New owner of a Spiderbox!

[TheFauxFox]

Very happy! I got it for $675 (good deal where I am) sadly it needs a tiny bit of work (won't idle, will stall) but runs great otherwise. Dropped it off at the shop, because face it. I can't do squat for the engine. LOL. But great condition otherwise. Nice 340cca battery on it. I KNOW what people mean when they say the suspension needs to be replaced! So what are the suggestions for suspension and tires? Will drop pics soon.

[Masteryota]

Change out the rear shocks with blaster front shocks. Find 4 on 4 hubs for the front for 5/8" bearings, and a set of wheels to match, I think the best all around tire size is 21x7x8 for the fronts. Stick with the stock rear tires till you get the engine running correctly, you WILL want more power.

Don't sell yourself short on the engine stuff, they are very easy to work on and fix, there is a plethora of information on those Howhit engines and all their mods.

[andrew1320]

I would take a look at the condition of your ball joints. Many here would recommend to upgrade the ball joints to the BDX heavy duty ones since the stock ones will eventually break. I would also look into getting an intake and re-jetting the carb to let the engine breathe more.

[Davcruz]

Do a search for Spiderbox, there are several threads with great pictures and descriptions of what was done. I just finished one for my daughter and feel I did the required upgrades but did not modify the engine for power. I have a thread here on it.

[TheFauxFox]

Originally Posted by andrew1320

I would take a look at the condition of your ball joints. Many here would recommend to upgrade the ball joints to the BDX heavy duty ones since the stock ones will eventually break. I would also look into getting an intake and re-jetting the carb to let the engine breathe more.

LOL! I planned on doing that. I see these ones are a bit rusty and bent, so I want to swap 'em out! I also planned on popping on a UNI filter.

Thanks for the help!

[TheFauxFox]

Originally Posted by Davcruz

Do a search for Spiderbox, there are several threads with great pictures and descriptions of what was done. I just finished one for my daughter and feel I did the required upgrades but did not modify the engine for power. I have a thread here on it.

Will do!

[jmansracerocket]

what kind of thread is this with out pics !! lol

[TheFauxFox]

LOL sorry. The CL ad with pics was deleted and my dad has one pic on his phone when it comes back from the shop I'll get pics. XD

[TheFauxFox]

[TheFauxFox]

I think it looks great, what about y'all?

[2SlickNick]

Looks nice. Those upgrades you were planning on doing sound great, but really give it some thought about making reverse one of those upgrades. Especially if you plan on trail riding.
"Welcome to the addiction".

[TheFauxFox]

Originally Posted by Masteryota

Change out the rear shocks with blaster front shocks. Find 4 on 4 hubs for the front for 5/8" bearings, and a set of wheels to match, I think the best all around tire size is 21x7x8 for the fronts. Stick with the stock rear tires till you get the engine running correctly, you WILL want more power.

Don't sell yourself short on the engine stuff, they are very easy to work on and fix, there is a plethora of information on those Howhit engines and all their mods.

BTW where do you think I can get a good deal on either?

[Masteryota]

The great thing about the yerfs is that almost every weakness and short coming has been documented with multiple ways to correct them. I really would focus on the front end upgrades first. You don't want to be caught off guard when something gives and you can't steer out of it.

BTW where do you think I can get a good deal on either?

Check northern tool, they have sales all the time. Also look around at the go kart sites. For the shocks, search ebay. There is no one right answer for the fronts, as of yet.
You may want to consider chopping the 5/8" spindle bolt off, and replacing with a 3/4" bolt through the back side, but I don't know what tools and skill set you have handy.

[TheFauxFox]

Originally Posted by Masteryota

The great thing about the yerfs is that almost every weakness and short coming has been documented with multiple ways to correct them. I really would focus on the front end upgrades first. You don't want to be caught off guard when something gives and you can't steer out of it.

Agreed! LOL Funny you responded so fast! Thanks!

[TheFauxFox]

Originally Posted by 2SlickNick

Looks nice. Those upgrades you were planning on doing sound great, but really give it some thought about making reverse one of those upgrades. Especially if you plan on trail riding.
"Welcome to the addiction".

LOL! Good idea...but with reverse kits costing upwards of $120, I'm a little wary. But for now, I can deal with pushing/pulling it. LOL.

[TheFauxFox]

Does anyone have the rim/tire dimensions of the stock yerf?

