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RZR Reincarnation

45K views 85 replies 35 participants last post by  bark beetle 
#1 ·
Moving from trucks to a RZR has been the best thing I have done in a long time. With 2 RZRs, the wife drives her own, she actually likes going offroad versus tolerating my habit. I got a 2014 RZR XP1000 2 seater in Feb of 14 after KOH and drove the crap out of it for 8 months and loved every minute. I did identify several issues with them and I now understand what some of the guys at KOH were saying about RZRs so I have set out to improve the stock platform.
Here is my carnage list from those 8 months and 1400 miles:
  • Cracked a sway bar mount
  • Bent both lower a-arms and both lower radius rods (radius rods are easy to straighten in a press because they are solid 3/4" bar)
  • Snapped a front engine mount bolt that then wrecked the mount and caused the muffler to snap off the 90 that goes in the header
  • Cracked the rear cargo tub plastic in two places from hauling tools and stuff (they were even in tuff bins)
  • Wore down both door hinges to the point that you had to pick up the doors to close them (Most likely from chassis flex because these suckers are bolted together)
  • Bent the cage when a friend rolled it while drifting (He didn't know that you never lift while in a drift) Amazingly no damage to the plastic from this!

I also sent all my shocks to Holtz and had cross over rings installed with a full revalve front and rear to try and reduce the bucking out of the rear. While the shocks were out I also ordered 4 seater tenders for the front and new 2 seat fronts that I put in the rear. The new setup was a lot better but I still had a modest buck every time I hit a forest road water bar annoying the crap out of me.

Now on to the reincarnation.

My primary goal was to build a fully welded chassis around the core stock frame, similar to what the desert racing guys are doing. By doing this I could eliminate the chassis flex and have a cage I fully trust in a crash. Second, I want to street legal this sucker and a "home built" chassis with a few things like turn signals a horn, windshield and wipers qualify as a dune buggy in NM. They will not street legal a stock SXS at all, ever. Third I want to eliminate the bucking out of the rear. Fourth, I want a real gas tank (18+ gal) for a decent range. Doing "31 mile" road in the Jemez Mountains out and back had me on the E light. It was actually a 100 miles out and back.

With the groundwork laid, I did a bunch of measuring and starting modeling the new chassis in Solidworks. Here is the first iteration of my concept:


There was a lot I did not like with chassis #1 so I went to idea #2 and dropped a little weight in the process, friends convinced me to drop the Dukes of Hazard window entry and make it a little easier to get in and out. I started coloring what was left of the stock chassis in red:


Better but I then I got inspired by the Rip Rod and started thinking about 30's Fords. My friend had this sitting in his yard and I was amazed at how close the dimensions are between a RZR 1000 and the 37 Ford:




Now being full motivated I moved onto design 3 - 30's style Ford RZR with a little Bouncer style thrown in, bonus is that it was a little lighter than #1 or #2!


I didn't like the flow of some of the chassis so I modified it again and lost a few more lbs of weight. Here is #4:


Then my friends talked me into keeping the stock RZR clip and I was feeling inspired by some of the sick Class 10 cars, so I tweaked all the dimensions again and came up with chassis #5 which was the lightest of all at 210 lb for everything that isn't red (20 lb drop from chassis #1):


Time to go cut some steel.
 
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#32 ·
I was going to wait on building a new gas tank but as I look at the stock seat locations, I understand why the stock machine has 2 parallel tubes behind the seat. One is truly structural for the car and is hidden under stock plastic (Only one left on my car) and the second is part of the bolt on cage and provides harness mounts at the correct height. I don't want the extra weight of a second tube, it doesn't look good, and I want a larger gas tank anyway so out comes the stock mount, tank and mounting brackets.

Pic of the stock seat height and measurement to the roof (8.5")



Here is the seat where it will sit with a custom tank I am designing and the measurement to the roof (12.5")



I should also mention I picked up a full inch by removing the stock seat adjustment stuff and lost several lbs of crap at the same time. They never worked that great anyway. Add some dirt/mud and they don't work at all.

The seat sits 4" lower, the harness mounts will be at the correct height and the whole cab feels a lot better when I sit in it, as opposed to feeling like I am sitting on the car. Visibility would suffer for a shorter person. Corning should improve with a lower CG and my side/shoulder is more protected now. Unfortunately it also means more work with a custom tank to fabricate because I can't stomach the price of a custom fuel cell ($2k++, I called). I think I can build one for under $1k and because it isn't a race car, I don't need a bladder but one could be made eventually should I change my mind.
 
