Answer - Hardcopy prints on 11 x 17 paper that details the required tubes to build the base chassis including cut lengths, bend start points and angles. All the plans are broken into stages, the first being the lower section and moving up from there.  This video should give you a good idea of what you get.  It covers what is included in the second stage of the Project Hellraiser Pickup chassis and includes the bending and mocking up of the belt line tubes from the plans.  The plans basically give you an envelope that can hold a drive train and is easily customizable to add you own style o the final outcome. I do not provide suspension mount points due to the sheer numbers of ways of doing it, however you can copy exactly what I have is you happen to run the same drive train by looking thru the above builds as well as the suspension links listed below.

 Question - Do the plans also detail the suspension mounting points?

    Answer - Yes. From 2015 on I will be adding a page to the chassis plans set which shows you how to fill in the 4BarLink calculator** and gives the suspension mounting points I used for my Hellraiser 3 chassis.  Previous purchasers of my plans can download a PDF of this file from the electronic files link I sent you after you purchased the plans (see below for an image of what it looks like). The mounting points given can be used with any of my chassis designs or can be used as a starting point. You may also read thru my project build threads and in my tech section I have write ups covering the basics to a link suspension, suspension links, and 4 link numbers.  The 4 link numbers link discusses some of the 4 link numbers used by others and how their vehicles performed.

** Written by Dan Barcroft and Greg Blanchette

     Question - I don't use PayPal, how can I use my credit/debit card to pay?

    Answer - You still use the shopping cart buttons but when the PayPal checkout screen appears click on the underlined "continue" in the lower left corner of the screen where it says:

    Question - How much tubing is required?

  Question - Can I use a different diameter tubing or bender die?

    Answer - Yes, 1.5" OD or 1.75" OD tubing can be substituted for the 1.625 OD the plans call for. The difference in tubing diameters makes almost no difference in the bent tubes and can be easily compensated for in the straight cut tubes (lengthen or shorten by .125"). Honestly between the chop saw cuts and coping the +/- .125" can be ignored, which is what I did when I fabricated my last Hellraiser 3 chassis with 1.5" OD tubing.  I made no corrections from the plans.

I used a 4.5" bend radius tubing die when I built my first chassis but those size dies are no longer readily available.  A 5.5" bend radii seems to be the most common die set out there now and only minor changes need to be made to compensate for the larger bend radius.  Using a 90 degree bend as the baseline, the bend start point shown on the plans needs to be started 1" sooner with the a 5.5" radius die. This scales with die size so a 6.5" bend radius die needs the bend start points to start 2" sooner.  For angles less than 90 degrees, scale the  bend start point correction factor with the angle, so for example: if the plans call for an angle of 45 degrees (half of 90 degrees) the 1" correction factor becomes .50".  I put together a model that overlays a tube from the plans, the yellow is the 4.5" bend radius die and the blue is a 5.5" bend radius die.  If the 90 degree bend is started 1" sooner and the 60 degree bend is started .66" sooner the finished tube will match the plans.

The cut lengths are affected slightly but if you are adding a couple inches (like you should be) you do not need to adjust.  In the above example the 90 degree bend side requires another 4" of tubing in order for me to lock the end of the tube into the u-clamp on my JD2 bender and I cut the end to length after both bends are installed.

    Question - What are the differences in the chassis plans?

    Answer - The sub-chassis on all my designs is very similar with only minor changes.

All the chassis designs assume the builder is using solid axles and a drive train consisting of a front mounted engine connected to a manual or automatic transmission and transfer case. I do not offer plans for a rear mounted engine, drive trains utilizing transaxles or  IFS suspensions.

 BMP 3, BMP 2 and Hellraiser 4 were all designed with a front mounted radiator in mind. Structurally the A & B pillars are offset from the outer tubing on the lower chassis to create a nerf bar. BMP 2 has the longest nose of the 3 to accommodate longer drive trains. It is very easy to make adjustments to any of these 3 chassis's and I point out where you can make changes on the blueprints.

The Hellraiser 2 Pickup, Buggy and Hellraiser 3 chassis's were all designed around a rear mounted radiator so if you look thru my HR3 buildup thread it should be pretty easy to see how you get better visibility and a sleeker front end over my previous designs.  The trade off is more complex plumbing and heat management with the radiator out back. These 3 chassis designs also have the A & B pillars flush with the lower chassis which gives you roughly 3 more inches of width in the passenger compartment over my first 3 designs.

The bottom line is you could make the changes yourself to convert any set of my plans to the others without too much difficulty or you can pick one closer to what you want and make minor tweaks from there.

    Question - How much time is required to build a turnkey rock crawler from your plans?

    Answer - It took me over 615 hours of constant work (every weekend and after work) over the course of 4 months.

    Question - How much does it cost to build a crawler?

    Answer - Material prices vary by region so you will need to get a quote for the amount of tubing listed above.  I did a complete budget of my original build here which includes all the little stuff I bought. Some of that information is a bit dated so I have started another costing page as I build up my Project Hellraiser 2 chassis.

    Question - Can I buy a pre-built chassis from you?