Hi
Im new to kite buggying so could do with a bit of advice please.
I will be building my own buggy which will be used for cruising and pottering about on,im not really interested in aerobatics so my question is what width of rear axle would you recommend.
Your input appreciated thanks

Popeye The Welder


Start here a wealth of information and I'm sure the buillders will chime in quickly. Welcome to PKF

Cheers Todd
I have already read the link lots of usefull info as you say but nothing much on axle widths.
The wider the axle the more stable the buggy but at what point does width become a hinderance?
I have a piece of 38x5 cds stainless steel tubing for the rear axle,i do not want to commit to cutting due to the price of it until im 100% certain ive got it right.
I will also try asking the same question on KKF

50-60 inches works for me, I built all of my buggies and learned ALOT from Carl aka Popeye the welder. He is my hero when it comes to customs. Have fun, get ready to spend alot of money cause you're gonna get hooked for sure. But it is the coolest sport I ever laid eyes on, and I love every minute of it. You'll see.... welcome to the PKF!

Axle width really has to do with the total geometry of the buggy. Having an extra long axle without properly dimensioning the side rails will create an uneven balance in the buggy and make it difficult to maneuver. Everything effects the center of gravity of the buggy, without proper length it makes it very difficult and nearly impossible to get your center of gravity correct. Also, the center of gravity is not necessarily in the center of the triangulated area between the length of the rear axle and the wheel base. Most of the time the center of gravity needs to be between 35% and 45% of the wheel base - again, depending on the geometry of the buggy. If your rails are short and your axle long, it makes getting the buggy balanced very touchy and hard to do and steering could be negatively effected.

That being said, you could start out with something between 50 and 60 inches and then figure out the geometry from there. Just remember that an axle of 60 inches could be difficult to fit flat in most pickup beds and may end up sticking up over the edge. The longer the rear axle, the harder it is to transport the buggy unless you have a trailer or something similar.

For stability, longer is usually better but the rest of the buggy needs to made to scale to capitalize on this.

Hope that helps and good luck. Let us all know how it goes for you.

You'll find 135cm to 140cm quite common (53-55 inches). Wide enough for stability yet not so wide that it becomes an inconvenience. That's just a guide though. All of Kent's comments are spot on. The whole buggy needs to be taken into account to get a well balanced machine. If your looking for a starting point though you could try a rear axle length of 135cm (53 1/8 inches) and a length of 148cm (58 1/4 inches) from front axle to rear axle. Hope that helps. Have fun building it and post some pics when you get it done

I know you have probably seen these already, but the plans HEREat the top are a good place to start, all the measurements and angles are there to build a decent buggy, note the axle length used there is 145cm, which is a nice length for a buggy, I believe the Apex has an axle that size and that is the fastest buggy in the world.....by far the majority of axles on large stable buggies with the extra weight and length are somewhere between 150-1650cm.

I have seen a buggy with a 2m axle, very stable yes, but turning obviously will not be as sharp as a shorter axle, 145-150cm long should suit your needs....your buggy simply put, needs to be slightly longer than it is wide...like I said you could do a lot worse than following the plans above.

Good luck