2scoops

I met Kinarfi (Jeff) and his wife for the first time on the way to Moab. I dropped off a parking brake master cylinder and talked Troopers for about 45 min. Jeff and Linda later met me down at Moab and literally made my day because I desperately needed a pair of snap ring pliers as I layed under my trooper's rear CV shaft. I heard a vehicle pull up...and there was Jeff! They are a remarkable couple and we really had a great time with them out on the trails. I found out at Kanes Creek (before Jeff had arrived in Moab) that I had lowered my diff about an inch too much. At full droop it was popping the retaining clip out and dislocating. Of course this happened at the very bottom of Kanes Creek and I had to ascent two difficult climbs in 3 wheel drive. I will not confirm or deny that I had to be pulled a couple of times by a RZR 4...I will note, that just before my CV pulled out my buddy in his RZR 4 was complaining about powerloss and engine surge when he drove through the water. I legged my trooper back to the trailer and repaired it at camp. If it weren't for us having a front locker I would have been in serious trouble. I beat the ever-living hell out of both the front & rear ends making 5000 plus RPM's through some of the obsticals--they held strong. I think this is when I bent my front steering box fork, but I didn't notice it until I returned home. So, after repairing the CV I met Jeff & Linda at Poison Spyder. I popped my CV out in the sand but with Jeff's help was able to get it back in quickly. I did several steep walls with ease while large Jeeps stood by and watched. One wall a Jeep attempted and backed away, one of the other walls a fully locked Jeep rolled over on trying to attemp (that is the attached picture). Neither of those were the steepest wall I climbed. The steepest wall I actually had the front wheels in the air as I crested the top. That one scared me a bit. Jeffs Trooper ran solid the whole trail; however, his body did have a few spyder bites afterwards. His suffered from a little less ground clearance, but he was able to power through everything. The last day we chose an easier & more scenic ride. We did 7 Mile Rim. It was a great way to end the trip for me, but Jeff & Linda stayed a day or two longer. I can't wait to hear the rest of his trip report.

Agreed, it will hinder my travel in rock crawling situations. I plan to add a quick disconnect to it. I figure nobody has tried it yet, so I could be the test dummy & give some results whether or not it is worth the investment. Mine leans, but has never felt tippy due to the wide stance. I have even had it on two wheels before at speed and never felt it was going to tip. This was witnessed by my buddy in his RZR S giving chase in the sand on Fins & Things.

Bought a Duralast 51-DL--exact same size as original! Thanks guys. Is this listed in the pinned parts section of this forum...I did not see it.

Took it for a test drive...can you say too soft!!! I have got to add a swaybar to this thing. It is gonna be great in the slow rocky stuff, but too much lean in turns. All the RZR's & Wildcats have swaybars at least in the rear. I need to find a good adjustable torsion bar swaybar set up. It is the only way to run a dual rate shock that is soft in the whoops but doesn't lean too much. I still have 13 inches of clearance under the rear end, so its not sagging in the rear. I will post what I find.

The shocks are not as quality as RZR's & others. My first recommendation is to get rid of the stock tires and go with a good ATV tire. Something that recommends a low PSI (4-10lbs). I think the stock Trooper tires are around 30 psi. Of course if you run on the road alot this would not be a good tire for that. There are tons of posts that get further into suspension on this forum. Just do some searching. There are some updrade bolt-on shocks out there (try silverbullet). If you really want the best set up you will have to do some moding/fabrication work.

I have been running a 1/4" aluminum skidplate in the rear. It is dented from bottoming out. By lifting the rear end, I am hoping to not bottom out as easily as I do now. I am also going to adjust my shock collars down so it gets into the primary spring quicker. I will definately be keeping an eye on everything. I will check everything if I find myself doing the "just bottomed out hard cringe".

Alright, everything is painted and I will be reassembling tonight. What I did: Lowered rear diff--the drain plug sits about 1/4" from the bottom of frame Reinforced front diff mount by overlaying 1 3/4" chromoly tube over stock tube & fully welding--this should be thick enough material to keep it from tearing away again. I may drill out holes & diff mount to fit 1/2" bolt. Cut out upper mount tube and replaced with 1 1/2" chromoly tubing. Overlayed 1 3/4" tube & welded on stock frame then welded the new tube to it. Used 1/4" chromoly for the new mounting tabs and gusseted with triangulated chromoly tabs. Drilled mount holes & diff to accept 1/2" bolt. Moved trailing arm shock mounts about 1 1/2" forward and about an 1 1/4" out. I used the original shock mount. I just cut the welds and chiseled the it off. The outer ear hangs about 1/4" off the side of the trailing arm. I added a tab underneath it for support and welded into the side of the trailing arm. The shock is now inline when looking from aft end of buggy. Last I added a 1/4" chromoly tab on the inside trailing arm mount underneath. This is where a few have failed. I had 1000 ideas on how to beef this part up ranging from duck tape to NASA engineering, but I opted for the easiest & quickest solution which I also believe will hold forever. One more thing...I took off the arms cleaned all of the bushings & bolts, lubed and re-torqued. All of the side play is GONE!!! I did not see any hole elongation. I do need to add some grease fitting however. Trooper rear swingarm.bmp

Love it. Loud & proud.