#33 ·
I took a little time off and made a junk yard run to measure various trucks to see what might fit well as a front clip (besides a old Ford). I ended up figuring out a Sammy front end could be narrowed and it would fit really well. A Toyota would also fit if narrowed but has a lot of curve in the fenders at the A Pillar and not planned at all but a perfect fit is a VW bug front end. I almost put the saw to work for a clean 73 bug but made a few calls from the yard and found out that getting a one piece front end to NM was going to cost a fortune. I do have a friend that has a baja and he let me borrow his glass to trial fit it anyway. My first two cars were Baja bugs so I have a soft spot for them.

Here is what it looks like:



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8659/16665799841_2541d615bb_b.jpg[img]

Most amazing is a winch fits perfect behind the license plate flat!
[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8601/16665799981_56d332d8fd_b.jpg

I am not going to do a bug on this car but it is nice to know it could be done. I am too used to seeing them with big tires now and the 30's look too small under all that glass. If you love baja bugs, now you know how to build a modern one, given how rare a bug is these days.
 
#80 · (Edited)
Here is what it looks like:



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8659/16665799841_2541d615bb_b.jpg[img]


[/quote]

Now it has been done by someone else with the same idea and I think it looks great. They put together a great car and make me kinda wish I had gone that route with mine.
[img]http://image.fourwheeler.com/f/160904597+w600+cr1/002-rugged-polaris-rzr-bajabug-bfgoodrich-americanracingwheel-hrc-kchilights-king-front-three-quarter-low.jpg
 
#34 ·
dont have a body, wish i did. but a fiberglass kit body is about 3000. im sure you could find one cheaper if u poked around. the dimensions are 55" wide, 139" long and 90" wheelbase. theres about 8-10 inches in front of the wheels but you would probably want to widen the wheel wells anyway. since you have do doors i bet a one piece body would slide right on with some quick mods. really surprised how well that vw body fit, looked like it was made for it! but it does just kina look like a baja bug with small tires
 
#36 ·
that is pretty cool, wonder where he got a miniature raptor body, or is it just a heavily modified trophy truck bod? but it kina just looks like a raptor, if ididnt know i would probably just think it was one. either way he must be getting some serious fender rub, you can see it on the tires.

anyway, for shits n giggles i wanted to see what the shelby rzr might look like, heres what i came up with:
 

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#40 ·
I was actually hoping someone would photoshop the body on it. It isn't a hijack when you use one of my pictures:) I think it would look good in real life and it would be cheaper than the Raptor RZR which is $6500 for body and cage. I can't believe they are the same wheelbase. I can give you some more measurements to check fitment if you have more dimensions from the web. I think the top of the cage would need to be more raked and as low as possible with the lowered seats to make it look really good.
 
#41 ·
It actually doesn't take that many tools:
110V or 220V Mig welder with a bottle
Manual tubing bender (Only need 1.5" dies for a RZR but 1.25" are useful)
Tubing notcher (optional)
1/2 drill for notcher (optional)
4.5" grinder
Recip saw
14" chop saw
Graph paper and a pencil (or Solidworks) or great visualization skills
A basic mechanic's tool set which everyone should have anyway

I had never used weldments before and that was one of points of doing it was to learn how to use them. The first cage took a weekend (because of all the measuring on the car) but then I messed with it for a solid month with many more iterations than I posted.

As to fabrication, it mostly started with my first car which was a bare 5-1600 chassis that I learned to fabricate on, wire, build the engine, plumbing, paint and all the other little things to make a running baja bug. It has been on ever since for over 20 years.

What I am terrible at is tin work. I need a lot more practice bending the thin stuff.

Good luck on starting your own project.
 
#44 ·
send me your dimensions and ill see what i can dig up. i definitely agree the cage should be as low as possible. and swept back with a real rounded roofline. but it really doesnt look bad with what you got goin on there already
 
#53 ·
Front axle to A pillar = 28"
A pillar to B pillar at shoulder = 37.5"
A pillar to B pillar at rocker = 28"
B pillar at rocker to rear axle = 34 (90" wb)
Rocker to Shoulder at A pillar = 28.5"
Rocker to Shoulder at B pillar = 30.5"
Front bumper to A pillar = 48"
B pillar at shoulder to rear bumper = 60"
Rocker to Roof = 49"
Top of A pillar to top of B pillar = 23"
Width at Rocker = 44"
Width at Shoulder = 48"
Width at A Roof = 46.5"
Width at B Roof = 44.5"
 
#46 ·
The bender, notcher and Solidworks are on my wish list along with a finger brake and sheet metal roller. I've never used Solidworks for tube parts but I did use it for billet parts design, it was awesome for that. Good looking build, keep the updates coming!
What part of the country are you in?
I just got the Swag Offroad press finger brake and I'll get some of the new stuff I have fabbed with it posted soon. A finger brake and roller would be way down on my must have list unless you already have all the other stuff.

I am in Northern New Mexico.
 
