LJ Tech 1100 observations

Posts: 206

Okay, I went down to visit some friends that live an hour north of Vegas, so I took the buggy. It was the first time I really had a chance to drive it hard in the desert. It did pretty well, but there are a couple things that I need to address.

1) There doesn't seem to be enough (any?) steering ackerman. When I'm driving, especially at slower speeds or in sharper corners, the outside tire pushes and causes the steering wheel to be difficult to turn. The steering rack seems to be located pretty much in the right spot, so my question is this: What is the best/easiest way to add ackerman? Modify the steering arms on the spindles?

2) The front shocks actually worked pretty well, aside from being a little soft and a bit short for my taste. The back shocks, on the other hand, are much too stiffly sprung and too lightly dampened. It seems like the 1100 frame is really close to the 800 frame as far as rear suspension geometry goes, so I'd like to hear what some of you have for shocks and how they work compared to stock. I'm looking at the Fox 2.0 Air Shox and a couple brands of 2.0 bodied coilover shocks. The air shocks are cheap and easily tuneable, but I'd like to hear how they perform and if valving options were available when they were ordered.

Aside from those issues, it ran AWESOME and was really fun to drive!

Posts: 15 · Newbie Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 15 Pictures: 0

F-16 Guy,

I'm pretty sure Mick (ma0990) has the Fox 2.0 on his buggy. Check his posts. I've driven his a little and it rides pretty nice.

I have the stock one's on my 800 still. At first they were pretty stiff too. I rode it like that because I was afraid of the low ground clearance and bouncing too much. That also contributed (I believe) to my first three axel failures.

Eventually I softened up the back spring tension almost to the top (about 1/2" of thread showing above the lock nut) and added 22" limit straps. The ride is much better and the axels stay together. Ground clearance isn't that much of an issue. I still want to add a skid plate under the shift linkage.

The fronts are one notch from the top and that behaves much better too.

Posts: 206

Unfortunately, I don't think my shocks have adjustable preload. I can live with the fronts for now, but the rears are just too stiff. It reminded me of driving my uncle's FL250 Oddessy when I hit some bigger bumps; not good. Cripple

Posts: 200

make sure your front steering ball joints are all tightened up snugly (the castle nuts). When I first got my 800cc I had the same complaint, excessive plowing at low speeds. I went and tightened them (not too tight) so the ball joints are doing the actual work, not the loose mounting bolt wiggling around in the front hub. It made a huge difference, in fact it almost completely eliminated the plowing.

Posts: 15 · Newbie Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 15 Pictures: 0

Same here with the ball joints. Also had to tighten up the steering behind the steering wheel and at the steering box splines. You don't realize it driving off-road all the time. They weren't loose new, but seem to wiggle loose over time. It's one of my usual PM items.

Posts: 200

Posts: 206

Yeah, I had both of the steering arms that bolt to the spindles come loose, so I took the opportunity to check everything and tighten it up. I think it's more of a geometry thing. The front wheels turn roughly the same amount in either direction, causing the outer wheel to try to follow too small of an arc, which is causing it to push and to try to straighten my steering wheel out as I'm trying to turn it. I think I'll get a long, straight piece of something and check to see if the steering arm angle is correct. They probably need to be angled in more.

Posts: 304

I've noticed the higher I raised the front suspension the easier it became to stear. Something to do with leverage because the angle of the a-arms?

Posts: 121

I have one of these 1100cc and the main reason it pushes has more to do with the locked transmission that it has to do with Ackerman. The transmission on my 1100cc is locked. If you ever broke one axle you would have seen how much easier it is to steer. I do however prefer a locked differential when I am driving off-road on hard pack or at the dunes. It would be nice to have a selector in the future. I think it is a great idea to check to make sure all everything is tight. I just had a little front end shimmy that was caused by one of the bolts becoming lose on the left side. I am going to safely wire mine as I cannot afford this to come off when I am driving off-road. I tried Loctite but that only works on parts that never move, never vibrate or are never stressed. I actually like how agile and responsive the steering is compared to other sandrails I have driven.

Calbuggy

Posts: 304

I don't recall checking my stearing the last time I broke an axle, but now that you mentioned it I will probably think of it if I lose one. thanks