Big Jump (by accident) at the OHV park

[@samcobuggies984]

"We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents" Bob Ross

[@DougBugBuilder]

Bob had it right all along!

[@tazzthedoodle7861]

Finding weak links is part of building anything custom. I've watched all your build videos and you did a wicked job!!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks buddy!

[@joell439]

Very IMPRESSED with Wratchet. I'm blow away by how SMOOOOTH she runs. You have to be so stoked! Congratulations 👍👍😎👍👍

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks 👍

[@Father_Blandingus]

Nice! Glad you made it out of there alright. I had a crash next door at the Aztec MX track and that's what got me started on my truck build. Your videos going over Bend-Tech were what inspired me commit and back half a perfectly good Tacoma with only 40k miles on it lol.

[@DougBugBuilder]

I'm glad I could help with your build! I hope your crash wasn't to serious.

[@MiahsBug]

First! I loved this video. Although short, it was really cool to see Wratchet floating through the air in the drone shots.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Actually, I had a good run where the drone followed me for about 2 1/2 laps without losing me. Then I realized I hadn't hit record. That would have added some great content to this.

[@MiahsBug]

@@DougBugBuilder oh man! Bummer. Anyway, thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to be at this stage with Maestro.

[@tylerddh]

LETS GO!!!! Glad to see you getting more daring, been a while since I've visited and I remember you taking your first bug out on pretty casual rides on flat dirt roads. Glad you didn't get hurt with minimal battle scars on Wratchet!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@victorgamboa1659]

Motivation for my bug build..thx for so many details you put in your videos and downloads if needed. Thx you sir

[@DougBugBuilder]

No problem 👍 Thanks for the comment.

[@ciobanuvalentinmail]

Suuuper, I like it very much, im happy for you that finaly you enjoy your builds. Have a nice life

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@curtisknudson8966]

Fantastic, Amazing, Bravo!!! So nice to see all this coming together and so reliable

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@nwhuckin7761]

Awesome! That bug is perfect for the track.. looks like fun

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@kevinhornbuckle]

I enjoyed this footage very much. The bug seems solid, agile, and durable.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks, at this point I can confidently say.... it is. 😁 It needs some tweaks, but overall it's done really well.

[@DirtGearTv]

Wow I love how level it flies! Looked like a pretty hard hit there 😮

[@makingconnections777]

That's awesome man. Wratchet is looking good. Would love to see just the tube chassis drive around without the fiberglass too

[@DougBugBuilder]

Actually that would be fun, but if I did that I'd probably like it to much and not want to put the body back on. But maybe I'll try it sometime anyways.

[@KJRaycing]

Man that bug is awesome! I’ve always loved your channel and your builds. Sucks your drone wasn’t working but the on car shot looks and sounds awesome!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@joshw7555]

great video! love the bug on the track..

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks! 👍

[@TheEZGZ]

Wow! Looks like your getting a smooth ride in the drivers seat.. Nice work alll around

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks Greg!

[@ultra4suzukisamurai679]

What a cool track! Your bug is working great!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks! 👍

[@2-old-Forthischet]

That looks like a blast!

[@DougBugBuilder]

It is, thanks!

[@dustbuggy]

Love the video Doug ❤ got me itching to make some improvements again!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Hi Ashley! Thanks for the comment, I love following you along on IG and I'm so glad you keep trucking along with DB. 😊❤

[@Johnny-tc6tz]

Great video, That car launches, Hits those doubles like nothing, I am going to consider bump stops on my car, I don't jump my car but in the sand dunes when coming off of steep dunes you hit the G outs and I bottom out hard and break stuff. Great job on your car.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@Tanks-Link]

I noticed your bump steer with your first hitting. You probably got a couple inches of bump steer there I had to do a lot of work on my A ARM front end to fix it. I have less than 1/2” bump steer now. Flying through the air is quite amazing Isn’t it, and then followed with a soft landing it’s just amazing.

[@DougBugBuilder]

It has almost zero bump steer, but it also has no steering stabilizer or power steering. So whenever I land a little crooked the first front wheel gets yanked in that direction until the other tire lands and equals out the pull from each side. After that landing my hands hurt some from the yank in the wheel. It's something I need to address before it breaks my wrist.

[@JDawgBuilds]

Looks like fun! Have you looked into like a Prius(or some other vehicles) electric power steering(EPS) conversion? I bought a Nissan Versa steering column with EPS and got it working on the bench with a car battery. I'm planning on putting it in my Baja Blast when ever I start working on it again. Only saying this since I broke my wrist at The Mint 400 in my 1450 class Ranger hitting a boulder... Then my co-driver drove it to the pits so I could swap out and he was braking for a turn with some whoops in it. The steering wheel yanked his arm and pulled his shoulder real bad. We're upgrading our steering too. My bosses 1450 truck you can drive with 1 finger lol.

