2 ½ year old custom, 48” wide Chrome Moly tube chassis built by Randy Slawson. Chassis is made of .120 wall moly, fabricated by one of the top welders in the country. Randy is a welding instructor at the Fab School in Southern California.
Chassis is powered by a 1997 Toyota Tacoma 2.7 liter (3RZ) motor. This is a high performance 4 cylinder favored by the ricers. This motor is like night and day with a 22R. It is like comparing a TBI 350 to an LS1. This motor puts out tons of power for this tiny rock buggy.
The motor is mated to a R150 5 speed transmission out of a V6 Tacoma. I used the new Marlin Crawler 3RZ to R series bellhousing to make the swap. Marlin claims this tranny is 100 times stronger than the 5 speed that came behind the 3RZ motor.
The transmission is mated via an Advance Adapters ¼”adapter to a 4 speed Atlas transfer case. Ratios are (1:1, 2.7:1, 3.8:1, 10:1), giving you tons of options for high speed running or technical crawling. This buggy comfortably runs 65-70 mph on rough terrain. Overall crawl ration is right at 165:1
The transfer case sends power to the axles through a 1410/1350 High Angle Driveline rear driveshaft and a 1310/1350 JE Reel HD long slip front driveshaft.
The front axle is a narrowed Chevy Kingpin Dana 60 with 4.11 gears and a spool. It has a HD Rockcrusher cover, XXXtreme traction billet high steer arms, custom drilled rotors, Alloy USA axles with CTM joints and Teraflex drive slugs. 62” WMS/WMS
The rear axle is a Chrome Moly 3/8” tube Sunray Engineering built 9” axle with 4.11 gears and a spool. Disc brakes, SS lines, Moser 35 spline alloy semi float shafts and a Moser Aluminum 3rd member. The entire axle assembly weighs 180# wet. 60” WMS/WMS
Front and rear 4 links with 14” Fox 2.0 air shocks. Top links are ¾” heims. Bottom links are 1” heims.
This buggy is a totally one-off, one-of-a-kind custom project. There are tons of little things that make this buggy great. This buggy has SUPERIOR visibility for a front engine buggy. You can see all 4 tires at all times while sitting in the driver’s seat.
Water is routed through the frame to the rear mounted radiator to keep the occupants safe from the hot coolant. The radiator was built by Randy Slawson and keeps this buggy cool at all times even in the most extreme temperatures. Air that is pulled out of the radiator keeps hot air out of the cockpit making the buggy very comfortable to drive, even in the summer. Total width with 40” Krawlers and 4” BS Walker Evans wheels is 78”
This buggy is super light and super nimble. It is also VERY spacious. Not very many small buggies can accommodate large people, but this buggy can. Friends that are well over 6 feet tall comment on how comfortable it is for them to drive.
