4 door baja

Offroad VW based vehicles have problems/insights all their own. Not to mention the knowledge gained in VW durability.
Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

On your steering shaft, do you have a support for the center universal? It is a normal requirement when 3 or more universals are used.

I edited your pix and it looks like you may not but since the head lights are so bright the camera did not get good light and dark background images.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Ol'fogasaurus wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 7:55 pm On your steering shaft, do you have a support for the center universal? It is a normal requirement when 3 or more universals are used.

I edited your pix and it looks like you may not but since the head lights are so bright the camera did not get good light and dark background images.

Lee
KBWAKESK8 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 8:12 am Image
Electrical is almost done power steering is awesome Image


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I have 4 u joints in the steering and the electric power steering out of a Saturn Vue is bolted to the cage.
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Image
Here’s a better view


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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

KB, thanks for the pix, could you take one similar to the previous one one with the lights off and going back to where the steering wheel is supported.

Since I can post pictures right now (a new computer that has screwed up things big time) I am not sure if the box in the middle is a power steering unit of some kind and how its supported or just what is going on.

Not trying to be a pain just making sure of things I have seen go wrong with others (and almost with myself). I've seen things done and they were happy with the change and other were not so happy.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Image
Here is another picture I had on my phone I will talk more on the weekend


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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

Thanks KB, I think I understand what you are doing.

What I think is the power steering is supported tying down the second universal. Then the upper part of the steering shaft is tied to the cross tube of the cage where the dash is. A lot of tubes there and it got kind of confusing looking at it; it was my job, for over 35 years, to do my work and also check other's work and even now, after 20+ years of retirement, I still slip into the "checking format" very easily. :oops: :lol: .

My "checking" job was for completeness of/to the rules (company, national, and international) but most important to keep people safe. I signed both before and after the Engineer signed off on the drawing (manual and CAD).

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Lee I appreciate the feed back.
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

KBWAKESK8 wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:52 pm Lee I appreciate the feed back.
I've only seen a couple of 4-seat rails in the past personally as the area I ride in, while it does have larger open areas, but it also has tighter narrower, e.g., tighter turn areas in the trees and tightly spaced dunes especially around ground water lakes in the dunes.

But it is good to see newer and different things which might give someone new ideas.

Keep 'er going as it is going to be fun to to watch and for you and your passengers to drive and ride in.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Image
It drives.


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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

Looks good. You have a lot of "bridgework" there which is good for "side hits" and "roll-over" safety plus load transfering.

Question, it the steering going to be height and length adjustment (in the pass compt)? If the seats are tied to the floor and not adjustable, then maybe there may become a need for steering wheel height and length adjustment.

Also, the vision from the lower windshield edge also going to be OK.

These are (AW-sh!! :lol: ) things that I have run into in the past, in different builds, that weren't obvious until I started driving them.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

The driver's seat is on a slide. The steering wheel looks high but it feels good driving. The power steering makes this drive so easy. I need to adjust the gas pedal location. Trying to set the car up so my Wife can drive it too. After rolling my last car I wanted to overcompensate with the cage.
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

KBWAKESK8 wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 11:26 am The driver's seat is on a slide. The steering wheel looks high but it feels good driving. The power steering makes this drive so easy. I need to adjust the gas pedal location. Trying to set the car up so my Wife can drive it too. After rolling my last car I wanted to overcompensate with the cage.
That is kind of what I was referring to.

I had to put another person's sand rail together a couple of years ago and the locating of things ended up being a debate with different opinions as to what, where, and why. It was sold, then redone and things were moved around again from what I was told.

I've also talked to guys who changed things to their opinions and later either changed them back then changed things again.

Nothing is perfect especially when new ideas are seen and "Whoof" what a great idea "then see the previous paragraph again". Age sometimes causes changes after a few years of use.

As to the cage, weaknesses often are not fully noticed until something happens that reveals those hidden, but sometimes obvious, weaknesses.

Isn't life great?

Keep up the good work for sure.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

This car is my test build before I build my vw thing for the same reasons.
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by Ol'fogasaurus »

Something else to think about and that is side crash bars. As I have said before, my Honda Pilot has been side whacked several times now. NOt sure where you are riding and how busy it is, but side protection might be something to think about.

Lee
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KBWAKESK8
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Re: 4 door baja

Post by KBWAKESK8 »

Image
So I got a little side tracked. I found a Thing


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