[@DougBugBuilder]

I looked into them some, but not to much. Now I'm thinking that's the way I'll go. So I need to look closer at what options are out there. And I need to see if they reduce feedback in the wheel.

[@DesertRatFabrication]

Nice Mike, wow you really get an appreciation for how fast your going when we’re in the cockpit with you, I know your number one reason is to be on the track but going to the store in the Baja would be a blast too, what would it take to make it border line street legal, oh yeah a haven’t forgot your gift I’ve just been to busy at work to make it😀😀

[@hoagiesherlin7732]

That looks like a lot of fun

[@DougBugBuilder]

Yeah, it is! 👍

[@rodneyrichardson8286]

That place is awesome,probably even better after a decent rain.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Yeah, it's a fun place to rip around. 👍

[@noprerun]

Your ride turned out good. It lands nice on video.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks, it's weird because if you land properly on the landing it feels like almost nothing.

[@anthonyjohnson100]

Steering looks brutal

[@mattvelardes8072]

Remember to keep your thumbs from rapping around the steering wheel. So your hand is not throw or broken as the steering wheel snaps back.😮

[@DougBugBuilder]

That's really hard to do under pressure, but I agree with you. After this landing my hand hurt from the jarring it took on landing. I've even thought about adding a disk to the center of the wheel so I can't wrap my thumb around even if I wanted to.

[@mattvelardes8072]

Like most things, it takes practice. It only took a couple of hits to convert me. LOL

[@CncObsession]

Looks fun as hell to me. Judging from my bike experience, it just looks like a little line correction on the entry where that landing went sketchy. I am sure that is typical for that type of driving. Still have to learn and deal with it in real time since the perfect line isnt always available. Being from a state with little public lands (Texas) that opportunity and type of track looks fun AF. There are a few private ventures I am aware of but that is it. Enjoy, thanks for the footage and hope that place is always open for you.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks, my line was off, but mostly because I didn't expect to overshoot so much. I really miscalculated the speed needed. I hope this track stays open too! Thanks for the comment.

[@vintagespeed]

you seem to be coming out of your seat alot on the zero G jumps? looks like more than a few inches?

[@DougBugBuilder]

I'm not strapped in tightly enough here. Doesn't help that I'm wearing two jackets either.

[@Urbanwoodsdeer]

Bad ass bug. Wish I could post a pic of mine. I want to upgrade my suspension but not too crazy because I drive it everyday. I drive it on long camping trips back in the woods. Still have stock suspension with adjusters welded in the front and adjustable rear spring plate. Any suggestions let me know.

[@DougBugBuilder]

That's a tough one, you have to be careful when working with a daily driver. I would recommend you go with wider and longer trailing arms in the front and rear. Lot's of good kits to get that done. It'll be strong and reliable.

[@Urbanwoodsdeer]

@DougBugBuilder yep that's all I need. I do drive it up to northern Michigan out in the woods 2 tracking and it does great now but just want a little more of a bull dog stance. I don't know if there's a way to send a pic on your page here but you'll dig it. Thanks bud.

[@davidmays3333]

I still say your Baja looks very smooth over the jumps.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks, for the most part it is. It's actually more clunky/clanky going over small stuff.

[@ataxpayer723]

Does the drone hone in on the remote controller??

[@DougBugBuilder]

No, it just tries to lock onto the vehicle through the video. If it loses sight of it then it just stops and hovers in place.

[@ataxpayer723]

What tires did you finally go with on the bug??

[@DougBugBuilder]

285/75/16 in front, 315/75/16 in rear, so basically 33's in front and 35's in the rear.

[@carlkeese6620]

Looks to me with that overnight the double, you have the suspension set up pretty damn good the way it sucked it up! Could have been a lot worse.

[@DougBugBuilder]

I agree, I'm nitpicking it some, and trying to get it perfect, but in all honesty it did handle the large drop really well. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@blubb7711]

I wish there would be life sized RC parks in Europe

[@DougBugBuilder]

Yeah, I guess that's what this is. Never thought about it that way, but you are right.

[@blubb7711]

@@DougBugBuilder the drone footage looks really like it could be an rc. Especially because of the cool 90s paint job.

[@dustyweasel41]

Is that the one just out of the Springs?

[@DougBugBuilder]

Yes, like directly East from Pikes Peak, RAM Offroad park.

