Power Kite Forum

Bigfoot Lights vs. Bigfoots

jonesing4wind - 19-3-2006 at 08:15 AM

I am about to shell out $ for a spare set of rims for a Libre buggy so I can run bigfoot tires on one set and standard barrow tires on the other. How much benifit is a wide set of rims when running bigfoots. Another way to ask this is: Is there any drawback to BFLights? Cost is always a factor, but for this question please do not consider the price difference.

Also, is there a domestic (USA) place to get a bigfoot front fork, either Libre or aftermarket?

Many thanks!!
Sean

goreo95033 - 19-3-2006 at 10:26 AM

If you're going to NABX, look up Adam (with the Ozone banners) or Jon Ellis (with the JoJo banners). They deal Libre buggies and can likely get you the parts you need.

As for the rim size, here is what I found when I was researching this for myself:

It depends on the type of tire you want to use. If you're going with the round shouldered smooth tires like these, the narrower rim (aka BFLight) will be fine. But if you want to run the square shouldered tires like these (found on golf carts, riding mowers, etc.) then you'll want the wider rims to get the right shoulder profile without over inflating the tire.

Hope that helps.

jonesing4wind - 19-3-2006 at 08:15 PM

Yea, deffo gonna be at NABX! Will look them up. As for ribbed or smooth, how much difference? THese will be only used on soft sand, and upon thinking about it, I dont see that ribs would make that much dif. on such a soft surface.... Any comments on this? THanks!!

Sean

goreo95033 - 20-3-2006 at 11:55 AM

I haven't tried it myself. But if you like to get up on 2-wheels, then the round shoulder tires would be better. You might get better traction with the ribbed if you get near the water, just as you would with your car in the rain. It gives the water somewhere to go so you don't hydroplane as easily.

I've been toying with the idea of making some hubs so I can bolt on any standard off-the-shelf wheels for ATV, golf carts, etc. onto my buggy... j.o.b.'s can be so inconvenient...

kitemaker4 - 20-3-2006 at 04:52 PM

Hey Sean

I just put big foot lights on my Libre special. I did save some money using the original rims. I have gone to the beach and used them once and had no problem in soft sand.

Susan

jonesing4wind - 20-3-2006 at 06:49 PM

That sounds great! I wont be 2wheeling on my libre, I dont think. I have some dunes about a 3-4 hour drive from where I live. They are smack dab in the middle of Arizona/California on Interstate 8. I think it is called Imperial dune recreation area. If you are driving on I-8, you cannot miss them. It looks like movies of Arabia! Anyway, I have walked up them a couple times and the sand is VERY soft. After reading on another forum of someone who buggies often in the U.A.E. I fugured it might be a fun change from the flat I am used to. It will be a few weeks or maybe a month or 2 before I get a chance to get out there, but will post some pics when I do.

Sean

popeyethewelder - 20-3-2006 at 11:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jonesing4wind
That sounds great! I wont be 2wheeling on my libre, I dont think. I have some dunes about a 3-4 hour drive from where I live. They are smack dab in the middle of Arizona/California on Interstate 8. I think it is called Imperial dune recreation area. If you are driving on I-8, you cannot miss them. It looks like movies of Arabia! Anyway, I have walked up them a couple times and the sand is VERY soft. After reading on another forum of someone who buggies often in the U.A.E. I fugured it might be a fun change from the flat I am used to. It will be a few weeks or maybe a month or 2 before I get a chance to get out there, but will post some pics when I do.

Sean
yeah you are talking about the Sand-Yeti, great bloke who buggies in the desert, bigfoots are a must for him, he makes his own buggys the latest one being the UDB the Ultimate Desert Buggy...heres a pic of Sand-Yeti and the UDB

Dune Buggying

Sand-Yeti - 21-3-2006 at 04:24 AM

So Popeyethewelder, this is where you are hiding now the other Forum is in distress.

Jonesing4wind, Did you read my responses in the other Forum before it went to the dogs?
If not, I can post on here, which appears to be a pretty good buggy forum.

