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Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:04 pm

I just picked up a dune buggy from an auction last week. I know very little about these things......so I'm starting to learn now I guess. The buggy has the same size tires and rims on the front and back. I'm not sure the exact size, but the front ones are only about a half to a full inch above the tires. You can see where the fiberglass has been rubbed a bit. I also noticed most buggys have the smaller tires on front. I was wondering if there's a way to lift the body so I can keep the wheels. It needs quite a bit of work so the less I have to put out to get it on the road the better. Oh yeah, it's a street legal buggy. I'd appreciate any advice. :wink:

Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:14 pm

Is it a baja bug?

Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:11 pm

I added a picture of it in my profile. It is a fiberglass dune buggy that when running will be road ready. Do you have any suggestions?

Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:24 pm

If its a stock vw pan then you can get a body lift just to keep that size tire but I dont know if that is stock, I have heard that those style buggies have shortened pans, anyone else know? If that is the case and if its a bug pan you can turn the rear torsion bars and that would give you the clearance you need. See the 2 stickys at the top of this forum for lifting.

Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:17 pm

Cool......thanks for the info. How do I know if it's shortened? Do they shorten them because the fiberglass bodies are made smaller? I will try and figure out what type of pan I have. Thanks again.

Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:28 pm

Some buggy bodies require a shortened pan. Measure your wheelbase. Typical wheelbase for a shortened pan is 80 inches. Those big front tires will handle terrible. They are harder to steer as well. When I changed my wide tire/wheels to skinnys- was night and day! I suggest putting smaller tires up front. Yes you can put on a 3 inch body lift ( with minor mods to the kits). You could also cut and turn the beam for some added lift. You could also use lowered spindles.

Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:42 pm

like I said before..........I don't have a clue about this stuff yet. So if I go with smaller rims and tires, what size is best for street use? ANd where is the best place to get a deal?

Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:07 pm

what size are your current wheels and tires? those tires look like balloons on there, maybe look for a 195/55 or 60 on the front and a 205/60 or 65 on the back

Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:52 pm

I have 255/70r15 in the rear and 165/15 in front. looks real good on a f/g buggy

Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:08 pm

Mine has 225/60-14 in the front, and 275/50-15 in the rear; the 'big & little' look always seemed right to me anyway.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:48 am

on my buggy I have the stock tire size up forn on a 14" rin and 30's in the rear with a 15" rim. All I have is a 1" body lift. I really like the look and it still handles and accelerated great with my 1835.
For your question of what tire size I think we need more info. Are you planning on making this a streetable baja or do you want it to be a street style that is lowered? This would help us to help you with what to do to this buggy.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:51 am

breezer, did you pick that up at the Buggy World closeout auction?

Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:27 am

OK, the tires on the front and rear are 235/75-15. I'm not sure how to tell what size the rims are? I measured straight across and I got a measurement of 16 1/4 inches.....does this sound right?

I plan to run it on the street, in my local area. I'm not sure what the difference is between the street styles you are asking about.

Yes I did pick it up at Buggy World! Did I meet you there? Do you have any advice? Like I said I have no clue what to do with this....I just want to get it up and running for a decent price.

By the way, Plasticman....where did you get that top cover? And how much was it? It gets HOT down here in Florida, so I'd love to pick one up.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:49 am

First off the rim size is a 15 the tire size will be about a 29" tire. It's 28.9 to be exact. As for the street style or baja the differnt is a baja is lifted with much bigger than stock tires. A street style is going to be lowered some with wide low profile tires. both will have bigger engines and the basic upgrades will be the same.

Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:50 pm

Breezer wrote: By the way, Plasticman....where did you get that top cover? And how much was it? It gets HOT down here in Florida, so I'd love to pick one up.
Mine was actually part of the kit, as offered by Meyers. They still offer them, but I'm not sure if it would fit other buggies without modification. Check out www.manxclub.com for details, and look in the 'store' section.

Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:03 pm

Breezer wrote:

Yes I did pick it up at Buggy World! Did I meet you there? Do you have any advice? Like I said I have no clue what to do with this....I just want to get it up and running for a decent price.

No I didn't go, I wanted to but funds were rather low and I figured it would be a freaking madhouse-as from what I heard it was! I heard you had to get your stuff out right away or it might get stolen out form under you when you weren't looking. A guy I talked to on another board said the F/G buggy body he won got stolen as he had to make two trips with all the stuff he bought. Buy the time he got back his buggy body was gone :( I bought alot of stuff from Bob over the years, I'm gonna miss that dirty old place!

As far as tips, well you need to figure out how you want to car to "look" before you worry about tires. If your not doing anything this weekend go to the Pier in St. Pete for the the VW show on Saturday (its free). and go to Maximo park (right off the skyway bridge/st pete side) on sunday about noontime. That is about when the 200+ VW's show up from going over the skyway bridge all at once. Theres always a few buggies there, you can kinda get an idea of whats running around. Its also one of the coolest things for VW's round these parts. If you go look us up- look for the green baja in my avatar, a "mystery Machine", and a westy camper sittin on small mud tires-thats where I'll be!

Fisher usually always has one or 2 built up Berrien buggies in the showroom as he is an authourized dealer, allthough try to keep form buying anything from them until you do some reasearch, you'll understand why after you get a little more price savy!