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I would like to eventually do most of what you said. I was up at Sandworks in Ogden recently looking at the suspension designs of a few of their cars. I was originally wanting to do a set up like on the new RZR XP's, but after looking at the nice trailing arm set ups they had, I think when properly executed, it is a better design. The problem is the side-loads we put on our Troopers when racing around corners & hitting rocks on trails. Sand cars don't see those types of loads usually, but the arms they were making looked much stronger than our Troopers. I am going to gusset the lower side on the inside arm where it has been cracking on other Troopers. I would like to improve the pivot joints eventually as well. Mine have have some side play. They need a good/strong bushing or bearing.

No, our shocks will not bolt directly into those brackets.

Great...thanks guys. Right now I am busy moding the rear end (lowering) and suspension travel (lengthening). My right rear arm travel is 14.5" and the left is 15". Gotta love hand built chinese machines. I have moved my swing arm shock brackets forward and out towards the wheel. At the same time I am looking to integrify the inside swing arm where they are fracturing.

I know I have read it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. Someone posted they got a direct replacement battery for a T2 from a local parts store on the forum. I was wondering if anyone knows that part number and where I might find one. I really don't want to have to ship a battery to Utah. I also don't have time to modify my battery tray & bracketry right now. Thanks, Paul

Jeff, I may have an extra if you are interested. I needed just new e-brake calipers, but it came as a complete assembly. It would be my takeoff, but it actually worked better than the new one.

Nice! Do you have a youtube account? I would love to see some video of the turbo spooling up, what rpm/psi, speedo excelleration...you know just a good dash cam video. It appears you used a pretty small turbo, so I would imagine is spins pretty early. Did you say you were using an FMU?

Roc, Is the front 4x4 slide engaging unit you have the replacement for the electrical box?? Does it allow you to use a cable instead--like the 2011/2012's? If it is, I want one! Also interested in the one intake and one exhaust gasket. Not sure if I can afford you, but PM me some prices on those please.

One of these UTV's is not like the other... I was messing around on youtube and found someone who looks familiar: I just wish they showed you tearing it up chop.

I am going to put in my pitch for a weight saving pinned thread again. I just received some Lightforce 140 Lance headlights I ordered. They are about 1/3rd the weight of the factory headlights. Lenny has saved some significant weight by removing the front driveshaft donut. I could post up the numbers that I have written down for the rear cage & spare tire. I could post the weight of the factory shocks. Airshocks could save you tons of weight. Even my fox shocks are lighter than the factory shocks by a few pounds. If you remove the factory lightbar (I do very little night riding), there is 15-25 lbs. Or, if you build a light bar like Kinarfi you would save alot of weight.

I heard he was just about to be promoted to "Super Duper Moderator", but he just shot himself in the foot. Thats just too bad.

How about a price quote for members on a port & cams package? If we were to send you our head & manifolds.

I wonder how many Troopers have been sold in the U.S. and if anyone on this forum would know? Next time I talk to Joyner USA I will ask, but I wonder with all the changeover there if they know??? I know the members on this site equal just a fraction of the owners. I would like to get these numbers because there are a few performance shops I would like to pitch the 1100cc motor to. BUT, if they can't make any money then they just wouldn't waste their time. If we can create the demand the supply will follow. Now I don't want to bag on any of the aftermarket support out there we currently have, but none of them have really dug into the potential of the motor (like Lenny has). I can only imagine how many buggys are running the 1100cc powerplant worldwide. Does anyone know any numbers?

Grrrr, the proximity is in the realm of possibility for me, but I have to work that weekend...one day. I will be in Moab on memorial weekend if anyone will be there let me know.

Have you checked with Maxxis directly? When I got my BFG's pro-rated for cracks in the sidewalls I just took them to Discount Tire. They called BFG and I was able to use the pro-rated money on new tires at their store. It shouldn't matter where you bought them; however, I am not sure if Maxxis' warranty is a good as BFG's. BFG just wanted a tire "expert" to verify the damage so the warranty system isn't abused.

Check with these guys if you are interested in a fuel controller: Dobeck Performance Have you checked with Silverbullet Motorsports to see if they have any performance upgrades for the 800cc motor?

Wow! Sounds like fun. Having a manual transmission puts us at a disadvantage when trying to maintain speed up hills. Although I don't plan on changing I would love to test drive a Trooper with a CVT just to see the difference. Troopers are really heavy, I am not sure about the buggy's. Is there any weight you can eliminate? Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe your car has the same rear end as the Troopers & Renegades??? If it does, I would assume your buggy has the Renegade gearing which is lower that the Troopers gearing (better low end torque), but I am not certain. If you do have the same rear end as the Troopers/Renegades it would be a good idea to go through it if you haven't already. Especially with as hard as you drive. There is an upgrade kit for these rear-ends. While going through it you could verify what gearing you have. I assume you need to stay naturally aspirated in your class??? Have you considered an aftermarket fuel controller? Lots of options there, but you would have to research. Last, there may be a CVT out there for your Joyner if interested. Check with Klung motors on this forum. He recently informed me they have just come out with a CVT for the Trooper. I would miss jamming gears though...