There is a moment in every build where it stops being a plan and starts being real. Right now there are two of those moments happening at the same time on the Motobilt shop floor.
Two tube cars. Front and rear steer. Portals at all four corners. Both designed and fabricated here, from the first line on the screen to the last weld on the chassis.
This is the kind of project that does not happen quietly. The video follows Bender, Denver, Dan, and the rest of the crew as these two buggies come together day by day. It is steel on the table, sparks in the air, and a clock running in the background that does not care how tired anyone is.
Built Here. Not Sourced Here.
A lot of companies talk about custom builds. Fewer actually design and fabricate them under their own roof.
These buggies are Motobilt from the ground up. Denver has turned in a massive amount of hours on the design side, working out geometry, packaging, and clearance before a single tube ever got bent. Bender has been living behind the helmet, welding and fabricating hour after hour to turn those designs into real chassis you can put your hands on. Dan is in the middle of it with them, the same way these projects have always come together here.
Front and rear doubled ended PSC steering rams change everything about how a rig moves through the rocks. JHF portals on fabricated 9" axles with 4" tubes provide an insane amount of clearance. East Coast Gear Supply aluminum third members are not only light weight but provide the traction and gearing needed for these rigs to crawl. Traction is key to success in the rocks and with the 42" Mickey Thompson stickies aired down the tread just sticks to the rocks. When running such low air pressure we need to make sure the tires stay seated on the bead so we went with the best bead locks we could get our hands on with Battle Born Wheels. Building both into two tube cars at the same time is not a bolt-on weekend. It is engineering, fabrication, and a lot of long days stacked on top of each other.
Good Builders Know Who to Call
Building in house does not mean building alone. Part of doing this the right way is knowing which parts to make and which parts to trust to the people who do them best.
These buggies are coming together with components from some of the best in the industry. Jesse Haines. Richard Hulse. Battle Born Wheels. Mickey Thompson Tires, PSC. Builds like this not only need to perform but they need to hold up to the abuse that they will be put through. These cars are built to be light but the Ford 2.3 Turbo Eco-boost still puts out about 450 HP through built 4L60E Maximum transmissions and Advance Adapters Atlas transfer cases. These companies and several others who have earned their reputation the hard way, by making parts that hold up when the trail starts telling the truth.
That is how serious builds get done. You design and fabricate what makes your rig yours, and you partner with the people who have already proven their work in the same environment you are building for. No ego. Just the right part in the right place.
The Clock Is the Hard Part
Here is the tension. Designing these buggies is hard. Fabricating them is harder. Doing both at the same time, to this standard, on a deadline, is where most shops would start cutting corners.
That is the part Motobilt does not do.
The crew is putting in the hours because the only version of this that counts is the one that gets finished right and gets finished on time. Two complete portal buggies, designed and built in house, ready when they need to be ready. Epic only happens if the work gets done. There is no half-finished version of this story worth telling.
So the welders stay hot. The design screen stays lit. And the crew keeps grinding because that is what it takes to build something at this level.
Will both buggies be finished in time? Watch the build and find out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a portal buggy?
Portals are gear reduction boxes that sit at each wheel and drop the axle centerline well below the wheel hub. That extra height under the axle means a lot more ground clearance without running a massive tire, plus a gear reduction that helps in the rocks. A portal buggy is a purpose-built tube car running portals at all four corners. These two are built for serious rock crawling, not the parking lot.
What does front and rear steer mean and why does it matter?
Front and rear steer means both the front and rear wheels turn. On tight, technical lines that lets the rig pivot and reposition in places a front-steer-only buggy would have to back out of and try again. It changes how the whole vehicle moves through an obstacle. It also adds real complexity to the design and fabrication, which is part of why these builds take the hours they do.
Are these buggies actually designed and built in house at Motobilt?
Yes. From the first line on the design screen to the last weld on the chassis, these are Motobilt builds. Denver handled the design work. Bender did the fabrication and welding. Dan and the crew worked the projects alongside them. We are a manufacturer, not a reseller, and these tube cars are proof of what that means.
What parts come from other companies?
Building in house does not mean building alone. These buggies use components from some of the best in the industry, including Jesse Haines, Richard Hulse, Battle Born Wheels, PSC, Mickey Thompson and several others. We design and fabricate what makes the rig ours, and we trust proven partners for the parts they do best.
Can Motobilt build a custom buggy or tube chassis for me?
Motobilt will soon offer the bare chassis and many of the parts needed to assemble one. Currently we do not have plans to build turn key builds.
When will the buggies be finished?
That is the whole story. The crew is putting in the hours to get both done right and done on time. Watch the build to see if they make it.
We are Motobilt.