Sand-Yeti

jonesing4wind - 21-3-2006 at 07:06 AM

Yeti,
This is a great forum, a hidden jewel. ANyway, Yes I did get a chance to read it, but not reply yet. Thanks for the response! BTW, THAT is a nice buggy!

Sean

popeyethewelder - 21-3-2006 at 11:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sand-Yeti
So Popeyethewelder, this is where you are hiding now the other Forum is in distress.

Jonesing4wind, Did you read my responses in the other Forum before it went to the dogs?
If not, I can post on here, which appears to be a pretty good buggy forum.

Sand-Yeti


lmao Sand-yeti, I was going to email you tonight saying Jonesy here wanted some dune info.....saved me the hassle, cheers hope you don't mind me posting your pic in here

Sand-Yeti - 21-3-2006 at 10:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jonesing4wind

This is a great forum, a hidden jewel. ANyway, Yes I did get a chance to read it, but not reply yet. Thanks for the response! BTW, THAT is a nice buggy!

Sean


Your question was about fitting bigfoots for use in sand dunes.
The Libre is a good well built buggy and we have used them in our dunes here. Good features are the 20mm rear axle bolts. The Libre's here use 12 mm front axles & we have bent these & the front forks in the dunes. We have reinforced them & fitted 20 mm front axles to stop that happening.
A front axle of 15 mm dia is OK but then you have to mess with different sized wheel bearings.
I have 4 buggies at home and use 20 mm & 15 mm stainless steel front axles and they hold together well.

To keep your costs down, I would suggest you do not spend money on rims but just on bigfoot tyres. Use your existing rims, which are fine. Later when you get some experience under the belt you will get a little fussy like me & start looking how you can enhance your buggy performace by using wide offset rims on the rear & bigfoot lights on the front. You might even look for ways to raise the seat.

The Libre is really designed for the flats & your seat is fairly close to the ground, which means you will be dragging your backside as you traverse the dune crests. Try & get the seat as high as possible to avoid this. A technique that I use when traversing sharp dune crests is to lift my backside from the seat as I pass the crest by jamming myself between the backrest & footpegs.

The underside of the buggy seats do take some punishment and as soon as I get a new seat, I fix sheets of rubber cut from old truck tyres underneath with contact cement. It works well, protects the seat material & provides a modicum of protection for your backside should you hit a bump.

Because I do spend a lot of time in the dunes, I build my buggies to have a good ground clearance. Obviously, the downside is that the C of G is higher, which increases the buggy's overturning moment. However, with the long rear axle & offset bigfoots, it stays very stable even on the steep leeward slopes.

The buggy that Popeyethewelder posted is made from mild steel & painted because, firstly I wanted to keep the cost down & secondly rusting in the dry desert environment isn't an issue.
I used an Eliot seat bought from Germany. It has the same robust quality as the Libre seat but better buckles made of steel.
I built another buggy earlier on (DB-1 - Death Buggy Mk I) but fitted a Libre seat on that & had small but not serious problems with the buckles.

Besides the UDB being set fairly high for dune buggying, I have made the side rails & rear axle from rectangular tubing.

There are very big downward forces going into the frame at the point of transitioning from a steep downward slope to the floor below and the frame needs to be strong enough to handle the high bending loads. Rectangular tubing is much stronger than round tubing for this. The downtube which is also made from square tubing is not ideal from a structural standpoint because this takes high torsional loads & round tubing can handle torsional loads much better. The reason down tubes are made square is for ease of clamping to the side rails. I made one down tube from round tube but had a messy job welding a square on the end to clamp to the side rails.

You will note the simple rear suspension, which is based on the PL design although I have an improved angle over the PL design. I toyed with parallelogram designs but they would need to be heavy to handle the loading I would put on them.

I have been playing with designs to put suspension on the front but haven't got something which I like yet.

Finally, I agree wth you that this forum is a real jewel.

Sand-Yeti

popeyethewelder - 21-3-2006 at 11:43 PM

I just love reading the Sand-Yeti posts, you can learn more from one post than on a whole thread. Brilliant

Carl