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  View original topic: new to baja bug need some help
kamshaft91 Wed Jan 01, 2014 5:30 pm

Hey guys my name is kam and I'm looking for a baja bug as my next project. I'm not new to acvw but i have no experience with building an off road one. my goal is to build something i can go and haul ass in the desert with. So here arey questions what should i look for when it comes to choosing a bug. howuch travel should i be looking at? What is a good engine/tranny combo? Sorry if i miss spelled any words I'm at work writting this on my phone right now lol.

Vanapplebomb Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:55 pm

Even a stock suspension can be made to scoot pretty darn quick by making some (in my opinion) straight forward modifications. It wouldn't be to hard for you to start out with a stock bug and tweak it a bit.

For the record, if you ask me, off road speed is more a matter off how hard you can beat on parts before they break than it is about travel. Don't get me wrong, travel definitely helps, but there is more to the picture than travel alone.

Start by focusing on beefing up the parts that break first. gusset the trailing arms, maybe get larger cv joints if that is in your budget, strengthen the tie rods and steering box, gusset the spindles and steering arms... Once you get that stuff squared away, you will be surprised at how fast you can go without tearing stuff up.

Once you start pushing the limits you will find new weak links and limitations. This is where more travel comes in.

How fast do you consider fast? if 50-60 is fast, this is totally within the realm of beefed up stock components :wink:

Vanapplebomb Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:58 pm

Granted...your back might not like you very much the next morning hitting some rough spots with modified stock suspensions...

That is another bonus about longer travel...it hurts less to hit a given size bump. hahaha.

kamshaft91 Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:21 pm

And that's why i want more travel...smoothness :) i bought the baja bugs and buggies book as a way to learn on what needs beefing and how to do it right but i didn't see a whole lot when it came to getting more travel....what are some of the pppular ways to get more abd what is a popular amount for the baja bugs? i would love 17 inches but i highly doubt i can get that out of a bug lol

1fastbigguy Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:25 am

Hey Cam, I would suggest reading through as many build threads as you can on this and other sites then form a plan of what works best in your budget. You may find it more beneficial to buy a used Baja that is close too what you want and make changes as you go or if you decide to do a ground up build just plan on spending twice what you thought it would cost and three times longer than you thought it would take to build it!

Our goal is to build a fun and reliable 4 seat Baja bug that will preform well off road can be driven on the street and once finished with be affordable to maintain and repair. We are running a beam style front suspension with 14" of travel and trailing arm rear suspension with 18" of travel. For power we are using a 2.2 ecotec with a built 002 trans and 930 cv's.

BTW my first car was a 1969 vw that I started building when I was 14 in the mid 80's. I cut and turned the stock ball joint front suspension, indexed the stock rear irs suspension added some KYB's, white spoke wheels with M+S tires, bolted on a 1 piece front end and rear Baja fenders then finished it up with some bolt on tube bumpers! Was the car ready to race the Baja 1000... Nope but I had a ton of fun in it and at the time it was the fastest and smoothest machine I had ever driven and you couldn't have pried the smile off my face with a crowbar! :D

Well I guess that's my two cents... Good luck and have fun!

kamshaft91 Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:10 pm

Fastbigguy your current project is close to what i would want to build. however i want a 2 seater. doesn't need to be a racer but something that would be smooth going over the whoops at 60-70. So with that in mind what are some companys i should look at for suspension? What are some i should stay away from? As for the power terrain I've got that pretty much figured out along with break set up. again my main thing is suspension and steering. right now I'm looking at getting a cheap roller and doing it from the ground up.

1fastbigguy Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:10 am

It sounds like you want a car that will hold up to some pretty good punishment so you really need to look at as many builds as you can and see if you can find some passenger seats to ride in.

I would look at as many company's/builders as you can. Call and talk to people and stop by shops, email and the internet are great tools but there isn't an app that replaces personally meeting and talking with people. We haven't come in contact with any person or product that I would say to stay away from on our build but keep in mind the car isn't finished so we wont have real feedback on anything until we take it out and beat on it for a while.

As far as a "cheap roller" goes, I guess that will depend on your budget and there is a huge price difference between a bare chassis and a fully tabbed roller. So make sure you get the price and itemized break down of what you are getting in writing and make sure you keep track of all add-ons so you don't get a surprise when you pick it up.

Also keep in mind that I am by no means an expert on this subject and these are only opinions of a Dad building a Baja Bug with his Son in the garage.

Here are a few links that mite be of interest:

www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=376335

www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php/81862-Crumco-build

www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=125850&highlight=crumco

www.dezertrangers.com/vb/buggies/93098.htm

kamshaft91 Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:55 pm

Thanks this was wh :D at i was hoping for.

1fastbigguy Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:11 pm

Glad to help! Hope to see your build thread in the future!



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