need a little help...

[dwarner]

Stephan,

Before you run on the dirt/salt, the actual race track, you will have to change the wheel tire combo. Is that something the car accomendates well?

DW

[RoosterBooster]

Stephan,

First, never appologize for your command of English, you have done great!

The plan of running the sand before the dirt or salt makes sense. Many LSR cars are sold as "rollers". The majority of the cost is in the drive line. You have what appears to be a killer engine, trans and rearend.

Look on this Forum under LSR "stuff for sale". Another good source is the ads in the Bonneville Racing News. That's how we got our chassis.

Tom

Tom, thanks for the compliment
yes, i think taking the dune buggy to the salt will only be the first step..... i guess after we got our first taste of "salt" we will be back for more 
buying a chassis or maybe building something from the ground up (this time with the rule-book at hand  ) sounds like a possibility

[RoosterBooster]

Stephan,

Before you run on the dirt/salt, the actual race track, you will have to change the wheel tire combo. Is that something the car accomendates well?

DW

DW
i build my cars very different then the average dune buggies;
i actually use a lot of roadracing/circletrack parts. the front and rear hubs are Speedway Engineering (Nascar style) large bearing Grand Nationals. the rears run on 3" full floater snouts for safety. the bolt pattern is 5.5 on 5  so there is a large selection of rim sizes available.
i like to use front and rear sway bars; they are also a Speedway Engineering product and can be adjusted (by replacing the torque tube with thicker/thinner wall thickness tubing).
the lower A arms are fixed but the upper arms are fully adjustable; i can adjust camber and also give the car more caster if needed.
everything on the suspension is extremely stout (after all it is designed to jump and absorb very rough terrain).
the suspension can be lowered fairly easy (i can replace the Coil carriers with shorter stroke ones and switch to stiffer coilsprings)
the shocks are fully adjustable in compression and rebound.
the frame is torsional very rigid (my center tunnel design adds a lot of stability) ; the car feels very solid and predictable on the street and off.

my biggest problem are the brakes: we use large vented discs on all 4 corners together with big calippers; there is no way we can fit a 15" rim over them (we run 17" on the sand and desert tires) so i guess i can not use any of the narrow Goodyear LSR tires


i found this fairly tall Goodyear F1 GS-D3  255/55 YR 18 (roughly 29" tall x 10" wide). the factory speed rating is "Y" = 186 mph.

would that work??

[836dstr]

Stephan,

A lot of LSR guys run 18" rear wheels and tires are available, I think M/T has tooled up and are making limited sizes. Don't skimp on tires. In LSR a narrow rim and tire is preferred. Some have suceeded running 10" wide tires, but most skate and spin.

Having spun @ 170 (wind assisted) let me tell you, that's something you do not want to do!

Tom

[Rick Byrnes]

my biggest problem are the brakes: we use large vented discs on all 4 corners together with big calippers; there is no way we can fit a 15" rim over them (we run 17" on the sand and desert tires) so i guess i can not use any of the narrow Goodyear LSR tires


You don't need no stinkin brakes.
Well, actually going to smaller brakes on the rear, eliminate the fronts, and use GY 28" LSR tires in the rear with solid 11" rotors and willwood calipers.  Don't be afraid to make changes to make it suitable for the salt.  Temporary changes that is. 
Be aware though that LSR is a disease, and you and the team will be affected for your remaining years.
(for most of us, that is a good thing)

Rick

[dwarner]

Before he goes buying $700 tires he should contact:

rulebookinfo@scta-bni.org

let the tech people tell him what he needs to run. This looks to me to be a short term investment. I don't foresee them competing with the SCTA/BNI/USFRA for long with that vehicle. They are first timers with a vehicle that is out of the norm for the class structure. Let Kennedy and Fogliadini direct him on mods needed to compete.

I only mention short term because the car will not be a record contender. If they like LSR they will want to move forward with a dedicated vehicle.

DW

[836dstr]

Dan,

If they want to run it in the USFRA 130 MPH Club  they could run U, H or VR/ZR rated street tires. Since the Buggy is street legal they might aready have the right tire/wheel combo.

The discussion has taked 2 directions, running the buggy with some mods @ USFRA, and utilizing the drive train in legit LSR car.

We know what happens when bit by the salt bug, and not the kind that hangout at the Bend in the Road.

Tom

[dwarner]

OK,

DW

[RoosterBooster]

Before he goes buying $700 tires he should contact:

rulebookinfo@scta-bni.org

let the tech people tell him what he needs to run. This looks to me to be a short term investment. I don't foresee them competing with the SCTA/BNI/USFRA for long with that vehicle. They are first timers with a vehicle that is out of the norm for the class structure. Let Kennedy and Fogliadini direct him on mods needed to compete.

I only mention short term because the car will not be a record contender. If they like LSR they will want to move forward with a dedicated vehicle.

DW

DW, your absolutely right; the word "short therm" is hitting the nail on the head  .
i guess some peeps will ask why the heck we even try to do a speed run with a dune buggy  ....to answer that i guess i have to quote the mountaineering legend George Mallory; when a reporter asked why he climbed Mt Everest he simply answered "because it was there"
all of my life i have seen pictures and stories about LSR and the salt flats (and i absolutely love the movie "the fastest indian") but i was never actually there.....

it would also be kinda fun to be able to say that i build the fastest dunebuggie on earth (and having a timing sheet to proof that claim)

[RoosterBooster]

You don't need no stinkin brakes.
Well, actually going to smaller brakes on the rear, eliminate the fronts, and use GY 28" LSR tires in the rear with solid 11" rotors and willwood calipers.  Don't be afraid to make changes to make it suitable for the salt.  Temporary changes that is. 
Be aware though that LSR is a disease, and you and the team will be affected for your remaining years.
(for most of us, that is a good thing)

Rick

Rick
wow  ..... i never realized that you guys actually run next to no brakes
but i guess im stuck with the big brakes; i made the caliper brackets a integral part of the front spindle and the rear upright

yeah, i guess the LSR disease is just as bad as the "sand" disease  ...if you get infected it is next to impossible to ever get away from it 

the dunes are one of the last places where you can drive completely unrestricted.....it is highly addictive....even more so if you have a nasty engine like the one in Ryans car

for the guys that have never been to the dunes here are two pics of the car in action :

traction in sand is actually very high (with the huge paddle tires) the car pulls power wheelies...even with the weight of the bigblock up front

i just love that pic of how the turbos blow flames out the tailpipes

[836dstr]

Stephan,

Hope you are still looking at this thread. It's an interesting topic.

How fast has the "buggy" been driven?

I think that the horsepower/drive train will overpower the aerodynamics of the car. Having looked at the pictures again, the side panels would creat lift at speed. That's not good. It would be fairly simple to fabricate some add-on panels to streamline the buggy. This may have been mentioned before. I did not go back thru all the posts.

Tom