To Build or Buy a Buggy/Juggy

Having just finished a rebuild (now needing to build out lol) i can tell you first hand my ameuter thoughts

>i could have cut costs in half had i not bought paint
>could have saved alot of time if I had simply bought a rig that had a solid frame and solidly mounted body without rot
>dreams change. like overnight. and that gets expensive and frustrating during a build.
>a bolt on like item can kick you in the nuts and take 5 hours instead of 5 minutes.
 
McCracken said:
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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Every year my wife takes the kids to her moms for a week during the summer.
"Sorry hon, I really need to work."

I line up a shit ton of projects and just work straight through that time. Hell this year I might just take off of work anyway so I have the week just to myself.
 
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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Wow hold up. I'm not no big money baller might take me 6 months to scratch up the cash lol



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RatLabGuy said:
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.".
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No joke, my wife just triples whatever time I tell her, and it's usually spot on.
Me: "I'm going down to the shop for an hour"
. . . <3 hours later>
Me: "Sorry it took so long"
Her: "It's not ok, but it's what I expected. Why do you always do this?!?!?!?!"
 
Loganwayne said:
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.
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The fact that your single without kids would be the only reason you could do it in 6 months; if your a proficient fabricator.

I built my buggy, (like you single no kids) in 5 months... at that time with 15 years fabricating experience, working 4-5 12 hour days a week on it, (my business allows me a great deal of shop time... some times). You'd be hard pressed to get that accomplished just on weekends, but I don't know your work ethic or experience level.

Don't forget to figure consumables and shop costs for metal and such... gets expensive without realizing it.

I'm all for someone building their own rig, makes them a better trail partner who knows their truck inside and out... and how to fix it. (I can tell you the wrench size and/or tool combination needed to get to every nut and bolt on the manche, but I'm not done and its still quite fresh in my brain...[emoji16]).

The more you do on your own on this build, the better the NEXT build will be...

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RatLabGuy said:
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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I think I know this dude, stupid bastard stares at me in the mirror everyday...

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jeepinmatt said:
No joke, my wife just triples whatever time I tell her, and it's usually spot on.
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I do the same with the time-frame she gives me on when she'll be "ready"
 
jeepinmatt said:
No joke, my wife just triples whatever time I tell her, and it's usually spot on.
Me: "I'm going down to the shop for an hour"
. . . <3 hours later>
Me: "Sorry it took so long"
Her: "It's not ok, but it's what I expected. Why do you always do this?!?!?!?!"
Click to expand...

Man those conversations sound exactly the same at my house. I dont give times anymore, just use stuff like "a bit" "little while" "be back shortly". They are always too long. I found the best way to circumvent alot of that is repurposing the baby monitor to listening device in my shop. That way I can hear her start complaining about me being gone, and I know its time to head back in.
 
Bhudgins said:
Jeep Rock crawler
I have been eyeing this looks like a good start to a nice buggy

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I believe that tube chassis was on here some time back. It might be a decent deal, depending on what are in the axles. Tires are worth a little, but shot.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Man those conversations sound exactly the same at my house. I dont give times anymore, just use stuff like "a bit" "little while" "be back shortly". They are always too long. I found the best way to circumvent alot of that is repurposing the baby monitor to listening device in my shop. That way I can hear her start complaining about me being gone, and I know its time to head back in.
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That's some next level stuff man! Thanks for the tip!
 
McCracken said:
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.
Click to expand...

My most productive days for working on anything are when my son is at school, my wife is at work, and I take a day of ETO. I'm fortunate that I've been with the same company for over 15 years and get a good amount of vacation.
 
The only time I get to work on my own rig is usually Sunday afternoons. Nobody is out driving around to drop in my shop and I keep the doors closed. Luckily my wife is understanding and "gets it" that my personal shop time is the same as her trailrunning time or someone else's grab a beer at the bar time.

OP- you'll save time and money by buying someone else's rig and putting your own touches on it. With your new career taking off, you won't have an abundance of free time to work on a ground up build. Put a value on your time and how it can be used most effectively.
Why don't I have a buggy of my own when I do have the skills for a ground up build? Because (until I have a dedicated shop of my own at home) I can spend the same time making money instead of spending money. Think about it like that buddy.
 
I built my current rig from 2 blank frame rails to what it is now. it was fun but I don't think I would do it again. When I look around at buggy prices vs what I have in mine and the 3 years I spent building it instead of wheeling I just don't see that it was worth it. Plus it still is not where I want it. Like said in a previous post wants and ideas change over night so even though i built it from scratch I'm still constantly changing things.
 
McCracken said:
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.
Click to expand...

I remember that weekend. For a smart feller, you actually thought there was a Horse Shoe, Alabama.
I knocked a lot down that weekend myself
 
Buy and then modify to your style. Plenty of nicely built rigs out there that need nothing or just a little work to finish. Just be careful of getting someones shit storm.
 
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