Thanks Joey, it's turning out good, now I gotta start on all the little stuff like sheetmetal, wiring, finishing seat brackets, etc...
I'll keep you posted.
Prowler XTZ 3.0 Buildup
- Thread starter Darryl89
- Start date
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks, it's getting there. I hope to get the new 300M axles in in a couple weeks, have the sheetmetal and wiring done. My fab guys still have some bracing to install on the A/J-Arm mountings and the new radiator I'm having built should be ready.Damn Darryl, how did I miss this thread??? Your car is turning out AWESOME!!!
Then we can start testing it out and seeing how it all works together, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we didn't miss anything...
I was considering making the Bluewater Desert Challenge in Oct, but the IRC fees and entry is a bit steep for just doing a trial run in the car. May still go out tho. Otherwise I'll hit the Fall Arizona Short Course Series and see how it performs. They have a big bore class for this fall. I wished LOORS would get a big bore class going.
Just a quick update on XTZ 3.0 build.
The fab guys that did the welding changed my design on the rear half of the cage, when they did, they created several single shear points on the cage which weakened it drastically.
So a quick call to Advanced Metals in Phoenix and they had more 4130 enroute to me. Lots of cutting and grinding later, the rear half of the cage's bracing was gone. New tubing was installed to my original design. MIG welder broke, so had to get it repaired.
All the while, my regular 8-5 work was really picking up, so it seemed I had one delay after another. But as of tonight, the rear bracing is in, the rear suspension is in place (tacked up to check travel and binding).
I installed new King Off-Road 27 inch coilover shocks with dual rate springs. Now for the good news, final figures are in on the suspension. With 13.5 inches ground clearance, I have 7.25 inches droop and 10.25 inches compression. For races like KOH, I can crank it up to run 14.5 inches GC pretty easy and then settle it back down for desert racing. There doesn't seem to be any binding on the CVs with the Summers Bros Axles in OEM CVs. But none the less, I'm going to put in limiting straps to keep the droop down to about 6.25 inches to start.
Even at that, I have almost 21 inches of clearance at full droop and 3.25 inches clearance at full compression (which will allow for the tires to compress some without dragging the chassis too much, if at all, on hard hits). The Arctic Cat has a narrow rear diff, so with longer axles than many, I can get a little more travel than some of the others. The J-arms really make it easy to increase travel without hitting the frame.
On the front suspension, redoing the shock mounts as the rears had to be redone since the welders installed the mounts crooked, which caused binding of the shock shaft on severe compression.
The front a-arms have to be completely redone since the way the fab guys built them, the axles hit when the front arms droop only 3 inches...not good. So I'm redoing the front lower arms, changing the shock mounts on the upper arms and installing all new upper mounting points with bracing (that the welders left out).
I have the aluminum for the engine cover and firewalls, which is going in this week as should the roof and door sheetmetal.
By Friday, I'll be done with the front and rear suspensions and have good headway on the interior aluminum work.
I'll post pics up when I'm finished with the new suspension and as the sheetmetal goes in and on.
But it will be ready for KOH with time to spare for testing. Don't think I'll make the Rage At The River though.
The fab guys that did the welding changed my design on the rear half of the cage, when they did, they created several single shear points on the cage which weakened it drastically.
So a quick call to Advanced Metals in Phoenix and they had more 4130 enroute to me. Lots of cutting and grinding later, the rear half of the cage's bracing was gone. New tubing was installed to my original design. MIG welder broke, so had to get it repaired.
All the while, my regular 8-5 work was really picking up, so it seemed I had one delay after another. But as of tonight, the rear bracing is in, the rear suspension is in place (tacked up to check travel and binding).
I installed new King Off-Road 27 inch coilover shocks with dual rate springs. Now for the good news, final figures are in on the suspension. With 13.5 inches ground clearance, I have 7.25 inches droop and 10.25 inches compression. For races like KOH, I can crank it up to run 14.5 inches GC pretty easy and then settle it back down for desert racing. There doesn't seem to be any binding on the CVs with the Summers Bros Axles in OEM CVs. But none the less, I'm going to put in limiting straps to keep the droop down to about 6.25 inches to start.
Even at that, I have almost 21 inches of clearance at full droop and 3.25 inches clearance at full compression (which will allow for the tires to compress some without dragging the chassis too much, if at all, on hard hits). The Arctic Cat has a narrow rear diff, so with longer axles than many, I can get a little more travel than some of the others. The J-arms really make it easy to increase travel without hitting the frame.
On the front suspension, redoing the shock mounts as the rears had to be redone since the welders installed the mounts crooked, which caused binding of the shock shaft on severe compression.
The front a-arms have to be completely redone since the way the fab guys built them, the axles hit when the front arms droop only 3 inches...not good. So I'm redoing the front lower arms, changing the shock mounts on the upper arms and installing all new upper mounting points with bracing (that the welders left out).
I have the aluminum for the engine cover and firewalls, which is going in this week as should the roof and door sheetmetal.
