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Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:44 am

I am building a buggy with the same frame. I am at the shocks and spring stage and would like a little insight. What shocks are you running. Also what rate springs and valving.

Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:06 pm

dc2480 I`m running fox 10"in front with 250/200 springs rear fox 14"with 250/250 springs If you are planing to run vw engine these # should be pretty close mine with fuel and body I weigh in at 1292# any thing else I can help with just ask oh for valving I had the buggy shop here valve them for me and I didn't ask thanks Ed
I decided to show a pic with body

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:06 am

any updates?

Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:50 pm

What size rear arms are you running? Is the shock mount pretty far back on the arms, near the axle line? I am toying with spring rates for the rear of my rail. I would be curious to know the valving as well.

--Tim

Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:08 pm

TIMMA my trialing arms are 3x3 and my shocks are as far back as possible with out rubbing tire 2 1/2 " dc2483 my front valving is 60/40 250 over 200 springs fox 2.0 shocks :D

Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:49 pm

Cool. How does it ride? Does it take the small stuff like rocks OK? I have found my car takes the bigger "rolling" bumps/whoops OK, but it beats me up with the small "sharp" bumps.
Are those 5/8 shaft shocks up front? Were the rear shocked re-valved? I think 40 compression and 60 rebound is how they come out of the box.

Cool build. I had the exact same frame for awhile. Bought it as a roller, but it was a 20 year old frame that never got finished. Once I put seats in it, my head was too close to the top of the roll cage, so I sold it to help fund the rail I have now.
--Tim

Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:23 am

Yes mine is a little harsh in the rocks on the front but in the whoops and wash board its is a fantastic ride never felt better it could be valved for the rocks but I would suffer in the other like jumping the shafts are 8.75 on the front I be leave and I be leave that the fronts are factory valved. I to have a older chenowth frame its nothing like this one mine was the same way head to close to bars not this one I have plenty off room for head with helmet thanks for the complement I love it all that I expected. But I still need more power :D

Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:27 am

Sounds like too much compression unless it oscillates front to back, at which point one end has too much rebound.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:34 pm

Yea, I may step down on the compression damping on mine in the rear. It's either that or it is compressing OK and then not rebounding fast enough. I just rebuilt my shocks (one had no pressure and the other had oil on the wrong side of the IFP) and I want to try out some different springs, so we shall see.

I think Chenowth offered the main cage 2 to 4 inched taller for suspension seats. Mine was old enough that it was set up for fiberglass or poly seats w/o much padding.

I have a 2276 and dual dellortos on it. It is pretty fast. Scared me the first time I drove it. Now I'm used to it though!

--Tim

Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:22 am

Yeah. Just keep in mind that less rebound dampening equals quicker return rate. A lot of people notice that the car "feels" better with more rebound dampening, but it tends to skip and hop a lot more because the wheels just aren't returning to the ground fast enough. The biggest problem is people associate any bouncing with needing more rebound, but you really only need more rebound when its slowly bouncing. High speed oscillation is usually a sign of too much rebound.

My late 90s 4LWD has suspension seats in it and the seats are mounted so they're still above the floorpan, so I assume I got a higher cage. My 6'4" father in law fits in it with a helmet on.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:23 pm

This thread is getting somewhat hi-jacked, but this valving discussion is good. After a while of getting bounced enough by the small stuff, charlespena may think about re-valving (i'm not sure how bad it is though). Mine is bad enough that I don't like going to rocky areas because it's so harsh.

So I considered lightening up the rebound damping as well to allow the suspension to recover faster. I am just not sure if that is my problem or if the compression damping is too much, or maybe even both.

Sounds like both of you guys have the taller roofline with the 4LWD. Mine was a 80's vintage frame that had some unpadded fiberglass buckets bolted to the expanded metal floor.

charlespena: Are you gonna put aluminum sides on it?

--Tim