To Lift or Not to Lift??

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:37 pm

I need your help. We are building a Manx Clone for off road use only and have just shortened the pan. I wanted to weld in some square tubing along the edge of the pan for structural integrity. We didn?t want the 3? lift that I see in some builds but thought 1 ? to 1 ?? square tubing would add strength to the pan as well as some added wheel clearance and to give us something more solid to attach the cage to. What do you think? [font=&quot]Steve

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:43 pm

Yes, and for all the reasons you stated. I have P205/75R15 front tires on my Manx, and they rub on the fenders when the suspension gets close to bottoming. Even another inch of clearance would be all I would need to prevent that. As it is now I have to go to slightly smaller front tires and limit the suspension travel by adding to the stops (hook and rod setup on ball joint front end). A body lift will add a lot of strength to the buggy, especially when you tie your cage into it.

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:10 pm

There was an old thread with photos of somebody from Canada I think? The had used the 1 1/4" tubing and did a very nice looking job on the bends by putting multiple cuts and welding the joints. The chassis on my glass buggy is made entirely from 1 1/2" tubing welded to the torsion tubes and has a formed "hat channel " that replaces the stock tunnel. The floor pan is made from a sheat of .080 5052 aluminum. If I had it to do again I would have made a removeable panel to access my turning brake master just behind the shifter. The wheel base is also longer that the body was designed for. This puts the front wheels ahead of the fenders a bit but should be better in some off road conditions, but would suck for rock crawling.

tgodber · Post by **tgodber** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:48 pm

Thanks for the compliment. The 1 1/4" lift did a few things for me. It gave clearance between the gas tank and steering dampener, more clearance at fenders, will lift windshield to cover a little more of my forehead (I'm 6'4"), stiffen the pan and give more clearance at the rear upper cage mounts. Our mechanic at work did the front bend over the tunnel and welding. I did the cutting to length, other bends and grinding.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 10:30 pm

that's the way my manx was. It worked rather well from what I could tell. A fairly easy mod to do as well. It should only cost about 20 buck and a saturday if your determined.

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:20 am

allthough it makes welding more difficult, a thin bead of caulk will keep the rattles silent. You should only need about a 1" weld to the pan about every 4-6". The body bolts will sandwich the whole mess together.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:11 am

go with the 3" or more. I did a 1 1/2" on mine the tires still hit. The front is link pin kyb gas adjust, 15x 165. just mount your seats to match. weld on tree bars/running borads to use as a step. I had to weld in stops on the rear (stock travel) to keep from tearing up the f/g

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:00 am

Hi All, Thanks for all the great suggestions and the pics really help. I knew if I asked here I would get help. Thanks again, Steve

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:04 am

thanks for posting all the great info my husband and i were just talking about doing this to my manx im sure glad i looked at the post . thanks Tiggerfrk