building a mini buggy for a 4 year old.

[egghead]

So I'm starting a new project, building a buggy for my son. It's not going to be a fancy one with Sami axles and a transaxle.. it's going to be a lawn mower frame, hydrostatic rear end mounted in the center of the frame with sprockets running a chain drive to a front and rear axle. The front axle I'm using Dana 30 short shafts, knuckles and unit bearings. The body I'm going to water jet willys MB body panels.

 

Here is where you chime in with your info, I've searched for leaf springs from a utility trailer.. lowest rating I've found is 300# ... any suggestions?

[gogmorgo]

On our FSAE car (~600 lbs with driver) we were using coilovers that were originally intended for a the rear of a mountain bike, just one at each corner of the car instead of one at the back wheel of the bike. Don't really know how heavy your rig is going to end up being, so mountain bike springs may not be enough... they also only have a couple inches of travel, don't know if that's enough. You could also look at quads for other spring ideas. Of course going with coils would mean you'd have to set up control arms instead of just leaf springs.

You could also try taking a leaf out of the 300lb spring packs... or acknowledge that it's the coolest toy he's ever had and he likely won't care if it rides a little stiff.