Poor man's side by side

[NS Gearhead]

It's much better then it was... but still louder then I'd like. Muffler and parts were all of $80...so I wasn't expecting too much. I won't be catching air with it... but a little vid may be possible. LOL

 

[crazyal]

Have a friend who had a Suzuki Samurai that welded the rear end. Worked great until he drove on pavement and destroyed the spider gears. After that he bought a locker, I think LA lockright, seamed to work just fine and was cheap. He did both front and rear. If your looking for a fun project add a roll cage to it just in case. For non road going Sizukis it's not uncommon to see an exoskeleton. Of course if you're not careful you could end up with lots of money into it.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I have two of those mufflers under my Dodge 250.. simple turn downs after.. Makes a beautiful, loud, noise

 

[NS Gearhead]

Have a friend who had a Suzuki Samurai that welded the rear end. Worked great until he drove on pavement and destroyed the spider gears. After that he bought a locker, I think LA lockright, seamed to work just fine and was cheap. He did both front and rear. If your looking for a fun project add a roll cage to it just in case. For non road going Sizukis it's not uncommon to see an exoskeleton. Of course if you're not careful you could end up with lots of money into it.

Yeah, Lockrights are about $300 each. Not quite budget cheap... but a possibility if I find myself stuck too much. The two things I want to spend money on are 31" tires and new low range gears. I found some super aggressive re-treads for $175 each... and the 4.2 low range costs about $650 (factory low is 1.8). It seems to have decent power once you get it reving... but that's still 20km/hr in low range... way too fast for offroad. I do have a Jeep TJ roll cage my buddy donated for the cause. Looks like it'll fit nice with some slight modification.

 

[buickanddeere]

We wasted a load of time and money with a home built go kart. Would have been way farther ahead with a golf cart, after market posi and small ATV tires.

 

[NS Gearhead]

You got it. I was collecting parts for a two seater go kart... but soon realized this is the way to go. Much cheaper and easyer.

Went to bolt on some manual hubs so I'd finally have 4x4, only to discover the hub flanges are way thinner...and the bolts bottom out


That'll have to wait until monday... so I moved on to the rockers. Jacked her up and hogged out the front wheelwell about an inch to allow for bigger sneakers and get rid of some rust.


Measured and cut the 2x3s, then capped them






After lots of drilling and grinding




Still have to fix this corner and weld the fender

 

[GolfAddict]

Good progress! I'm sure having fun watching you.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Thanks GolfAddict! Glad I can provide some entertainment.

Got some welding gas and got back at it. Replaced the rotted section of A pillar, and welded the fender to the 2x3


Seam sealer


Painted black until I can decide what color it's gonna be




Side #1 done! We have a little saying around here; "She's pretty from affar, but far from being pretty!" Pretty much sums this up. I do try to do a good job as it's good practice, but it's nice knowing it's just a beater and doesn't need to be perfect.

 

[scesnick]

I had a Yamaha Rhino a few years back but i think my next vehicle for the farm will be one of these. You can usually pick one up for around 5k. You can fit a round bale in the bed and you can even get them with a dump bed if you look around a bit.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Those little trucks are pretty cool. It'd probably work very well for what I'm doing too. I'll have to look at them pretty close when it's time to replace the tracker.

Costs so far;
Tracker- $500
Square tube- $40
Manual hubs- $40
Exhaust- $80

Total so far- $660


What do you guys think for paint? I've got three options in mind; flat black with gloss black flames, drab olive, or neon green with the A pillars and roll cage flat black.

 

[GLyford]

My uncle worked in the woods his whole life. He had a couple of IH scouts he used to tote saws and supplies around with that were usually left on the jobsite while he was toting logs to the mill. They started life your basic farmall red, and he noticed that his supplies were always getting messed with, or growing feet. He repainted both of them pine green and never had another issue with that. So of your choices, I like OD green...

 

[Yandaddy1110]

I had a Yamaha Rhino a few years back but i think my next vehicle for the farm will be one of these. You can usually pick one up for around 5k. You can fit a round bale in the bed and you can even get them with a dump bed if you look around a bit.

I dont know why these mini trucks are not more popular with this UTV craze. Better and more comfortable than any side by side and street legal ( in my state).

 

[NS Gearhead]

I dont know why these mini trucks are not more popular with this UTV craze. Better and more comfortable than any side by side and street legal ( in my state).

I agree with you to a point. They've got a cab, heat, and radio that would all be extras on a normal UTV... but they're not ment to be driven offroad like a fourwheeler. They'll putt along like you or I may... but they'd never hold up to atv type abuse. I'm assuming the same of my tracker. It'll hold up decent if I putt along.

 

[JohnP3616]

I'm voting olive drab green.

Johnp

 

[Midniteoyl]

Paint it Real Tree or Mossy Oak.. The truck pictured is cool too :thumbsup:

 

[Xfaxman]

Paint it Real Tree or Mossy Oak.. The truck pictured is cool too :thumbsup:

Yep those camo paint jobs are neat! And effective, here is my Real Tree parked in the woods.

 

[grainger12002]

great job, NS, they are fun,my buddy has a tracker as his beater and its a runner...

 

[NS Gearhead]

Turned the old girl around to give the other side the same treatment... but the driver's side is worse.


Why the heck would they run wires through the sills!?!


Just to see how much I gain over stock repacements


Still couldn't decide so got one of each


Forgot to take the pic before turning it around... but yeah, I'm leaning towards the drab olive. It covers way better!


The neon was noting but stripes... so I replaced the tip with a Duplicolor tip that sprays in a fan pattern rather then a spot. Worked way better. I may give that fender a 2nd coat before deciding....

 

[crazyal]

I like the spray on bed liner paint. Stuff seams real durable and a little more dent resistant.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Yeah, I've got a couple buddies that do them and I could get it for the price of material... but I don't think it's worth it. I think a kit's $150, plus the hastle of floating it there... it doesn't clean very easy either...