convict

My brother and I are planning on building a sandrail using a stock honda motor and trans in a rear engine configuration. My question is how much travel is a stock cv joint capable of? We will be using as many of the stock parts as possible. This is a just for fun project to see what we can do with stock parts. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Convict

AntiBling

you will run into problems with the axles. one side will be way shorter than the other. i don't think you will get enough travel this way. i am building a sand rail myself and am in the planning stage. i am going to use a water cooled 2.0 4 cly with a T3/T4 turbo. i am getting parts together and i have done a bunch of research on this. try installing the motor and tranny at a 90 degree and run a solid axle. run a drive shaft from the output shaft of the trans to the input drive of the axle. you could even do a 4 wheel drive set up this way and run another drive shaft to the front off the other drive flange. i hope this translates well enough. i have seen rock crawlers built this way and they work very well. if you don't want to use a live axle you will need to run a vw trans axle like the sand rails run. i think a prerunner/trophy truck style rail would be cool.

AntiBling

another question is.... what are you going to use for the shifter? with the motor in the back and using the Honda trans, the linkage with be a major obstacle.
what kind of rear suspension are you wanting to run? i don't think Honda axles will handle the angles if installed in a trailing arm design. but i could be wrong. i have seen many people use adapters that bolt up Honda motors to VW bus transmissions. in SCORE racing they do it all the time.

convict

thanks for the response. We are not planning on insane wheel travel probably like around 8 to 10 inches if possible. The rail will be as short and compact as possible while still fitting two full grown men. We havent even thought about the shifter yet so thanks for bringing that to our attention that will be on the research list.

Would it be possible to use long cv shafts on both sides or would stock cv's handle 8 to 10 inches of travel??

Thanks,
convict

convict

Ok i just went out and jacked up my 1991 honda civic dx and measured the distance from the top of the tire to the fender and then I put the jack under the tire and jacked it up until the tire was as far up in the wheel well as I could without flipping the car over and I taking the difference I came up with just under 6" of wheel travel. I think that might be doable for what we are going to use this this rail for.

You think getting a couple of more inches of travel would be possible with using different springs and shocks?

thanks,
Convict

AntiBling

OK i think i am getting a better understanding of what you want to do. but let me clarify this. i think you are going to use the whole front clip from a honda and build a frame around it? are your going to use the front struts? is this right? i would run the smallest tire you could fit (a 28-29 in all terrain tire should be ok). you will have trouble pulling a taller tire in the dirt. (honda= low torque) you might get about 8 in of travel with the stock suspension. BUILD A SKID PLATE under the motor. with limited ground clearance you will hit everything with your oil pan.

this sounds like a fun project. what type of off roading will you be doing? sand, desert, trails?

get the biggest radiator you can find. with a rear engine motor airflow will not be all that great. the stock radiator wont be up to the task if mounted behind the seats and you wont be driving at highway speeds all the time in this. your suspension will be kind of harsh in a lighter buggy but you could always get a set of cheap coilovers for the honda dx and then buy new softer aftermarket springs.

convict

that makes sense and thanks for the input.

AntiBling

check this out... these guys built one and it is street legal!!!

YouTube - buggy4.wmv

convict

that is exactly what we were thinking and planning. thank you for that link antibling.