Thread: What west coast style baja should Xtreme 4x4 build

Hey Guys,

Stopped in a while ago and discussed the fact that we are trying to include a few more of the "sand sports" builds into the show.

Right now we are tossing around three or four ideas, a jeep speed XJ, a Baja Bug......

What do you guys think?

I say grab a ranger and get a long travel kit and link it.

Or....

Just build a trophy truck =)

JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED JEEPSPEED JEEP SPEED

i think you shoudl biuld a super clean chevy long travel linked.with some sick sand sports graphics.

Get a newer Tacoma 02-05 custom one off everything. A-Arms 3 link/4 link 35's and just use your imagination.

I say jeep as well, BUT I know that this is going to be a scewed vote on here.

Ian I pmed you if you have any JS ?'s

if you do a jeepspeed, are you going to be able to have time to do both front rear suspension, race legal cage, fuel cell, etc... basically making it race legal and capable? it not, then id say do something else. what i would personally like to see, is get a yota, put a good LT kit up front, link the rear with a 9", gears, locker all that good stuff, glass all around, build front and rear bumpers, and if you still have time, cage it, put in race seats and harness'.

whatever you do, please dont put a fabtech lift spindle withrancho 5000s and call it a "baja project"... PLEASE DONT! get REAL suspension! look around at the trucks on this site and it'll give you a pretty good idea of how a "west coast baja project" should look.

Definitely a linked 4x yota.

I say no to jeep speed and yes on an ibeam ranger. I think you guys should build something 2wheel drive for a change, and show people how we do it on the west coast.

JEEPSPEED would be my favorite, but if not that then I say a 7s, 7 open, or even a 1600 car or a 5-1600/5 open car.

JeepSpeed may look like a crawler or mudbogger but it is first and formost a RACE CAR.

the problem i have with a jeepspeed is that it doesnt necessarily portray the majority of the "west coast style baja." what does portray the majority of the "west coast style baja" would be a built truck. just my opinion

i think you should build an i-beam f-150. = length longe travel i beams in the front, 3/4 link the rear. complete cage. and if you cant do that then i would probably want to see a baja bug.

I say if you build a Jeepspeed, it's as if a desert race shop built a rock crawler using an a arm long wheelbase platform. If you're gonna do it, do it right. By right, I mean getting it as far as you can for the money and effort. I can already hear non-believers saying, "so what's all this nonsense the long travel guys are yapping about? My truck far off from that." And I have heard that before from 4x4 guys. Solid front axle? Unibody SUV construction? You can't even get fiberglass rears. If it's going to see some terrain requiring 4x4, use 4x4 I beams, or 4x4 LT kits, like Total Chaos and Dixon Bros. Maybe a 1450 style truck. Is this entire construction going to be one off, or using kits and custom fabbing the chassis and custom work?

Building an open wheel car, like a 5 open or 1600 car, would be farily easy on a show. You can order a chassis already built and tabbed, you just buy the rest of the parts and bolt them together.

A truck you can do the same as well, but you would be getting into more dramatic of a building doing a cage in a tv episode, unless it's a complete built up over a couple of weeks.

I know we have talked about this more in depth through pm's Ian, and if you need any questions on building a baja bug style vehicle, shoot me more pm's.

I also forgot to add, the vast majority of the prerunners today that us younger kids build and drive are mostly leaf sprung vehicles.

Now, you could give Camburg a call and order a complete bolt on suspension package, front and rear, for a ranger and it will be a very very nice prerunner. Extended beams with bolt on engine cage, some 14'' c/o's; then for the rear they have their new bolt-on bed cage, get some deavers with their shackles and a smooth body or bypass shock........you would have one very clean running truck.

Even though its a 4x show, I think if you really want to show west coast style then you should just to a two wheel drive ranger with beams, and just really stress the fact that trucks are designed to go fast and just soak up the terrain and carry the speed then crawl though it like a typical 4x truck would back east.

I always have to explain why it’s so much better for wheels go so far up and down to my family back east.

No jeepspeed, Build an f-150 or a chevy, do something original, Not another ranger...

I am going to say do something a little diffrent, why not build F150 Supercrew or a Toyota Tacoma, this way you can still take the friends or family out to the dezert on the weekends's
and to dinner on the weekday.
Buy a custom L/T front end from Camburg, H&M, Total Chaos, ESB, G&M Fab(sorry, I had to), fully caged front to rear with set of Deavers and Bi-pass's in the back.
Just remember that we like to keep our cage as close to the cab as possible, with as few bends as possible. Not like your ranger build that had the bends in the "V" window bars!!!

Here are a few pics of what I am talking about...

i say f 150 just my vote

SuperCrew

Well whatever you build... Make sure you weld some gussets and plating on the shock hoops to the frame... Cause the Cheap Jeep hoops I saw on your show last night are coming OFF that truck the first time it sees some serious work... Two hoops suspended in air welded to the top of the frame ain't gonna cut it... and butt welding a two piece tube together with the seam right where the top shock mount is with NO sleeve in the joint is also not something anyone on here would do... Well, not and get away with out taking some serious shit for it... Normally I like your shows... but that piece of fabrication was just wrong... and you taught a WHOLE bunch of cable viewers thats how it's done... I was in shock... (no pun intended)

IMHO... Jeff

Baja bug gets my first vote, or a buggy like a 1600 car. Just dont try to put 36" TSL's on it, hahahaha, jk. And not a sandcar. More like a racecar.

Otherwise a fullsize prerunner, 2wd 88-98 chevy, I-beam f150, or TTB Bronco.

