i used to have a D90 that i used for winch challenges & offroading, king cabbed it, cage, 35" simex, ARbs etc etc all the "right" bits for uk competitons, However @ the end of the day it was still a "heavy" 90 & had soft bodywork when it was being rubbed against trees, rocks, the ground etc so over a brew @ work we decided to build a different take on the tube buggys we offer for customers,

So i went from this














to building a buggy like this


but with a few differances

Any how everyone likes a spec, so in no real order here goes

Engine
2.5 TD5 from a D2 with VNT turbo & Bell auto services remap & boost box
will be sticking with the standard DM flywheel till it breaks then going for a solid one

Transmission
Standard 5 speed manual from same D2 doner vehicle, nowt trick

Axles
24 spline axles front & rear fitted with ARB lockers, Rover tracks front shafts & cvs, GKN rear shafts, standard 3.54 ratio, may change gear ratio if required & peg them if they explode, located with D2 radius arms front n rear,

Suspension
fox 2.0 7/8 coilovers non reserviour in 12" travel, simple solution instead of going for air shocks, if needs be can squeeze 14"s in or go to ORi's

Chassis/ Frame
Whitbread offroad standard challenge frame built with a door on drivers side & hop over bar on pass side,takes a standard defender bonnet & remaining panelwork is flat ali sheet
mounted on a tubular chassis with inbuilt winch trays front, middle & rear,

Wheels & tyres
37/12.5/15 maxxis creepy crawlers on 10x15 modulars with weld on beadlocks (still to be done )

anyway, everyone likes pictures so here goes, ill say now if you have 56k gtf,





















Stripped ready for paint



Painted

so after having it sit in my shed for 6 months waiting to be finished we nailed it together & took part in our first event,

however we had a mass of cooling issues which wasted one of the days competing & then on the 2nd day competing we went balls to the wall, end result being a smashed windscreen & a clutch the was smoked,







so after putting it back together & making her good to go again, next event out we had a slight delay in progress for about 7 minutes when we did this



& yes thats my fiancee that is puting me back on my wheels, shes a good lass

so after repairing the mild damage sustained we started looking forward to 2012,
End result being that we knew we had to step up our game, thankfully we managed to pick up Allisport (http://www.allisport.com)as a sponsor & they have been good enough to supply & make/fit all the custom alloy fabwork on the truck from the cooling system, to the charge cooler, air intakes, etc etc

So we decided that some revision was required in the suspension department as we wanna go fast,

So first of we had a prototype exhaust manifold & some engine goodies


& then some hydraulic bumpstops all round which soak up the big hits progressively rather than a hard hit



to which we then went on to shake the truck down at walters arena in south wales

http://youtu.be/CrKGOnVQgmI

& after that we then went onto go racing in what is best described as the wrong tool for the job,


control tyres fitted as required we were off racing

Some incar footage, http://youtu.be/XVOohp3LlxU

And we even came home with a trophy for a class win



to which this brings us reasonably up to date,

we then took part in the king of the valleys event where we managed to secure an 8th Oa finish which secured us a spot in the 2013 event,





Rubbins racing right?





hopefully you have enjoyed a look through what we've built,
were looking forward to 2013 & the events it will bring, some of which we might even have a little more Hp than before for,

took a few days of work as i have our first event of the year in about 8 weeks,
nothing too major other than fit all new suspension, all new axles, new diffs & axle internals & build a fully custom full hydraulic steering system,

so far since sunday ive managed to get all the old shock mounts cut off & cleaned up & all the new mounts fitted,

now i bet your thinking "that doesnt sound too hard?" the new shocks are 14" travel instead of the previous 12" travel shocks, & thus are 3" longer than before

so had major issues on the front trying to get a quart into a pint pot, need to modify the skid plate as the front prop hits that, but we got there in the end & we now have 14" of travel on the front,

on the rear it was a bit more of a faff as the rear axle is about 1" further back than before, that throws another dimension into the mix,

any how....

we have some pictures

front fully built up



rear in progress

blank canvas

Great write up Mike! Thanks for the pictures.

Why is the steering wheel on the wrong side? ;-)

He took the pictures with a special reverse camera so everything is flip flopped.

Fantastic build thread Mike! Very cool to see how ya'll do it over there.

Very Cool.

been busy recently,

took a fair leap of faith & cut the front of the lower frame rail so we could fit full hydro steer




new tow rig

Look at you rolling all pimp. Good looking tow rig!

Lookin good man!

Tow rig needs more stickers... :-)

just you wait, its been to the vinyl man & the design is in progress, ive just got to get the windows tinted first