Mr.Modified's Simplicity Adventure Edition [2016 Build-Off Finalist]

Looks good!

Front end is looking good! How far do you think the front axle will be from the bottom of the frame with the shocks are un-compressed? I think that you could make a nice steering wheel out of rebar, if you could get it round enough.

Thanks guys. The frame is going to end up around 3" above the axle give or take. The shocks have about 2" of travel. I have some room to tip the shocks towards the center, but not much. Rebar steering wheel might be neat, but I think it would be a bit rough on your hands off road. You could probably get it bent around easy enough if you heated it.

Bracket for the pan hard bar off the frame. This will get some extra bracing later. I'll also have the bottom of the frame tied together in a few spots to prevent flexing.


Pan hard bar installed. I think it's around 7/8 steel tube. Fairly thick wall stuff. I welded it to nuts threaded onto the joints. Ought to be heavy enough I think. From where the frame sits in this picture to the axle being bottomed out on the frame, you get maybe 1/4" or a bit more of side movement. But, the frame will be lower than this when it's done, so side movement will be even less when everything is finished. Close enough.


On the axle side, I welded a bolt to the axle to hold the joint. Kept it out as close to the outside as I could to reduce the angle of the bar and reduce side movement of the axle. You can see I also welded between the spindle and the axle just to help support the area around the bolt. Sears only welds top and bottom. Probably not needed, but I thought it looked cool.

Great looking setup, it will work very well. I'm sure it will be hard rig to beat.

Thanks. Next I'm going to mount the shocks. Then I can work on the steering. I think I'm going to leave the stock sears hitch in back and keep the rear bumper on the short side. Might make an off road trailer from the stock simplicity front axle and wheels. Something short that you could put extra junk in for long cross country expeditions....

Thats going to be impressive, so this is sort of like bracing to help the shocks, or to prevent it from bottoming out to far? Still looks really neat though.

That bar is the only thing that keeps the front axle from moving back and forth. Without it, it would flip flop around on the shocks. Rear pivot holds forward and back movement. Pan hard bar holds side to side. Shocks support up and down movement. If you used leaf springs, you could do away with most of this stuff if you wanted because the springs themselves would hold the axle in place. Even then some solid axle leaf spring setups use a bar like this to help hold things straight.

Id maybe gusset where the tubes meet the axle beam, since you cant run down tube braces like mine for added support. Id think thats whater the most strain is, the axle trying to fold under the tractor.

I'm going to add some pieces in there somewhere, but there will be some kind of skid plate which will help too, so I shouldn't need too much more.

Front suspension design is cool, Ive always liked one link suspension setups

Looking good. Does the center pivot not stop side to side movement without the need for that pan bar?

No, the center pivot or the joint on what I call the wishbone, can move in any direction to allow the axle to tip/flex. But even if it was only made to hinge up and down, it would still be a lot of leverage on it without that bar.

Welding on the shock brackets. I spaced the brackets out with a couple of nuts and bolted them together. In the past I've just used the actual shock or whatever it may be to locate the brackets and tacked in place. Then remove the shock and finish welding. But usually this melts something or at the least, gets weld splatter on your fancy shocks. This way, I can weld the entire thing before removing the bolt. Helps to stop warping also.


Shocks set in place for a mock up. Engine, clutch, alternator, winch, battery, and gas tank all need to fit somehow. Gas tank and battery might get slung on the sides of the frame behind the front tires if there is room.


Three belts and eight to nine pulleys total have to fit in here somewhere. I think I've got it figured out more or less... The alternator I'm using this time mounts solid, so I need to use a tensioner pulley. I would like to use a dual pulley clutch, but I'll have to see how much room is left.


Some video from welding the frame and putting in the steering column. Video updates on progress as I have time.

Curious on your track width and wheelbase? I know I'm just under 50" wide but never measured wheelbase. Mine feels short so I'll probably lengthen my rear wishbone.

Width is stock sears suburban width (whatever that amounts to). Front wheels sit in just a little farther than the rears, but they are close to being flush on the outsides. I think it's about an inch narrower on each side. I figured it wasn't worth cutting and lengthening the front axle.

The wheelbase ends up at about 45-1/2". Stock sears suburban is 45" or so. The extra half is just how things went. I figured I would stay close to the sears specs just to make things easier. I didn't want it any longer than necessary because I wanted a tight turning radius for woods use. It works out good using the entire simplicity frame and the sears rear half because it should be easy to hook my winch and bumper up front with the overhang.

Thanks. What do you mean about the shocks? The only issue I can see is a certain amount of twist as the axle moves up. But the shock mounting bolts have some play which will take care of it. The axle should be free to move up and down and also flex without any problem I think.

I see what you mean I guess. I'm not worried about much flex, as long as the suspension handles ramming through rough spots. I'll get an idea of what the travel is going to be at the wheels when I get a chance to check it.

I took a motorcycle jack apart and used some sections of the arms for my shock tower. The pieces I used are about as thick as the simplicity frame. They were already connected with that center piece, I just had to shorten it. So far I only welded the shock brackets on the one side, still have to weld on the other two. Most of this stuff will get extra unnecessary bracing later once I know where everything is going. Just to make things look indestructible. I set the spacing from axle to bottom edge of frame at 4" with the shocks all the way out. I figured on having about 1/4" or so of sag. But I'm not sure till I put everything on. The shocks have a threaded adjustment on them so you could adjust your ride height slightly that way if needed.

Nice work! Will look great for sure

Thanks, making some progress at least.

Welded the sears steering pivot onto the wishbone. I'll brace it up more later. The wheels are currently just linked together with an old rod from the sears frame I cut up. I need to buy some go kart tie rods and make the link rod from the pivot to the steering "box".


Finished weldeding the shock brackets and got started on the jack shaft. I stood on the frame and tested out the suspension some, seems like it should work pretty good. Just about the right spring rate.


Went to harbor freight to get a tow strap and bought this nifty $10 shovel. Just about the right size to mount somewhere on the tractor. Maybe on the side of the hood. Or if I decide to not mount it to the machine, put it on my off road trailer later.

Shocks look good there. Do you know how many lbs are they rated for?

Front is looking good! Did you put your own tie rod in? looks straighter than most usually are. Could also just be the fabbed front end lol but its looking good

Thanks. Shocks are rated for 200 lbs each. Tie rod is just the old link rod from the sears i hacked up. I'll have two separate ones later. just stuck that in place to roll it around easier without the wheels flopping all over.

For some reason only seeing the shovel pic now, looks good! Could maybe mount it ontop of the hood.
What are you gonna do for footplates?

Thanks. I was hoping to use the stock simplicity foot boards, but I may have to make my own or extend them.

Pulleys in place where they need to go. Inner one on the engine is for the alternator. Now figuring out the least amount of space needed for the alternator in front so I have more room for the clutch. I may use an alternator that I can tension the belt with instead of using a separate tensioner pulley.


Trans to jack shaft belt tensioner. Adding a spring and adjuster next.