[@dustyweasel41]

@@DougBugBuilder very cool. I live 3 miles at most from PMI down here in Pueblo West. I’ll go give that place a try too. Thanks for the inspiration

[@nashwoods2385]

When the drone loses you at around 330 I would assume it’s the combo of changing direction and the color shift from the bug hitting the shadow and going behind the tree

[@DougBugBuilder]

Yes, the turns were havoc for the drone. I was hoping it would do a better job keeping track of it. I didn't even think about the shadows, I'm sure that wasn't helping.

[@cd4222]

Awesome!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@rickrack78]

Numero Uno! 👍🏻

[@DougBugBuilder]

🏆 😁

[@Paul_VanGo]

You went for a soft setup, making the bug very nice to drive, and especially land. Until it lands a it too rough, or on one side first Did you notice you hardly (or ever) touch rhe the hydraulic bumpstops? But when you do, they cant support the load. My advice; let them engage a lot sooner, so they actually have the travel to get the vertical motion stopped in time, before bottoming out. Or should I say: bottoming through? They even might be a bit longer in travel. And add some additional conical rubber bumpstops as a ultimate last resort so you crash-dampen the travel, but also prevent the suspension to go beyond it's intended path. Might be a rough landing, when that happens, but at least it will survive the landing unscathed. It might be teeth-rattling, but at least the bug will be ok 😂 The more you drive it, the more confident you'll get, thus the more you'll push the boundaries and then miscalculations *will* happen. Edit: I just saw the rest of rhe footage and it seemed the front is bouncing on landing. You might want ro stiffen up that rebound a tad. Or lower the tire pressure, so the tire acts as a second, initial damper.

[@DougBugBuilder]

I agree, the front is way to soft. My initial takeaways from watching this is that I need to make the valving stiffer in the front. And the bump stop in the rear actually needs to be redone, its position here just isn't working. I'll probably redo that this winter.

[@bajarunner1128]

The bump stops job is to catch the really hard landings, that it. You do not want it to be active any more than is absolutely necessary. The last stage of the bypass shock (above all tubes) is what you want have catch the suspension. What I see is a very linear tune on the suspension front and rear, it needs to be more progressive. Put a light valve set up back in those covers and use the bypass shock to control movement. When correct you will find yourself with a much smoother ride and ultimately shortening the bump stops. When tuned correctly that car won't need bump stops. No doubt you'll figure it out, heck you did a great job getting this far!

[@ataxpayer723]

Here's a tip: Wrap a cable tie around the shaft of your rear bump stops, then you can see how much the bump stops are working.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Great idea, thanks for sharing.

[@cbowenjr72]

From being raised on buggies. I think playing with compression might help or your spring rate needs to go up

[@DougBugBuilder]

After this I think I'm going to make the valving firmer on the front shocks. And maybe slightly stronger springs too.

[@cbowenjr72]

@DougBugBuilder it's landing in a controlled manner. But the rear should have another main spring say 200lbs heavier for the bigger landings. Not just at this park but others you plan to visit. Having a rear mounted engine heavier then our 1600cc VW's the springs plus valving can't slow the compression and in your video smashing the bump stops. Can't wait to see the stack of springs you start playing with on the wall. Good luck

[@Mrjazzzery]

ROCK AND ROLL!!

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks! 👍

[@ciobanuvalentinmail]

Alooo my friend, nothing new? I miss your videos, are you having fun? I hope everything it's ok

[@DougBugBuilder]

I do have a project coming up where I'm making some upgrades to Wratchet. But it's winter here now, and I'm adjust to the cold weather. 😉 Thanks for checking in.

[@ciobanuvalentinmail]

@@DougBugBuilder yes, it's cold at my place too, we are waiting warmer times, See you

[@Mr_Spegru]

looks like fun

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks, it is. 😁

[@home3000]

I'm not to far from that off road place. Maybe one day we can meet up out there. I have a real good drone that I could use the googles and chase you around. I would love to play with my buggy out there also.

[@DougBugBuilder]

That would be fun, email me at [e-mail] and we can set something up. 👍

[@home3000]

Will do.

[@buddymartin7923]

You didn't panic. Didn't lead notch that tree. Id call it a win

[@DougBugBuilder]

Thanks!

[@kamil_nz]

professionally filmed

[@DougBugBuilder]

All the drone gets is a charged battery. 😁

[@jimhowell4937]

Great video. Start calling you Doug Danger. ( dating myself)

[@DougBugBuilder]

Wow that's a blast from the past! But don't worry, I know who Doug Danger is.

[@KeeleDesign]

Really wish youd stop speeding the video up when your driving, especially interior views.

[@DougBugBuilder]

Nothing is sped up in this video, I did some slow motion on the one jump. But everything else is 1:1 speed.

[@KeeleDesign]

@@DougBugBuilder good gosh, u shouldn’t be vibrating around like your in the sphere in the movie contact, your vehicle should be cushioning the most