[andrew1320]

All you need to know about it

http://yerf-dog.com/products/3206.html

and ********** has a complete reverse setup for $200 (minus the 39t sprocket)

[TheFauxFox]

andrew, it censored the place. do you mean bmi karts? Cuz I know they have one. But $200 is WAAAY too much. I understand this isn't a "cheap" hobby, but no way in HELL am I gonna drop $200 for a convenience.

[TheFauxFox]

Looking at a tire I can fit on the stock front rim, I know it uses a 6in rim (like the stock) but I don't know what it means by: 145/70-6 I understand the -6 part, but why is it 145/70? I'm used to reading something like 20x5-8 so....I'm confused.

Also, anyone know the dimensions of the stock shocks on the spiderbox?

[zman007007]

nice looking ride fox

[andrew1320]

Originally Posted by TheFauxFox

andrew, it censored the place. do you mean bmi karts? Cuz I know they have one. But $200 is WAAAY too much. I understand this isn't a "cheap" hobby, but no way in HELL am I gonna drop $200 for a convenience.

Its actually b u g g y d e p o t . I don't know why it's censored lol. Ya it is a lot to spend. I'm debating it myself also. I think ill most likely end up getting it because I like to explore other trails and it sucks having to get out to pick up the buggy and move it.

And the tire size 145/70-6 is equivalent to a 14" or 15" tire?

Oh by the way, the yerfy looks mint!

[jmansracerocket]

wow looks like a clean spiderbox from that pic, my first upgrades where/ advise is the entire front end to start, ball joints, control arms, steering rack, heavy duty spindles, bigger tires. makes it a completely different buggy for off road riding, then for a little more power, a cam, filter, rejet carb, and a change in gram rollers depending on ur riding style. plenty of yerf owners here to help you

[zman007007]

that $200 reverse set up at B&D is cheap, compared to the ones on Ebay. most on there is not going to have everything you will need to properly set it up. look at them all it shows on most of them is the part that goes on the engine and doesn't include the shifter or cable you will need to complete it.

[TheFauxFox]

Yeah. It's a 14" tire. Ironically in the sub title it says 14". How do you calculate it?

And yea, it IS practically mint. Bill just came back from the shop. $200. Before we dropped it, they said "$45 deposit, and then $45 to $85 if we have to order parts." My parents are telling me they had to rebuild the carb, but they also lubed "everything" up. But 200 BUCKS! That's crazy! We'll see if we can knock some money off that.

I'm picking it up tomorrow and going for a nice, long ride in the mountains. It's gonna be its "first ride". I'll have pics up tomorrow evening.

[zman007007]

I was seriously considering if I sold the Helix I have was to buy one of these and put it on my other crossfire.

[zman007007]

that is way to high.

[TheFauxFox]

Put what on the crossfire?

[TheFauxFox]

Agreed, 200 bucks is crazy and were gonna try to take a chunk offa it tomorrow.

'night y'all!

[zman007007]

put one of those reverse kits from b&d

[zman007007]

how much does that shop charge per hour for labor?

[sleepyrz]

this is why it pays to be handy

and if i must say being handy is simply having the balls and ability to say "i could probably do that"

and then just going and doing it

its half confidence and half doing a little research to know what it will take

first thing i did when i got mine home is to go over every nut and bolt and tighten them down

[TheFauxFox]

Well, sleepyrz, I am VERY handy when it comes to the electrical aspects. I practically rebuilt an electric scooter I have, and just for the fun of it completely dis and reassemble my PC. But engines....that's something I need to pick up. LOL

And zman, thats probably a pretty good idea! I can see after a few years wanted a reverse gear!

[zman007007]

Originally Posted by TheFauxFox

Well, sleepyrz, I am VERY handy when it comes to the electrical aspects. I practically rebuilt an electric scooter I have, and just for the fun of it completely dis and reassemble my PC. But engines....that's something I need to pick up. LOL

And zman, thats probably a pretty good idea! I can see after a few years wanted a reverse gear!

after a few years my butt, lol wait till you go over a hill and end up with the front end against a tree, and you are trying to push it uphill and backwards by yourself. I bet a reverse would look good then. lol

[Masteryota]

Originally Posted by zman007007

after a few years my butt, lol wait till you go over a hill and end up with the front end against a tree, and you are trying to push it uphill and backwards by yourself. I bet a reverse would look good then. lol

With no reverse, you have to pick your lines carefully and make snap choices to avoid having to exit and try again. Over time, your instinct will take over and you will rarely need to do this, but in your head, you know you might be missing something out of fear you might need to jump out and lift.

