To Build or Buy a Buggy/Juggy

Loganwayne

Loganwayne

#BTL
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Location
Clyde, North Carolina
So the xj is for sale. And ive been hunting for the next rig. ive found a couple chassis for sale that could be a decent deal on them. i have a couple options on motors and trans and transfer cases from a buddy. and possibly a set of axles. looking for options on what people have done, and if you were to have a choice to build or buy again what would you do.
most of the rigs ive found that would be in my budget would need some work cant afford a turn key rig

I am not going to start from scratch building my own chassis i dont have time/skills/patience of that.
 
Figure out your "must haves" and your budget and go from there. I recommend buying already built but needs work. Also be ready to buy immediately b/c really good deals/motivated sellers don't sit around. For me it was tube chassis, LS, automatic and tons mostly ready to ride. It took me about 4 or 5 months before i found mine. I also left work on friday and drove almost 900 miles one way to pick it up on Saturday. I don't have very much sticktoitiveness so buying semi complete was my best option.
 
redneckjeep87 said:
Honestly from what i have seen over the ladt year or so it appears much cheaper to buy a buggy ready to go.
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That's what I've seen but on the flip side I have figured about what it would cost for the big ticket items to build what I want if I find a chassis for close to what I want to spend and it seems like it would end up being close to same cost


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Loganwayne said:
That's what I've seen but on the flip side I have figured about what it would cost for the big ticket items to build what I want if I find a chassis for close to what I want to spend and it seems like it would end up being close to same cost


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yeah - but if you buy one, you get to use it now. If you build it, you'll be using it in 2 years.

It always comes down to the value of time. If you really have a lot of time available and don't put a particularly high value on your time, then built it. If you're a really busy guy and building really means that you're going to miss every good wheeling opportunity for the next year+, and that will bother you - then just buy it.

Some people really just like building stuff and the "chase" of the ideal machine more than the actual use of it. Nothing wrong with that - but it really helps to know if that is you or not.
 
RatLabGuy said:
yeah - but if you buy one, you get to use it now. If you build it, you'll be using it in 2 years.

It always comes down to the value of time. If you really have a lot of time available and don't put a particularly high value on your time, then built it. If you're a really busy guy and building really means that you're going to miss every good wheeling opportunity for the next year+, and that will bother you - then just buy it.

Some people really just like building stuff and the "chase" of the ideal machine more than the actual use of it. Nothing wrong with that - but it really helps to know if that is you or not.
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if i bought a chassis, i have motor, trans, transfer case, axles (if i want to go with them) and tires that friends have that are willing to give me deals on to get it done. that said i think a 6 month build would be pushing it but possible if i worked on it every weekend which is possible for the most part.
 
I'm going to rebuild my xj in the not too distant future which is why I'm gathering parts for another xj chassis in my shop. I don't want to miss any opportunities to ride. So my plan is to build this one then start looking for what I need to redo mine. From what I have seen though it's cheaper to buy a rig someone is tired of. However every one I have seen for good deals has things I don't think I want so I'd likely end up redoing it.
 
ghost said:
I'm going to rebuild my xj in the not too distant future which is why I'm gathering parts for another xj chassis in my shop. I don't want to miss any opportunities to ride. So my plan is to build this one then start looking for what I need to redo mine.
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that was my original plan to wheel the xj and build something till its done but the funds arent really there to do both. i can start piecing one together now and then when the xj sells get about 90% of the way done i think.
 
I have a disease known as unrealisticexpectedsparetimearitis. I have had it for years. It seems to be incurable. Somehow I always think that I have/will have more spare time than I do. A perfect example is my Samurai project. I will probably end up parting out the rest of it and selling all the new parts I purchased to build it. If only I could survive on 2 hrs of sleep...

I would spend the time looking for the right turnkey rig, or at least something very close to turn key. That may be what I end up doing, or I may just end up out of the game completely.
 
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drkelly said:
I have a disease known as unrealisticexpectedsparetimearitis. Somehow I always think that I have/will have more spare time than I do. A perfect example is my Samurai project. I will probably end up parting out the rest of it and selling all the new parts I purchased to build it. If only I could survive on 2 hrs of sleep...

I would spend the time looking for the right turnkey rig, or at least something very close to turn key. That may be what I end up doing, or I may just end up out of the game completely.
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The only thing I have going for me is I'm not married and don't have any kids yet


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You need to put on paper what each direction will cost and what actual costs to build individual items are.
For example, my front 60, with good but not super duper awesome parts on it, was almost $5500 with me doing all of the work myself.
 
Jody Treadway said:
You need to put on paper what each direction will cost and what actual costs to build individual items are.
For example, my front 60, with good but not super duper awesome parts on it, was almost $5500 with me doing all of the work myself.
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Well let's keep tooting the money bags horn why don't we

Jk ya that's a good point


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Loganwayne said:
Well let's keep tooting the money bags horn why don't we

Jk ya that's a good point


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It's not about money, it's about a good investment in parts and having a plan. I saved until I had an appropriate budget so I wouldn't be wrenching on my rig when I was supposed to be out wheeling.