#48 ·
The bender, notcher and Solidworks are on my wish list along with a finger brake and sheet metal roller. I've never used Solidworks for tube parts but I did use it for billet parts design, it was awesome for that. Good looking build, keep the updates coming!
What part of the country are you in?
I just got the Swag Offroad press finger brake and I'll get some of the new stuff I have fabbed with it posted soon. A finger brake and roller would be way down on my must have list unless you already have all the other stuff.

I am in Northern New Mexico.
The tools I listed are pretty much the only things I don't have. I've got a tool buying problem really. The one thing I didn't mention was a jig table which I'd love to have but can't justify 5K on it right now.
Are you going to be at Rally on the Rocks? I'd like to check your ride out in person!
 
#50 · (Edited)
I've been thinking about that, I added a portaband to my tool collection at Christmas and I really love it. Absolutely better than a chop saw or recip saw for small stuff, clean and fast. There are a lot of things I still use the chop saw for and there are places I can get/use the recip where the portaband won't fit. Swag table might be a birthday item:)

Rally on the rocks would be a blast, that time frame is the goal to get it done. By accident my friend and I took my almost brand new 1000 and his 800s up Kane Creek then down Pritchet on the first day of our first trip with them to Moab! My avitar is from upper Pritchet, we had no idea what we had "dropped" into. Neither of us had done any crawling in UTVs prior to this and we had no idea what that canyon was like. All the monster buggies unloading at the bottom should have clued me in. It was all good and we made it through the whole thing without any issues and had fun talking about it the rest of the weekend. I don't think we could have gone up it without some winching and neither of us had a winch at the time. Life is more fun when you don't know what the next obstacle is and everything else we did that weekend was easy after that. We know a little more now and what the machines capabilities are (which is a lot for something with 26-30" tires).
 
#52 ·
Time to take care of all the little stuff that consumes more time than the main chassis but doesn't make the car look much different. The computer, fuse panel, voltage regulator and air box all mounted to the stock plastic and needed to be remounted.

I recycled the small section of plastic that housed the computer and turned it around so the backside now has the door to give it some splash resistance. With a new rivet nut driver I used a couple 6mm nut rivets in the stock c channel and added a side tab for stability. Computer re-mounted.

Mounting options for the fuse block and voltage regulator were kinda limited without re-working the wiring harness so I made the best of it and mounted them where they are easier to access and make room for the new gas tank. The airbox was the easiest. A couple small tabs and recycling some of the button head torx screws has it mounted solid behind the rear aluminum firewall.

When I decided to make a larger gas tank, I needed to move the brake tee, reroute the lines behind the B pillar and move the starter relay behind to the small gusset on the back of the pillar. A couple more 6mm nut rivets made a nice assembly.




With those done I needed to mount a action packer bin for storage and create a tab off the bin mount for the coil pack. My new SWAG bender worked great to bend some flat into a C channel for a simple bolt in basket that can be removed for engine access.


Used the bender again on the tab for the coil pack to replicate the stock setup.


The last item I got mounted on the B pillar is the coolant reservoir. The shape of the stock bottle is a perfect fit next to the upper shock mount but I am debating if it can be below the top of the radiator to operate correctly. If anybody has experience with acceptable coolant reservoir locations, I am all ears. If it doesn't work, I'll need to move it or get a nicer looking one and mount it near the top of the cage which would be less than desirable.




The spare needed mounts for the Y strap hooks so I made some tube gussets at the less than ideal T intersection and a simple mount at the rear that keeps the hook flush and inline with the tire.



Another debate I have is the mount for the SuperTrapp, I made a simple steel clamp on mount that I know will resist vibration well but I also could make a small aluminum tab that welds to the muffler case and would look better but could crack if the engine mounts flex more than the muffler mount I have (I ordered a nicer T-bolt clamp to replace the regular hose clamp). I eliminated the monster bell coupler and recycled a bend from the stock exhaust to allow the SuperTrapp to slip on for a simple smooth flowing exhaust.

 
#54 ·
It has been a little while but I am focusing more on getting the car running than updating the thread. After searching for sheet UHMW and striking out on a decent price, I ordered a set from Factory UTV in 1/2 because we run a lot of trails that have boulders and logs we have to slide over. I kept the bottom of the car the same dimensions as a stock car so the kit bolted straight on but the front corners stuck way out so I ventured into my first time modification of UHMW.

Turns out it is pretty easy stuff to work with. I had to use a heat gun to flatten the outer front panels, then cut them to match the inner front panels, bend them with some heat c clamps and my welding table and make a new mounting point using a hole saw and a die grinder. I was very happy with the result.

I also took care of another nagging problem the stock skid mounting has, which is the tiny amount of thread engagement. I drilled all of the mounts out and used 6mm nut rivets for reliable thread engagement and much easier maintenance when I have to pull the skids.