The BD reverse kit is complete,and while on sale, I would grab one if you can. They seem to be at the end of the run with some of the yerf parts, so they may sell out and discontinue the kit, like they did with the front lift kits

[TheFauxFox]

LOL. Went on maiden voyage today! I now understand how $200 is very much worth it. That kart is a pain in the ASS to move!

Anyone know where there are some instructions on the rack mod?

[andrew1320]

man I'm looking at checkout button right now! Still not decided yet...

[TheFauxFox]

If you do it, let me know. I might quickly follow suit!

[zman007007]

just curious fox, did mom and dad buy you this cart and gave you the check book and say buy what you want, or is there a limit?

[zman007007]

or is it because you are old enough to buy your own, just curious.

[zman007007]

you sound mighty young, now don't get me wrong, I am not saying there is nothing at all wrong with that.

[zman007007]

glad to see some young folks interested in these buggies too.

[zman007007]

I can tell you are excited about your buggy and even though I am 59 years old I was the same way when I bought my last one the other week. lol

[TheFauxFox]

LOL! I am 13 (14 in December) and I have been saving for a while (neighborhood pet/baby sitting, etc) and I am also selling a fun toy (super turbo 800 electric scooter...google it. I have 2 so I don't need one, I bought the second one for only 40 bucks and fixed it up, and now I realized that i don't need it.)

So...I will sell the scooter for hopefully 350 or so and only pay about 400 out of pocket for the kart (up front). I am also doing a science fair experiment with it and I will test a little hho generator i made and see if it improves mpg. there are tons of rumors on it, but i wanna prove it or disprove it on my own. ill update on that later (anyone smell a hydrogen powered project going on????)

[zman007007]

well you better hurry, there is one less now, I just bought one for my crossfire. My crossfire 150r has reverse but my regular crossfire doesn't so now they both will be pretty much alike. My Helix also has reverse so it doesn't need it neither.

[zman007007]

hey glad to hear you are earning your own way as far as what you want, your mom and dad should be proud of you. keep it up, you are def. going in the right direction.

[Davcruz]

Just a couple of suggestions for you since I just completely rebuilt my daughters Spiderbox.

I would look at the items that are safety and/or reliability issues first and here is my list of those for the Spiderbox:

1) Ball joints, this is mandatory, there are multiple solutions but you seem like a plug-n-play type so I suggest the BD HD joints, $99

2) HD spindles, again fairly important, also BD

3) Brace/weld-up the front box and front box mount, not expensive but if you cannot weld find a decent guy and pay to have it done

After you get these weak areas addressed I would like at convenience and power as your limited budget allows, the first thing here is a reverse kit, after that it depends what you want out of your buggy.

Take a look at my thread for info on what I did for my daughters Spiderbox. It is now going to get some mild engine upgrades but the rest of the buggy is fairly strong and she drives it hard for a 10 y/o. Reverse was a life saver!

[TheFauxFox]

Agreed with you, Dave! Altough right now, I don't have the $99 for the joints, but the issue with that now, is that I do believe when you buy the new joints, you have to buy new spindles (mine don't look too pretty). When you buy spindles, you get the option of even vs. uneven. Of course, why would I spend another $95 on spindles and NOT go for the evens? Now I need even A-arms, see what I mean?

It'll be probably a month before I get the $$$ to do that.

But out of curiosity, the previous owner of this spiderbox had quite a few of front end spare parts (A-Arms, spindles, and a carb [lol not front end]).
Couldn't I take a "bottom" a arm and put it on the top, and then buy even spindles and ball joints? I measured out the "suspension mount" on the bottom, and it should clear the suspension. I think it'll work, but itll look kinda weird...

[Davcruz]

Are you certain you have uneven arms? Either way BD has the HD spindles in even or uneven styles and you can even send your spindles to them to upgrade for you. Send them your spindles and have them done and buy the joints at the same time and they will ship them back all together to save on shipping.

Take a picture of your front suspension for us and measure the a-arms also.

I meant to comment on the front tire situation but forgot. There are almost no good tires to run on the 6" rims, believe me I searched and searched, the options are very limited. Look for an 8" rim and if the cash allows swap out to hubs on the front.