My point to you is not to look at a rig and see a pair of tons and think "I'm done with the axles". If they have stock shafts, joints, knuckles, brakes, etc, the cost to upgrade them is $$$. Same goes for the transfer case, wheels and tires, suspension, etc.
 
Jody Treadway said:
It's not about money, it's about a good investment in parts and having a plan. I saved until I had an appropriate budget so I wouldn't be wrenching on my rig when I was supposed to be out wheeling.

My point to you is not to look at a rig and see a pair of tons and think "I'm done with the axles". If they have stock shafts, joints, knuckles, brakes, etc, the cost to upgrade them is $$$. Same goes for the transfer case, wheels and tires, suspension, etc.
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and that is what ive seen to be my problem. the turn key rigs that a "done good to go" are 15+ which is more than i want/afford to spend. ive found some rigs that would be close to what im looking for that would still need 2-5 grand total to get where i would want them, but are wheel able as is for a while. or i could build something as i go and catch a ride with a big orange jeep and talk shit to everyone till i finish something.

or option three back up and punt and go fish for the next three years
 
Loganwayne said:
and that is what ive seen to be my problem. the turn key rigs that a "done good to go" are 15+ which is more than i want/afford to spend. ive found some rigs that would be close to what im looking for that would still need 2-5 grand total to get where i would want them, but are wheel able as is for a while. or i could build something as i go and catch a ride with a big orange jeep and talk shit to everyone till i finish something.

or option three back up and punt and go fish for the next three years
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gay
 
I enjoy building more than I do wheeling. Subject to change, as I haven't wheeled in a while. Cheaper to buy built but wayyyyy more fun to build it. You gain an appreciation for the work that goes into it by building one from the ground up and learn ways to do it more efficiently next time around.
If anyone ever wondered how and why a buggy can cost upwards of 30-$100k or more, try duplicating it. ;) You'll figure it out.
 
Been down this road a couple of times over the years. I must have the same disease as drkelly, I have ended up parting more rigs than I have ever finished putting together. At face value a couple of years to put a rig together doesn't seem too bad, but after a while it sucks to have something eat up all your spare time for so long. I have also seen way too many people start a big build get burnt out and just never come back to wheeling. Built from the ground up or bought I have seen very few rigs over the years that the owner was not constantly changing and upgrading as they went. Long story short, in my opinion it is worth buying something ready to wheel or close to it, then after wheeling a while decide what you would like to change.
 
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Going through the build process of a few buggies that still aren't quite finished...

I wish I had found a decent used buggy and just bought it and made changes along the way. It takes way too much time to build from scratch that I could be enjoying the trails with the family.
 
drkelly said:
I have a disease known as unrealisticexpectedsparetimearitis.
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This right here. In my experience, most people are very bad at judging how long tasks take, especially big projects. I know I am terrible about it.
"Oh that's just take a Saturday afternoon", yeah, right. 3 weekends later, still not complete. In part b/c of just being bad at estimating how long the actual job takes, and the other is not accounting for other things getting in the way.

My mom said to me recently - when I was talking about how long it's taken to get around to getting the basement finished,"Look, I learned a long time ago that however long your father said it will take to do something, I expect double that."

If you just like building shit - great. Have fun building your ideal buggy. But don't fool yourself into thinking you really will work every weekend for 6 months.

@shawn is there a tool where we can setup a calendar reminder to bring back/check in on a thread at some future date? E.g. this comes back in 6 months...
I say we start laying wages on this.
 
RatLabGuy said:
This right here. In my experience, most people are very bad at judging how long tasks take, especially big projects. I know I am terrible about it.
"Oh that's just take a Saturday afternoon", yeah, right. 3 weekends later, still not complete. In part b/c of just being bad at estimating how long the actual job takes, and the other is not accounting for other things getting in the way.

My mom said to me recently - when I was talking about how long it's taken to get around to getting the basement finished,"Look, I learned a long time ago that however long your father said it will take to do something, I expect double that."

If you just like building shit - great. Have fun building your ideal buggy. But don't fool yourself into thinking you really will work every weekend for 6 months.

@shawn is there a tool where we can setup a calendar reminder to bring back/check in on a thread at some future date? E.g. this comes back in 6 months...
I say we start laying wages on this.
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this. holy shit, this.

my entire adult life can be summed up this way. I love my family but if they would clear out for about three days I could get so much done. One time my wife took the kids to Alabama to visit a friend. After the first day of just enjoying the peace and quiet I was able to knock a lot down. I used to think I could get things done quickly but that was a bust. So I started doubling my timeline. Now, I just need to quadruple it just to be safe.
 
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