 8" mini rack an pinion drilled out for 3/8 rod ends and a 10" steering wheel. It has 7/8 turn lock to lock and feels really comfortable to drive. The steering recenters itself quite naturally when you come out of a corner. The rear suspension is quite simple with tubular arms with bronze bushing ang grease fittings. the rear has 8" of travel and the front has 11". My thought has always been "keep it simple and stick to what works", I hope this helps you.

[fl250driver]

have u ever rolled it?
i am thinking of building a buggy but do not want to have to buy a bender and a nocher.
does the rectangular tubing hold up well?

[greasemnky]

ask jay, he'll tell you square tube holds up real nice, as long as your not doing an 80mph roll. He put his over at the dunes, and it held really well. If you brace it correctly, square tube works fine for a recreation buggy. Heck, you may want to check out jays build to see what you could do with your 250. He started with a similar chasis, and turned it into a full suspension buggy with a sled motor, for under a grand.

[voodoochikin04]

what cv axles are you using? im assuming the ones that go with the subi rear? what rear hubs are those that fit subbi cv's? you used bronze bushings on your rear arms, what tubing did you use for those bushings? bushing stock? thanks

[pvanheck]

This is the second buggie that I have built out of square tubing .120 wall 1"x1". The last buggie was tortured by a group of teenagers (my two sons and there friends, 15yrs thru 19 yrs old) they could never tear it up, and it was a two seater. The chassis is well triangulated and gusseted. We live in the foothills and mountains of South Carolina so it is mostly wooded trails and pastures no dune jumping in upstate SC.

[pvanheck]

The half shafts are the ones from the Subaru rearend they have been shortened 4". The bearings are driveshaft carrier bearings from a 1 ton chevy daullie and I made the bearings housings out of aluminum on my mill. The hubs are from a Kawasaki Mojave and the spline is exactly the same as the Subaru half shafts.

[voodoochikin04]

so on the end of your cv's where you have the drive shaft bearings, is there only one bearing? and how do you ensure it stays straight? is it a straight edge bearing, and you milled the block so that the bearing fits perfectly and has no room to pivot around? (not nit picking, just trying to get a better understanding of what ya did )

[pvanheck]

The carrier bearing is 1/2" wide and 3" in diameter at the out side race and 1" wide by 1.400" at inside race. I sandwiched it between the steel a-arm end plate and the aluminum bearing holder which is machined .002 smaller, heated the aluminum and cooled the bearing and brought together in those states and allowed them to seize together at room temp, it is quite permanent and works very well. There is no play at the 25" tall tires side to side or up and down. I have included a picture to show how it works.

[voodoochikin04]

ok awesome, thats the explanation i was looking for.. now to the questions left un answered.. the ushing tubes on your a-arms. what tube did you use and what bushings?

[pvanheck]

The tubing is 1" round with a .120 wall thickness and my local hardware store sells bronze bushings that are .75" od and .5" id and have a 1" flange on the end, they are oil inpregnated and cost about $3 apiece. I found a picture which shows them, look in the lower right on the bench and you will see one with a couple on nuts. There is also one installed in the end of the lower front controll arm in the same pic.