Last, the Factory UTV kit uses 4 clamps on the front to hold the skids on, I upgraded by welding some tabs for those locations to make a cleaner install.








Hopefully this will help anyone that has stripped out skid plate mounting bolts. A few areas are close on sufficient meat for the nut rivets, but all of them worked and had enough metal for the hole.

With the skids done, I moved to the front bumper and winch mount. I wanted to retain a bolt on bumper so I used all the holes at the bottom for a beefy plate, the middle mounts for the winch/bumper and a pair of tubing clamps to tie into the main frame tubes at the top. I really like how it turned out but I don't like the aluminum hood I made, so I will build a new one some time later.






The fairlead was inspired by the Trent KOH buggies and it allows the Factor Five mount to stay behind the skid for a smoother front. I am still thinking about the light arrangement I want to run but the leading idea is to add some 1" x 6" diameter loops on the ends of the top for a pair of LEDs and a LED bar across the middle or 2 more individual lights. I think I can wire the outer two as low beam and the inner(s) as high beam with an extra set of ground wires.
 
#56 ·
On to the gas tank. This tank is hands down the most complicated one I have ever built and it took two weekends to get everything correct and one more to weld it all together. Not a small undertaking and I hope it ends up being worth it. Most of the pieces laid out on the table:



I had the tank all cut out and duct taped together and set it down in the car to check it out and on first look, it looked great:



But then I quickly realized there was a problem:



More than a small interference with the trailing arm and brake line when at full bump. I decided the best fix was to cut the corners of the tank off to salvage all the work I did.




It worked! Everything has enough clearance, no interference with the suspension.

With that done, I took it to a professional and had it welded up. I do not have a TIG machine yet and even if I did, I would not pick this tank as my first aluminum project. I was remiss on taking pics for a bit of the build as I am scrambling to get it running for the summer. Anyway, here are some pics of the finished tank. The 12 stud pump hold down works and I used 5/16 Russell EFI adapter fittings to make a new -6 fuel line as the stock will not work with the new pump location. In hindsight, I should have made the sump bigger as the pump filter and gauge float were an extremely tight fit. We would also design the mount a little different because welding it without warping was very challenging.



With the TIG out, I had this "t" welded for the merger of the two belt cooling lines. I made it huge with a Outerwear for lots of clean air. The fittings are a mix of aluminum tubing silicone fittings and cutting up the stock rear molded hose plus a tubing bead roller to ensure it all stays together without popping apart on the trail.

 
#57 ·
With these done, I made the tank frame/seat support structure that allows the seats to be adjustable with 4 bolts. The tank is surrounded on all sides with neoprene foam to keep any flex and stress on the tank to a minimum. Capacity was 20 gal before I clipped the corners off, so I am guessing 19 gal now. I also ordered a small section of 1/2" UHMW for rocker panels and mounted them similar to the way the stock panels slope up in the back. I counter sunk the bolts with a 3/4" wood paddle bit (which worked great) and decided I am really starting to like working with UHMW over aluminum.

I also chopped up the stock shifter bracket and welded it into the new seat frame.





With the seats mounting complete, fuel in the tank, and a car that should run, I had to try and take her around the block. Some shots of the car outside in the sun, running for the first time in awhile






After a few times around the block I pulled back in and decided the steering wheel was too high and close for my liking (it was way to far away stock, but I over did it!) Out with the cuttoff saw and welder.


A few shortened shafts, adjustments of the mount and bam, a lower wheel that is at a much more comfortable distance. Lesson to self, don't finalize the steering before the seat mounts! She looks really good and the hood I made is not going on, I am thinking hard about two side triangles and a drop center that goes all the way to the front bumper just above the winch. It will maximize driver visibility for crawling. Not safe to drive for real yet with the spinning driveshaft fully exposed. Shaft tunnel, dash, hood, firewalls (front and rear) away from a truly usable car. Lights will come later.
 
#59 ·
I am going to eliminate the RZR logo from the seats and I am not going to tell them it was a RZR. We have a decent dune buggy law here that I will follow but that is secondary right now to just getting it ready for driving, lots of tin work, then lights and then all the street legal stuff like horn, turn signals, "windshield" wiper setup and mirrors.

It will be interesting to see if I can pull it off. I learned a lot building trailers and getting them registered so I have some idea of what I have to do. Painting the car before going in is a bad idea, it needs to look like it was just welded together with raw aluminum body and such so it is very clear that it is homemade.
 
#60 ·
good call. if they ask, just say "ya i used a few polaris parts because they are easy to get" i wanted to get that shelby file for ya but i couldnt get it to render properly in solidworks or mastercam
 
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