No Rangers, too common, and everybody allready knows how to build a ranger and whats available for them. You wouldn't be teaching anybody anything.

sorry not to steal the thread but aiirracing where can i find more pictures and info on that supercrew?

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (FullsizeFun @ Aug. 28 2005,1:38)]No Rangers, too common, and everybody allready knows how to build a ranger and whats available for them. You wouldn't be teaching anybody anything.

They would'nt be teaching 200 guys in So CAL anything... But they would be teaching several thousand people all over the country a LOT including several hundred right here in River City.

I say as long as has IFS you'r on the right track.

I say you build my Ranger. I've already got the McNeil long travel front and 3 link. It just needs to be installed.

First just one question? Have yall already finished the Ranger that yall were building? I watch the show on a regular basis and have maybe only missed like 1 or 2 shows and I havent seen it in a while.

Second, I would like to see and F-1. I think the ranger is too common, but I would not mind seeing another one. (Mainly because I like em. ) But the F-150 would be sweet. That way you can take the family out to get dinner, or take it to the desert. Or even use it as a tow vehicle for your ranger that yall are building. But you would still need an l/t front, deavers in the back (make it more cost effective), front and rear bumpers, engine cage, bed cage, and maybe even a cab cage that is nicely tucked away. Some nice seats, and a spare tire carrier. Thats just my .02 cents though. Thanks and I love your show. Take it easy

Chris

Ian, why don't you buy an older car 1600, 12/13 or baja bug and update the shocks, suspension, safety, etc. to modern standards? It would be less fabrication and be helpful to people who would like to start racing but don't know how. *
Then let me and Jessi race it in an event. Then I can die a happy man and you will have some great episodes.

Baja bugs are dinosaurs. You rarely see one on the streets anymore. But here in SoCal you see thousands of wannabe prerunners running around with white fenders, and a few fully built trucks that are race ready for 1450. I say build a 2wd mini or full size, but do it right. I suggest buying genuine desert suspension from a reputable SoCal company, as stated by others. Have someone from here guide you on how to cage it front to rear. Your Ranger project cage work was an embarrassment. Why don't you guys have guest builders on the show? It would lend a lot of credibility to what you build.

Build a Ranger. Call up Geoff at Giant Motorsports, you could have a truck that's mostly bolt on--extended beams up front with bolt on engine cage, 64 kit with the new bolt on bedcage while keeping the bed! The only welding in the entire project would be the leaf pads on the rear axle!

i think the Giant Ranger thing is a great idea. If not that Ryan had a good idea with getting a yota and then buying everything from camburg (For simplicity) or go to diff manufactures like TC and deaver themselves. But I would say keep it pretty simple, no linking, not a lot of welding. just my 2 cents

Since "too common" is part of the topic now... everybody has leaves. All worthy stock trucks come with leaves, not to mention highly modded 4x4s. Even aftermarket shock placement is used for articulation on rock crawlers. Shock mounted links that pull 3 feet of travel is something a lot of people outside of the desert community don't know about. There are plenty of bolt on link kits, and Giant even has their weld-it-yourself kits for a really cheap price. Hell, this is national TV, shops would be dying for this kind of coverage. Ditch the expensive wheels, whatever hundred dollar catbacks, graphics, interior, 4130 chromo, ask for donations from retailers/shops, and build a worthy machine that will amaze viewers by showcasing technology not seen elsewhere. Keep the fabrication to what's necessary: bumper, roll cage, rear shock mounts. I say no to the Chevy and Toyota. I assume you guys don't want to do a full tubular core support, or have your Toyota corner lights pop out during the shooting. Ford has durability on its side as far as keeping more stock body parts. If the bed is kept(unfortunately), tacoma owners know how much their cab wants to F with it.

how about a new meyers manxter uses a bug chassie comes all as a kit. great for the sand. they go any where if i gets stuck u just pick it up and move it.
or a twin traction 4x4 ford bronco w widened beams, 3 seats, and fiberglass fenders, coilovers, etc. very common pre-runner out here.

Sure, the link pivots bolt on to the frame, but I was referring to all the welding you'd have to do to the rearend, time spent building a cage strong enough to support the shock load you'll see, and all the $ spent on a 9inch. You can just run the 8.8 and run a simple 5/8" rod gusset to hold the axle tubes in to the diff with the 64 kit. Do you want to build some "exotica" project? Or do you want to build something more tangible to the viewer?

Toyota and Rangers are all over the place. Jeep is the new thing. The cherokee has a strong following all over the country
Check out www.NAXJA.com

There were million of the sold and Jeepspeed is living proof that they are strong cars. use a 4 door model and put 4 seats in it. Perfect 4 seat prerunner/race car.

Steve

im not sure if anyone has said this yet...
i would say build something completly custom. by that i mean to design and build the suspension, and whatever else you can from scratch. only use off the shelf parts such as a fuel cell, spherical bearings and things like that. this way viewers can see what actually goes into designing a well performing suspension system. an example would be to show the each step, measuring... calculating... designing/drafting... cutting/bending each piece... building fixtures... final assembly/cycling. show things that most dont get a chance to see in a regular fab shop, or might not have a great understanding of.

that would be really cool to see, but it would take forever.

my point exactly, bolt-on can be a two show(front, then rear), or even one show deal if you want. Or hell, you can drag it out with little upgrades here and there while you're at it too.

i go with alot of what hollowpoint said and a little further,build something that you two,[ian and jesse],can race in the 1450 class.it would be something that most people want to do and could show mant different types and stages of building.start out with leaves,which most of us do ,and go to 3/4 link coilover setup later.it would bring alot of interest into 1450,not that it doesnt have a full field but it shows that almost anybody can do it.i say ranger because of availability of parts but......