That has to be the coolest looking buggy ever built!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The squareness of the first gen troop front end really fits the look of the buggy!!!! Great job man!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Well I'm finally almost loaded up, just gotta pack some clothes and get on the road. Heres a couple final pics before it gets some testing.





Dallas

Well I did spend a bit of time planning out the cage specifically to fit with the trooper body shape. No sense in buildin a rig that doesn't look like what its supposed to be. Thanks for all the compliments everyone, I'll let you know how testing goes and I'll see you all in Moab at Zu Zoo

Dallas

Be gentle!




Or not....

That thing looks absolutely great. Cant wait to see shots of the first run.
-J <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I just spent the last couple days in Globe, AZ at the WERock event working pit crew, and luckily I didn't have much work to do on the teams cars. While they were out running today I had a chance to charge up the shocks and get all the little things done, plus take it for a little spin to see how things worked. So far so good. Right now I'm in a hotel in Gallup, NM and tomorrow it'll be getting its first run in Farmington on a video shoot with RP Films and a bunch of the competitors. Should be pretty fun, and at least if I blow it up Pat and Johnny will have it on film <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dallas

Looking forward to the update!!

FYI Dallas, I opened the shop this weekend and was grinding, cutting metal and welding!! Someone has to do it!!

Well the last week has been a marathon of working, traveling and wheeling. Last weekend we had a WERock Competition in Globe, AZ. While that was going on I spent a lot of time on the trailer finishing up a ton of little things on the buggy to get it into running shape. On sunday night we left Globe and drove to Farmington, NM with a number of other competitors for some practice time and a video shoot with RP Films. While they were playing I got to do the first round of testing on the buggy. I found a number of minor issues, and a few loose nuts and bolts, but nothing major. The biggest issue was the need for a center limit strap on the rear end to keep the t-case u-joint from binding at full droop.

Monday afternoon we left farmington and headed for Moab.


Upon arriving in moab at around 11pm I stopped by Moab 4x4 Outpost where a few of the guys were workin late to get ready for EJS. Luckily the manager, Steve was there and even though the store was all closed up he gave me a limit strap, and just told me to come back and pay when they were open again. Definitely an awesome guy there, thanks again Steve. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing company runs with Pro-Comp tires and taking people for rides on Behind the Rocks and Hells Revenge. Finally on Wednesday we headed over to AREA BFE for some serious testing. I was really happy with the performance on the trail, and even happier with how it did on all the competition courses. I still dont have any winches on it for axle control, so big steep stuff was a little sketchy, but it still did awesome overall and was extremely stable.













On friday night I went on a night run with Team Redbull Spotter Frank Johnson up to the top of Moab Rim. This was probably the funnest run I've been on in a long time. With just the 2 of us, both in very capable buggies we were able to run from the parking lot up to the overlook in about 10 minutes. The weather that night was pretty interesting, lots of wind and high patchy clouds with a bright nearly full moon and lightening flashes from the west. We spent a bit of time up there enjoying the night and the view before heading back down. When we got to the Z-turn there was a group of teenagers in mostly stock jeeps attempting the obstacle. We decided to stick around to watch the show, and help if needed. The first rig needed a bit of rock stacking to get up, and after a number of attempts the second one ended up on its side. Luckily no one was hurt, and amazingly the jeep barely got a scratch. After uprighting the jeep they all turned around a followed us back down. Saturday I went to the XRRA Rock Race out at BFE, and then drove all day and night yesterday to get back home. Man i'm tired.



Dallas

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />Wow man wow.....Did i ever say that was the coolest buggy ever <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Looks great dude.

I'm finally back home from all my travels and I've been getting back to work on finishing up the Super Trooper. Yesterday I borrowed a set of scales from the shop next door and got to find out what the buggy actually weighs. My goal for this project was to drop a thousand pounds from my old rig, which would put me at 3200lbs. Heres what I got yesterday.


Left Front = 825lbs.
Right Front = 745lbs.
Left Rear = 586lbs.
Right Rear = 634lbs.

TOTALS

Front = 1570 lbs.
Rear = 1220 lbs.
Total = 2790 lbs.

Thats WAY under what I was expecting, or hoping for. I'm really happy with the weight balance too, with a 56/44% split. I still need to add winches and body panels, but I doubt that will add more than a hundred pounds so I should still be under 3000.

Today I started working on finishing out the floor and firewall. Luckily for me one of my neighbors builds custom rain gutters and has all sorts of sheetmetal tools. He was kind enough to let me use them and I managed to build all these panels. There is still a lot of trimming and mounting to do but the interior is basically done. I even had a chance to fold up a nice little switch panel for all the controls.









Tomorrow I'm planning to start on the doors and rear fender panels.

Dallas

WOW! Looks great! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />