body lift attempt

[65MANX]

[baja5]

That looks very nice.
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[65MANX]

mabey I can get some constructive criticism.

[tripicana]

if you extend the sides past the rear bulkhead, its gonna be tough to remove the springplate/torsion cover.
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foam cowboy hats aren't good helmets.

[xirxious]

Did you buy a kit or hand fab all that?

[veeweeman]

That has to be one of the cleanest lifts I've seen done...once it's all welded together you will notice a huge difference in not having much chassis flex...the shocks will actually start doing their job...you will notice a day and night difference in how your buggy performs...excellent job!!

[CLSkier]

It looks great. I am intersted to know how you fabbed up that front piece. This is something i want to do on my next baja.

[neanders]

Nice!! Looks like it's made from square tubing, how did you account for the fact that when placed on an incline, the tubing will be taller than when it's laid flat? Are you going to tie your cage into that?
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It's mine now and I want a BAJA!!!

[brywisco]

I agree with tripicana...cut those side pcs flush or they may interefere with torsion bar access. I am also interested in how you fabbed the napolean hat front piece and how you bent the side pieces.
What size tubing did you use?

[65MANX]

Every thing was fabed. The sides were made out of 1 1/2''x 3'' square tubing. That bend was created by cutting two pie shapes out of the inside of where i wanted the bend,then bent it by clamping it to the work bench and putting my weight on it then welded it back up.The front was built using 1'' strap steel bent to fit the bulkhead and plate steel to get the 3'' lift cut with a jig saw and then welded all four peices together. Same goes for the rear.
The ends sticking out of the sides blocking the spring plate cover will be cut off i just left it alittle long for mock up, it will be flush and capped at the rear bulkhead.
As for Neanders question this will be the base for my roll cage, also I havent test fit with the body on yet, but now that u bring up point that i didnt figure in Once i get home iam throwing on the body and cheakin it out well see!!

[dirtkeeper]

looks great . i like how you go around the rear access. The one i have goes straight across and is kind a pain to get in there.... and to seal that rear part.

[Lanceonthelake]

How are you planning to mount the pan/body to it?

It reminds me of the high jumper frame I saw awhile back on here for sale.

[chubby53]

looks like it fit a lot better than mine. i even had a template for the front piece and still f-ed it up some. here's mine, since this pic, it's been fully welded and holes drilled.

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My build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=385100

[wythac]

Did something very similar, but up front I took a piece of flat 3/16" steel and carved the hump out of that and then welded some relatively thin steel (1/8") to the top and bottom of that for a sill plate and to give it some strength like an I-beam

I think you did a better job in contouring around the inspection/access plate for the shift coupler in the rear. I think the 2x3 square tube construction adds a great deal of stiffness to the pan and gives you solid anchor points for tree bars and a full cage. Here is how mine turned out in the end. Plently of clearance for wheel travel and a nice offroad stance. I think you did one better than what I did here. Nice job.

[chubby53]

[wythac]

I don't have a good picture of this, but the aluminum stock that you see sitting in the pan ended up ON TOP of the body attachment sill as a sandwich plate. From the top, it went together like this:

1) aluminum sandwich sill plate
2)body lip
3)body to pan gasket
4)lift kit
5)body to pan gasket
6)pan

I used lots of black silicone when I put in on for the last time. This thing would float if you ran it too deep into a puddle.

[dirtkeeper]

maybe this deserves a different thread but let me ask this.

If a lift kit is put together like 65manx is doing, and is welded on the corners and a roll bar is attached to it well.. do you think the strength of the cage is similar (or close) to a cage that is attached to a tubular bar that runs just inside the body next to the heat channels?

like is done here. ( so as not to get carried away with all the cross bracing strength etc , let just say there wasn't any cross bracing .... comparing a 6 point cage attached to the lift kit to a 6 point cage attached to tubing as below)

edit: to clarify i'm thinkin' in a steel baja not a fiberglass buggy if it matters

[CLSkier]

I think the point is more of how the cage attaches to the body. Instead of 4x4 or 6x6 plates you get a solid tube that is bolted to the length of the body as a mounting point. The cage you posted still has to attach to the body/pan at some point.

If i had to guesss the solid tube body lift is a more stable mounting point that attaches to both the pan and the body at the same spot.

[chubby53]

what if you used a plate and attached the cage to the pan, but ran a small piece of tube from the cage to the lift and welded it? would that work
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My build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=385100

[BugZyla.com]

The easiest way to do the front piece is to make it slip over the front hump. Thats how we make ours our of 1/8 plate that is cnc plasma cut.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=797452

BTW we do sell the front piece separate if you dont want to tackle it yourself.
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http://www.bugzyla.com

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