[TheFauxFox]

Dave, yea...I was just thinking I'll spend the extra $30 or so and just get the wheel hubs and bigger rims, after all, I plan on keeping this for quite some time, I think I'll just get some new rims!

[TheFauxFox]

This is right after it was loaded onto the trailer!



The yellow line shows that they aren't even a-arms (sad). The green box shows my incredibly rusty tie-rod ().

Now, in the red oval, is the suspension attachment. I have a spare lower a-arm that measures the exact same. Couldn't I get even spindles and put the spare lower a-arm on top? It wouldn't fix the issue with the tabs breaking, but it would give me the "benefit" of the even a-arms, right? Even though the bottom arm has that little suspension linkage, I measured it out, and with even spindles, it wouldn't come NEAR the shock. So the question is, should I send both arms out, get the tabs reinforced, and put the bottoms on the top with even spindles?

thnx

[Davcruz]

You can run the lower up top, just use a cut off wheel to carefully remove the shock mount. Then send them in to get the nice new tabs installed. That is an old Spiderbox, even has the very weak original style spindles. I would surmise that it was hardly used ever since it is not broken!

[TheFauxFox]

Alright! So I would have to get the even spindles, right?

So...do the even spindles have the holes farther away (like 2 bottom holes?) or are they closer (like two tops?)?

[jmansracerocket]

yes u need to get the even hd bd spindles and the holes of course will be further away like the bottom one hole

[jmansracerocket]

get spindles/ ball joints, and control arms its a must period

[TheFauxFox]

jman, I assumed the holes were the "further" type, but I was just curious

I will DEFINITELY get new spindles and ball joints, and the a-arms will get repaired in the process.
I'm not sure if reverse, or bigger wheels takes priority after the front end.

[jmansracerocket]

Originally Posted by TheFauxFox

jman, I assumed the holes were the "further" type, but I was just curious

I will DEFINITELY get new spindles and ball joints, and the a-arms will get repaired in the process.
I'm not sure if reverse, or bigger wheels takes priority after the front end.

if ur off roading/ trail riding a lot and have plenty of room where u don't need the reverse then I would go with bigger tires the stock ones aren't the greatest for off roading

[Masteryota]

As mentioned before, you gave the 2nd gen spindles. These are far better than the tin foil 1st gen, but still really really weak. If you call BD and tell them you need even arms and HD spindles, they will set you up with the whole kit to add even arms. You would need to get the lower arms reinforced either through them, or locally. If it were me, I would ship BD your lowers, that way the angles are a guaranteed match. If you haven't messed with steering and suspension work before, I would advise against jumping into it without doing A LOT of research. If you prefer, you can retain the uneven arms, but understand the limitations of uneven arms, and have someone local add the tabs for the ball joints.

[TheFauxFox]

Um. Was looking at even a arms on ********. They have even tops and bottoms. Couldn't I just get even tops, and then buy even spindles to go with them? It wouldn't reinforce the tab, or put on new bearings (just for now) but it would be better than uneven, right?

[Masteryota]

Well, you can do it in which ever order you like, but know that the sheet metal tabs WILL tear off, even with the BD joint kit installed. I hate redoing work, so I always reinforce anything sketchy while its down. Think about it like this, would you rather drop another $50-100 to have it done right, or risk having it fail on the trail or at high speeds, and risk being stranded or getting hurt???

The reason everyone says to get them done, is that everyone has had them rip apart. It is a well known and documented problem, with an easy fix. Call a weld shop and tell them you need 4 (1/4") plate triangles welded on, and get a quote.

[TheFauxFox]

Good point. I'll look for a weld shop as spending $120 ($60 a pair) plus shipping to BD just doesn't seem fair. So... What are the major benefits of the even a arms?

[Davcruz]

The price from BD is fair, go buy 1/4" steel plate, then cut it to the correct size and then cut off the old tab and then prep the arm and finally weld on the new 1/4" tab all while making sure the tab is aligned correctly and that you have good welds between the 1/4" plate and the very thin tube...BD could charge more IMHO. I would not do it for someone for $30 per arm, I can tell you that for sure. In fact, I thought it cheaper to send my own to BD rather than doing it myself.

[TheFauxFox]

(Again) I understand how NOT inexpensive this hobby is, but $120 is nuts! If I were to reinforce one part (top or bottom), which one should I do. I think I'll get the parts. Wait a little, send out tops or bottoms to get reinforced, wait a little, then reinforce the opposite ones. So... Tops or bottoms?