Paddle Shift or Shift Lever?
Paddle shift or shift lever, either works well, it is just personal preference and what you’re used to, here are some tips and tricks!
To Diff Or Not To Diff
It’s a topic with no clear answer and it largely depends on personal preference and how you use your vehicle. For road cars, a diff is pretty much a must and an LSD is a great option. I have auto torque biasing (or Torsen) ones in a couple of cars and a Detroit locker in…
Choosing Your Power Plant Part 2 – Dyno discussion
Following on from my recent article on choosing your power plant, here is a little more information for you to consider when choosing your engine. Concepts Simplifying things a lot you can think about Power as the ability of the engine to push your buggy along at a constant road speed and engine RPM. You can think about Torque as the ability…
Choosing Your Power Plant
Here is some basic information that might help you to make an informed decision on the right engine for you. Of course nothing is simple and there are lots of variables like gearboxes (or transmissions), final drives, chains, belts and shafts, tyre sizes and the type of driving you’re doing. I’ll try and go through…
Air Shock Setup and Tuning Spreadsheet
Developed by Poly Performance and tweaked by Billa Vista, this spreadsheet is a great place to start when exploring and tuning air shocks. For full explanations and instruction please read the original article by Billa Vista on Pirate4x4. There’s some simplified air shock examples in Tips’n Tricks too.
Some Info On Air Shocks
Some people love ’em, some people hate ’em, most don’t really understand them. You’ll probably notice that many of the Rorty buggies you see on build threads and on Rorty.net are using something other than air shocks. Why? The main reason is they get a bad rap. I’m no expert on shocks and springs, I…
Tube, ERW, DOM, CDS, WTF?
There’s lots of jargon when it comes to tube, but what do you really need to know? Fact is your really don’t need to be so concerned with tube (not pipe!) material specifications. In buggy land most of us are worried about stiffness or resistance to bending (especially as you get older). Steel, whether it’s…
Is Weight the Enemy?
Absolutely! It’s a pretty simple equation: F = M x A F = force (as in newtons: N = 1 kg⋅m/s2). This comes from your engine, brakes, tyres, gravity, friction… depending which direction it’s pointing (e.g. forwards, backwards, sideways, up, down) M = Mass (kg). Should be easy enough to work out on your own…
Holes and Counterbore Sizes
Metric SHCS Hole & Counterbore Sizes Nominal Screw Size Clearance Hole Dia. mm Counterbore Dia. mm Countersink Dia. mm Tapping Drill mm Close Normal ISO M Fine M3 3.4 3.7 6.5 3.6 0.5 – M4 4.4 4.8 8.25 4.7 0.7 – M5 5.4 5.8 9.75 5.7 4.2 – M6 6.4 6.8 11.25…
AN & NPT Thread Sizes Chart
AN Thread Sizes NPT Thread Sizes AN Size Tube Size Thread Pipe Size Threads/Inch – 2 1/8″ 5/16 – 24 1/16 27 – 3 3/16″ 3/8 – 24 1/8 27 – 4 1/4″ 7/16 – 20 1/4 18 – 5 5/16″ 1/2 – 20 3/8 18 – 6 3/8″ 9/16 – 18 1/2 14 –…
Tube Miter Program by Giles Puckett
Tubemiter.exe A tube mitering program for Windows to print on any printer. This program deals in metric units. File/Settings… puts up a dialog box. You input: It paints the picture on the window, and File/Print… prints it on any connected printer. There are two curves – the dotted one is the template you would cut if the…
Buggy Brakes
Before we get too entrenched in brake tech, just answer this: Which is the more powerful, the brakes or the engine? Well, in the case of a GSXR1000, it can do a standing quarter mile in 10.8 seconds with a terminal speed of 138mph, yet the brakes can do the same amount of work (but…