George Gooding's Mini-Beast [Former 2019 Build-Off Entry]

Holy sky sniffing! I thought my tractor was nose up when I was building it. Looking good man!

Only 1 question.. you are building your own independant front. How strong do you think your axle is? With the bigger tires and "sending it" That axle will get stressed pretty good. What do you think the likelyhood of you bending or snapping the axle back would be?

MightyRaze wrote:

Holy sky sniffing!  I thought my tractor was nose up when I was building it.  Looking good man!

Only 1 question.. you are building your own independant front.  How strong do you think your axle is?  With the bigger tires and "sending it"  That axle will get stressed pretty good.  What do you think the likelyhood of you bending or snapping the axle back would be?

really means a lot to me Mighty, it's a peerless 2300 5sp T-axle with 1 1/4" shafts, hopefully taking it out this weekend to test the front suspension then I'll start working on the rear and redoing the steering set up.

George Gooding wrote:

MightyRaze wrote:

Holy sky sniffing!  I thought my tractor was nose up when I was building it.  Looking good man!

Only 1 question.. you are building your own independant front.  How strong do you think your axle is?  With the bigger tires and "sending it"  That axle will get stressed pretty good.  What do you think the likelyhood of you bending or snapping the axle back would be?

really means a lot to me Mighty, it's a peerless 2300 5sp T-axle with 1 1/4" shafts, hopefully taking it out this weekend to test the front suspension then I'll start working on the rear and redoing the steering set up.

I didn't know there were 5spd 2300s. I think Mighty was regarding the strength of your front axle(s) just to clarify is it one axle with a single pivot point or two half axles and two pivot points like I-beam suspension?

mowerjunkie03 wrote:

George Gooding wrote:

MightyRaze wrote:

Holy sky sniffing!  I thought my tractor was nose up when I was building it.  Looking good man!

Only 1 question.. you are building your own independant front.  How strong do you think your axle is?  With the bigger tires and "sending it"  That axle will get stressed pretty good.  What do you think the likelyhood of you bending or snapping the axle back would be?

really means a lot to me Mighty, it's a peerless 2300 5sp T-axle with 1 1/4" shafts, hopefully taking it out this weekend to test the front suspension then I'll start working on the rear and redoing the steering set up.

I didn't know there were 5spd 2300s. I think Mighty was regarding the strength of your front axle(s) just to clarify is it one axle with a single pivot point or two half axles and two pivot points like I-beam suspension?

The front axle has two separate arms and 2 pivot points using sintering oillight bearings and 3/4" grade 8 bolts. This is the only 5 speed I've ever seen, 2nd and 3rd gears are close together.

I'm pretty sure the steering will give out before one of the axles bend. Planning on making some radius arms to help prevent that. I will build those once I've figured out a better steering linkages set up and put some softer ATV shocks on it, just need to find some the exact same length as the Harley Davidson Sportster shocks that are currently on it.

Yeah definitely a good idea to add a couple radius arms, just 'cuz there's so much leverage out there and only one pivot point per beam. I really do like the setup so far though! Very clean work!

Also, when you say your 2300 is a 5-speed are you counting reverse as a speed?

A quick video of the front suspension https://youtu.be/kpCXXO1t6n0

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Yeah definitely a good idea to add a couple radius arms, just 'cuz there's so much leverage out there and only one pivot point per beam. I really do like the setup so far though! Very clean work!

Also, when you say your 2300 is a 5-speed are you counting reverse as a speed?

Thanks, I appreciate it. It should be 4 fwd but when I ride it's like there's an extra half gear between 1st and 2nd, not quite as low as 1st but slower than 2nd. Don't know if one of the previous owners had some work done to it or what, I haven't split the case yet to see.

Very interesting. Don't know much bout these transaxles but a mysterious thing it is.

What I like about your front end is that it looks like something beefy to start with and I see room in there to put in ATV style steering with minimal bump steer.

Do you think you could pull the shock apart and find some lighter springs?

I don't know how much money your looking to spend but for about 80 bucks you can get a pair of 150cc go kart shocks on gopowersports.com. They are definitely less stiff and they are adjustable. They seem to be about the right length.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

What I like about your front end is that it looks like something beefy to start with and I see room in there to put in ATV style steering with minimal bump steer.

Do you think you could pull the shock apart and find some lighter springs?

I checked on that but it would cost more than just getting another used pair of shocks at the motorcycle salvage yard

I would say the mini beast is a prime canidate for a rack and pinion steering.

this suspension looks very nice! Hopefully rides good!

Finally got the rear tires mounted, still needs another 2" or so lift.

@SebastianAlbrecht hopefully, haven't really had time to test it though it seems a bit squirrelly just by pushing it

Already sits alot better with the tires mounted. I think a 2in lift would look good but you could also make drop spindles for the front if you didn't want it to sit to high. Looks good man!

@mowerjunkie03 thanks, but I kinda like the height of it even though it does set a bit higher than I anticipated.

@SebastianAlbrecht took it out for a test drive and it really seems smooth, steers nicely going through the field and almost zero bump steer going over curbs

Ohh Very Beautiful, & sounds great!!!

@SebastianAlbrecht thanks, I don't think it's turning out to bad for my first true build. Hopefully will be doing a 2" lift on the back this weekend, depending on the weather.

George Gooding wrote:

@SebastianAlbrecht thanks, I don't think it's turning out to bad for my first true build. Hopefully will be doing a 2" lift on the back this weekend, depending on the weather.

AWESOME!!

Got the front bumper mostly done, welder was acting up so I couldn't do the brush guard.

That Beast has a stance!
Bumper is looking good!

@MightyRaze thank you sir, means a lot coming from you

SEXY BUMPER!!!