By Friday, I'll be done with the front and rear suspensions and have good headway on the interior aluminum work.
I'll post pics up when I'm finished with the new suspension and as the sheetmetal goes in and on.
But it will be ready for KOH with time to spare for testing. Don't think I'll make the Rage At The River though.
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thanks for keeping us posted Darryl...sucks that happened and you had to redo a bunch of work....
Guess I should clarify, Eric at UTVINC did the bending on the tubing and really did a great job. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the guys at UTVINC.
It was another fab guy that started on it in Farmington NM and then took the car to Phoenix, saying he needed to finish it there.
If I had known the car was going to end up in Phoenix anyway, I would've had UTVINC do the work, they would've done it right the first time.
I used the fab guy I did because I go to church with his dad and was lead to believe that he wanted to sponsor the car. But after the work was done, he changed his mind and wanted money for a shoddy job...
It was another fab guy that started on it in Farmington NM and then took the car to Phoenix, saying he needed to finish it there.
If I had known the car was going to end up in Phoenix anyway, I would've had UTVINC do the work, they would've done it right the first time.
I used the fab guy I did because I go to church with his dad and was lead to believe that he wanted to sponsor the car. But after the work was done, he changed his mind and wanted money for a shoddy job...
Okay, got the front shock mounts done... couple pics, nothing much though. Looks positive that I'm going to have to make new front A-arms, these bind and hit the axles when it droops just a little...
Ooops, not an Arctic Cat, but it's what pays for the toys...
Ooops, not an Arctic Cat, but it's what pays for the toys...
Yeah, got a gov contract and have JDs delivering to NorthDakota, Az, Kansas, OK, Riverside Cali, Oregon...and more... we're overrun with them... good thing it isn't deere hunting season right now...Dang. The are a few Deere in there!
It's getting there Jon, the fuel system will be finished up in the next few days, the cooling system will go in within the next 2 weeks and during that time, the engine shrouds and body panels will all get installed..
I do have to build new front A-arms though, but I have the stuff coming to do that...
Well, hopefully, the next photos after this will be of the car in action... Have skid plates to bolt on, then some detail work including radio, GPS, intercom, fasten down brakeline and etc... It sounds pretty good with the Muzzys. We had to completely redo the header pipes to fit with the custom layout since the seats sit beside the motor, rather on top of it. I kept the same length as Bob Muzzy originally designed them.
It has a functional ram air hood scoop that supplies air for the engine as well as a strong fresh air charge to the drive belt system. The air intake from the oversized filter to the throttle body is almost a complete straight shot thru a 3 inch intake. The engine has a few other goodies.
The axles are Summer Bros 300M. The car ended up with 17 inches rear travel and the front has 16 inches travel. 28 inch King Reservoir Shocks with dual rate springs suspend the car. All shocks bolts are upgraded to 1/2 inch F11. The A-arms use UTV INC Catnuts to give it additional bracing and keep the mounts from flexing.
It has a functional ram air hood scoop that supplies air for the engine as well as a strong fresh air charge to the drive belt system. The air intake from the oversized filter to the throttle body is almost a complete straight shot thru a 3 inch intake. The engine has a few other goodies.
The axles are Summer Bros 300M. The car ended up with 17 inches rear travel and the front has 16 inches travel. 28 inch King Reservoir Shocks with dual rate springs suspend the car. All shocks bolts are upgraded to 1/2 inch F11. The A-arms use UTV INC Catnuts to give it additional bracing and keep the mounts from flexing.
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Thanks, it sure could use a race intercom/radio system for the right price...
Might even be worth a couple big decals on the side of it...
Some big Rugged Decals would definitely make it look a lot better but pm me so we can see what we can do!
but pm me so we can see what we can do!Great looking cat for sure, that thing has one sweet stance to it.
Nice work....................
Nice work....................
Thanks, getting the seats out of the clouds and down to earth really changed the appearance. Lots of headaches had to be worked out, but well worth it...
Very Nice Daryl, the stance on that thing in the last photo makes that thing look bada$$. Have not seen a prowler look that mean. Keep up the good work and keep those photos coming.
Couple more pics I hadn't posted up yet... but now I'm tearing it all down again... gotta rebuild the engine. Lost at least one bearing from an oiling problem..... but that's what happens.
I have had several ask if I would've been better off to wait for the release of the new Wildcat...answer is...No! I tallied up what I would have to spend to put things like 300M axles and a chromemoly frame plus many other things needed to make it race-ready, into the Wildcat and I would have to add over $10,000 into the Wildcat. So I'm still okay on this build....
Still a little finish work needs to be done on the dash and console. Plus install the radio/intercom and GPS.
I have had several ask if I would've been better off to wait for the release of the new Wildcat...answer is...No! I tallied up what I would have to spend to put things like 300M axles and a chromemoly frame plus many other things needed to make it race-ready, into the Wildcat and I would have to add over $10,000 into the Wildcat. So I'm still okay on this build....
Still a little finish work needs to be done on the dash and console. Plus install the radio/intercom and GPS.