Improving my Mini Jeep

[@neilwilliams5173]

God luck with the mini jeep we love the kitty and the doggie!

[@lukeFugate]

Thank you.

[@teamyatesc21]

Glad your enjoying the little jeep! Looks fun looking forward to all upgrades vids to come!

[@lukeFugate]

It is pretty fun. I've got a lot more in mind for it.

[@ArielleViking]

Great job, looks like a lot of interesting projects on this one. Nice. 👍🏻

[@lukeFugate]

Yes I’ve been having a lot of fun on this thing.

[@dsteele27]

Looks like a whole lot of fun ... and a lot easier to drive now!

[@lukeFugate]

It is I'm liking it better and better.

[@thomabb]

I did some research on the available mini jeeps before I bought. The Coolster has the engine in the front, which helps with steering (the solid rear axle doesn't help).

[@lukeFugate]

I was thinking the longer chain could be problematic. After having this one, I'm not so sure having the engine mounted on the rear swingarm is the best idea. You are right that having a rear diff would help with steering.

[@mattschmerbeck8375]

It seems like it would have been easier to move the seat forward or put some kinda cushion or extension over the seat than it would be to modify the steering wheel?

[@lukeFugate]

The pedals were too close as well and I couldn’t see any easy way to move the footwell forward. Much easier to move the seat backwards.Steering wheel mod was very easy though.

[@wolfmangosan539]

KZbin hides your videos from me why tho?? Crazy. Glad to see your still doing well ❤love your work man

[@lukeFugate]

KZbin is odd sometimes. Not sure why that happens. Thank you for watching them when you can.

[@BlackAndBlueGarage]

I want to build on of these one day? Great job "making it yours" 👍🏻

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks! They are fun little vehicles.

[@MuckCanada]

Sorry Luke, I subscibed for the cat 🤣

[@lukeFugate]

That's cool, can't blame you there. 😎

[@lbbradley55]

Go cart ! That's what everyone use to call these and they came in different shapes and sizes including dune buggies and 3 wheelers with brigs engines. They were very problematic

[@lukeFugate]

I guess it could be a go kart. I always thought about go karts as not having a transmission. It still is working great right now, fun to drive around in.

[@lbbradley55]

@lukeFugate Hey I'd probably enjoy having one I'm sure.

[@travismccarthy5681]

Hey man great video! Did you do anything to help with the vibration? Bought one for my kid as it’s insane…seems to be from the windshield

[@lukeFugate]

I took the windshield out. It is one main source of the vibration. My intent is to get some o rings to put on the bolts to isolate the windshield from the frame. I haven't tried that yet as the windshield really doesn't do much so for now I'm just leaving it out. It still has vibration but not as bad.

[@Joeandfran]

Great work! Can you fill the front bumper with concrete or steel or lead? Great improvements!

[@lukeFugate]

Filling it with steel, maybe pieces of rebar would work. Thanks!

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

Is that engine & transmission ONE unit? Can the engine be swapped out for a Predator & still use the transmission?

[@lukeFugate]

The engine in this is a four wheeler engine so it is an integrated engine/transmission. To use a predator would require using a torque converter as well.

[@jmccarthy2112]

The cat is waiting for a ride....

[@lukeFugate]

lol yeah

[@larrybailey43]

How bout a 1200 lb. Winch on front for more weight ?

[@lukeFugate]

yes, the winch is plenty of weight, especially since I added a battery as well.

[@PCFixer]

Sweet naughty li'l kitty!

[@lukeFugate]

yes lol.

[@KingWyoming]

now you need to stil reach down to turn on your turn signal and turn on your headlights

[@lukeFugate]

True. It would be better to extend that up as well. They are hardly ever used, so I doubt I will. Good point, though.

[@dennisbronkowski3556]

Front tires on backwards they are directional tread

[@lukeFugate]

Yes, I didn't pay attention on assembly.

[@chrisstohr9618]

Moving the seat forward seems easier and more logical than the can of worms that is now open. (Steering column needs better support, rear axle needs relocated, frame needs stretched, gear shifter needs modified, turnsignal switch needs modified) or maybe just buy a big jeep.

[@lukeFugate]

@chrisstohr9618 only needed the steering wheel and shifter changed this way. I would have had to extend the footwells and pedals forward to move the seat forward. That would have been much harder. It drives great now.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

The tires being on backwards is WHY you are having the steering & trackson issues

[@lukeFugate]

They are backwards, but the weight distribution was the issue. A winch and battery were enough to get it balanced well.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

23:09 Just get some tubing where the I.D. will slip OVER the shift rod

[@lukeFugate]

I ended up using a small collar to weld onto the shifter.

[@abelromero4373]

That's why your poping wheelies. Yr riding in the rear tires.

[@lukeFugate]

Yeah, it is solved now, the winch and battery were plenty of counterweight.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

If ya hadn't of bought that jeep you could of bought a vise

[@lukeFugate]

I've got a vice, just too lazy to go to the garage.

[@normalizedaudio2481]

I keep getting ripped off by Chinese sellers.

[@lukeFugate]

Yes, they can be kind of sketchy. Also you have to do a lot of maintenance on Chinese things.

[@J-ayJ]

I hear ya on that one, we're all continuously getting ripped off by them. It also certainly doesn't help that it's increasingly difficult to even find quality made things anymore, the sheer availability of such to at least have a choice in the matter. All price points aside, even in understanding there's a higher cost for better quality things- it still sucks not having the choice to choose between quality or cheap. But yeah, it's commonly known the Chinese weren't ever known for producing quality, to add it just seems like their level of quality control only gets worse and worse. To the point that I have on numerous instances simply opened the packaging for whatever I've bought, only to have the item basically fall apart in my hand, or won't even be close to being made right. Ebay and Amazon are both completely ate up with their crap. Notice how anything you may want to search for and buy will pull up the same listings spammed out everywhere across the page? Like, for everything all of the time. It's gotten so bad that even searching for a specific well-known brand named item can't be seen without first sifting and searching through layers of trash that somehow always gets shown first- contrary to what you specifically typed in. You see nothing but the same listings with only minor changes such as photo angles, or a few cents difference in the pricing between these spammed listings. The adds will all have the same stock photos (photos of which they more than likely stole) a plain white background, an entirely fake brand name that doesn't even make sense phonetically- and they'll even go as far as to deceive you further by pasting an American flag in the upper corner of the photo to have you thinking it's made in the USA. They're quite literally the single most deceptive, anti-quality, garbage producing nation on this planet- and I don't hate them, I just hate what they do. They however could care less. They just want our money, and it's proven more than obvious they don't care about much other than that. Customer satisfaction, pride in production, brand loyalty, none of that matters. When everything's been monopolized by their cheapness of things that we've only fed by continually buying what they've made, we lose our CHOICE to buy quality- and thusly the quality of things plummet all the further...