Ok, finally got the buggy off of jack stands, with all of the current weight on the tires/shocks:
1) The "dune buggy" now feels much more like a big go-kart now that its almost a foot closer to the ground.
2) I tacked on the engine mounting plate. Im about 95% positive of its location, but no harm done waiting for full welds.
3) Im closer to being done than I thought, thibgs like breaks/throttle are not far out.
4) I got lucky and guessed spot on with the rear shocks. They are stiff, but not too stiff, and tgey have about 10" of travel. I doubt ill need it, but its there.
5) Front shocks, I didnt guess as well. They are WAY too steep of an angle, and under full load the A-arms are basically parralel with the ground. In hindsight I think they would be fine if they were more upright, but im in too deep to easily change that.
6) To fix the front, ill start easy and put a third shock at a much more vertical angle, ill mount it on the top A arm, and the vertical bolt will be on the outside of the support bar running from my bumper to roll cage. The lower mount will be within an inch of tge outtee end of tge top A-arm. That will help reduce the torque from the eztra length if A arm between the tire and wheel. The 2 current shocks definitely have that as another issue causing them to collapse easily. If that all fails, ill chop all three shocks out, and put the same springs I have in the back, up front. If I could go back in time, thats exactly what I would do. They wouls be a little stiff, but good enough.
6) While Im waiting for parts ill make my tie rods
The pic with the wheels on the ground has a jack under the front to stop it from collapsing.
