Bench Building

BigBody79

BigBody79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Location
Lumberton
I want to build something like this:

I would like to find a donor. Thinking Chevy tracker or grand vitara.

Ideally I wanted 4cyl auto t case with high and low.

Keep the whole running gear and frame. Keep firewall and dash. Probably keep floors. 33 or smaller. No lift.

Would like a windshield of some sort.

Would like it as narrow as possible 60 to 65.

Being sold as dune buggy. Finance seemed ok with dune buggy but not rock crawler.
 

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I'm confused. What does this have to do with building benches?
 
Similar to bench racing just with building. I think it is a good idea. I figured posting it here would let me know what I haven’t thought about
 
I want to do something like this with my subaru legacy chassis when it dies
 
I've been day dreaming of buying a cheap beat up/rolled 4 door Tracker or Vitara for a few years now for something like this. I would remove the doors, and chop all the metal except for the firewall, and floor boards. I would then build a cage, weld the rear, maybe a locker in the front, and run some 34" TSL's.

Something like this:
2000 suzuki vitara 4x4
 
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Am I correct to say this are body on frame? Also thought s-10 blazer. But they seem like they’d be much heavier.

Tracker/vitara seem to let go of engines
 
Narrow track steering Dana 30s front and rear
 
Dont rule out one of the old Kia sportage if you can still find one. IIRC they had a much stronger frame and running gears than the trackers. No idea on aftermarket parts, but sounds like you would be keeping the running gears stock.....
 
What size tube for the cage? I was thinking like 1.75 .120 wall.

How does the x brace on the b pillar affect the rear passengers?
 
BigBody79 said:
Am I correct to say this are body on frame? Also thought s-10 blazer. But they seem like they’d be much heavier.

Tracker/vitara seem to let go of engines
Click to expand...

Yes, the Tracker/Vitara are body on frame. I don't really know, but would guess the Tracker/Vitara engines are maybe a 1/2 notch or so below many others with regards to longevity.
 
junkxj said:
Dont rule out one of the old Kia sportage if you can still find one. IIRC they had a much stronger frame and running gears than the trackers. No idea on aftermarket parts, but sounds like you would be keeping the running gears stock.....
Click to expand...

KIA sportages have stout (fully boxed IIRC) frames. The rear is already set up with links. That would be a great URE Beater.


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RatLabGuy said:
I'm confused. What does this have to do with building benches?
Click to expand...
I was hoping to see some good bench tech. A man needs a good bench around the house.
 
There are quite a few builds and/or conversations about this topic, in the zuk section on pirate.

- As said, the tracker/vitara/sidekick are body on frame. The frame lends itself very well for a flat skid.
- IFS (strut) front & 4link rear.
- you will want atleast a '95 kick as that was first year for 16v. The 99+ with a 2.0l/2.3l/v6 are even more powerful, and have a 4spd auto.
- 1st gen (88-98) kick/tracker used a steering box, 2nd gen tracker uses a rack.
- WMS is ~58".
- geared fairly deep already (4.30-5.13), but not much option for deeper ratios.
- tcase is chain drive, 1:1 high & 1.8:1 low. Only gearing option is 4.24:1 low. There is a few folks that are building doublers. Many pull this case and install a sami case.
- yota axles are popular swap, but they are too narrow in stock form.
- google Mike Hagan to search on IFS upgrades that he has done. He puts big tires on factory style IFS.
- Calamini EDSES converts strut front to double A-arm. Has had some good reviews, but hard to get and not cheap. Also only for 1st gen.



The pic showed in the first post is a 4dr kick. I intended to replicate something similar, using sxs body panels. The kick is too wide factory, so the firewall would need to be shaved down quite a bit.

I preferred to keep the firewall and windshield, so i just hacked as much extra metal off that i could and tubed it out:

full


This was with 30" tires, basically stock suspension. I tried 34s; they rubbed and it was anemic, but it was also a 1.6l 8v, 5spd, stock gears. I have a 2.0l donor currently, that will run circles around the 8v.
 
I believe that a later model with 2.3l or v6 would handle 33s without much issue. Esp if it was mainly for street/beach/etc. It problem wouldn't like them much in the rocks.

The later auto ones had a slightly higher axle ratio too, so 5.13s would be doable to swap in.

XL7 is the one to get, if you can find one cheap. They had a steel front axle housing vs alum. They would also be alum v6.

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Stock Samurai TC gear ratios are 1.41 high range, and 2.27 high range. It is the only TC I know of that is not 1:1 in high range. All the low gear sets for the Samurai TC reduce the low range, but also reduce the high range. The 6.5:1 gears I have in my Sami TC reduce the high range ratio by 20%. Stock Samurai axle gears are 3.73, so with the stock TC it is like having 5.26 axle gears. With my 6.5:1 TC gears it was like having 6.31 axle gears when running in high range. I was able to run 34" tires with a 1.6 16v motor and it felt like it was geared properly and had plenty of power. This is why it is popular to swap into Trackers and Sidekicks. If I ever built the rig I am day dreaming of, it would be off-road only so I would probably just buy the 4.24 gears for the stock Kick TC and I think it would be fine with an auto tranny and a 2.0 or 2.3 motor.
 
What's the recommendation on tubing for a cage on something like this? It's not a full blown rock bouncer but would like to also not die.
 
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