Hi, My name is Simon . I am 29 years old and live in Perth. Western Australia. I work as an Internet Security Consultant for (ASG).

The pictures below and on the pages to follow are of the dune buggy that my brother, Nathan and I built with the help of my friend Ashley (A Boiler Maker/Welder). The second picture shows just how directional the front tyres are. When you steer through sand the front tyres act as rudders just like in a boat, with the exception that the rudders are at the front. We built it from bare metal, using a set of plans that we purchased from "The Edge Products" which is an off-road factory about 10 minutes from my house. Ashley welded it all together with a bit of help from Nathan and myself. It's really obvious which bits I welded. :-)

We call it "The Hell Hound".
It is powered by a KLR-600 Dirt Bike engine and uses the bike's 5 speed gear box to drive the chain driven sprocket on the live rear axle. The rear tyres are called Bear Claws. I think that they are named aptly, as they gouge their way through any terrain they face.
The buggy has had a bit of a transformation in the front suspension, in the rear swing arm and the chain tensioner...All of which needed some modifications from the original plan. This was due to us changing the plans somewhat.

• The front suspension has been upgraded to use a combination of two sets of springs, this we achieved by cutting down the original springs and fitting them in between the top of the front swing-arms and the bottom of the top chassis. This allows for the spring-damper combination that exists to stay and have the added strength of more springs...needless to say the front end is very hard now...I can jump on it and it only JUST moves.
• The engine has so much low-down torque that it kept twisting the rear swing arm. This in turn caused the chain to come loose all the time. ............Which brings me to the chain tensioner upgrade.
• The chain tensioner had originally been made with a sprung nylon roller which was meant to be mounted to the chassis, however, this was not used because we extended the roll cage too much and ran out of space to fit it in... So we made one (using the nylon roller still) to fit on to the swing arm itself and as such would not need to be sprung because it would always be travelling in the same arc as the chain and the swing arm. Unfortunately over time the roller wore away to the bolt that held it in place and had to be re-designed... The new design incorporates the same basic positioning but is now using a sprocket instead of the nylon roller...Well the chain has not fallen off yet. So far so good. :)