Well, I guess the best thing to do, is just get to it!
Also see these 2 posts: http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16406
http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16238

Ok, I'll set this up for everyone and I won't be long winded. I wanted an Odyssey from the first time I saw one back in 1985. Recently I purchased two FL350s and decided to keep only one. I immediately started researching and looking for any and all info I could find. Even before reading about the less then acceptable rear suspension, my body told me it stunk. I have degenerative disc disease in my lower back and spinal stenosis in the cervical region of my spine. One ride....just one, and I could barely walk afterwards. It was about that time I started coming across various build threads and discussions centering around upgrading the buggy's rear suspension. (mine already had a front a arm conversion)

I have been a long time fabricator/racer/educated scientist, I love to go fast and have fun, but I question everything! I saw the pilot has a modified a-arm/multi-link set up and other manufacturers offered multi-links and a-arms. Then there is the option of a long travel type trailing arm. I was totally set on converting the buggy to a-arms until I read post after post....after post :) that bullnerd put up on this site and others, regarding his love of the 5 link design. I said, ok, why is he so hype on a 5 link set up. After much research, it seemed to me that a 5 link set up on my ride, would be a challenging and worth while way to go.

Whenever I design and build, I attempt to identify certain criteria:
-what am I building
-why am I building it
-what are the givens and what are the variables.
-what is the desired out come of my efforts.

Maybe this seems like crap, maybe not, but it's the way I work and I go about it with tenacity.

My plan went like this: I am building a 5 link rear suspension on my FL350 buggy. I'm building it because if I want to keep enjoying it I absolutely need to make the suspension actually work. I set out to use as many commonly available parts as possible and the parts I needed to fabricate, should be designed and executed properly. Some of the givens are the factory Polaris parts I used and the over all frame of the FL350. I wanted to avoid hacking and cutting as much as possible, but avoid adding unnecessary weight. One of the biggest drivers was investment. I have no issue spending what is needed, but in reality I'm only gonna ride this thing several times a year and I need to finish my AWD Mustang that's on the rack. So you see, my build was purposeful for me, and right for me.

OK...Lets Give some of the high level wanna knows right now:
- All tubing used is chromoly
- All rod ends are 1/2" chromoly
- Tube end inserts are chromoly
- The suspension mounting brackets are commercially available made for race cars, made of chromoly
- The rear hubs, axles, disc breaks and knuckles are all from a 2013 Polaris ranger mid size.



Suspension Design:
- the forward facing control links are 22" long and set at 18 degrees
- the lower outward control links are 17" long set at 17.5 degrees
- the upper outward control links are 16" long set at 17.5 degrees
- the overall width, outside of tire to outside of tire is 65"
- the suspension has an overall travel design of 14" while maintaining 3" of frame to ground clearance
- current travel is being set at 8", I currently have no need for more
- the front link mount was designed to flow with the factory frame design. It is kicked back the same degree as the cage main hoop
- axles are set forward 2 degrees and downward at 17.5 degrees

I will post pictures in groups. Here are some pics prior to starting the build. I will answer and discuss what I can. At the very end....I will give my impressions..
I started with the intent of fabricating all sub-assemblies with the intention of then installing all of them rapidly to reduce apart time. Sub-assemblies are: Axles, hubs including their mounts, links and link mounts.

Axle Work:
I choose to used the very inner splined piece from the factory axle. Others have used this with much success and I figured it would be straight forward. I contacted several axle shops/ custom axle manufacturers and all of them shied away as the Honda spline is proprietary and no off the shelve broach exists. I cut the inner ujoint yoke apart, and machined it flat. I then disassembled the Polaris axle, cut the splines off and machined a flat on it. I then machined a pocket in the rear that will center the factory tranny output shaft. The honda factory axle has to much slop in it for the CV assembly. The assembly was then reheat treated to ensure it will hold up.

Next up was the fabrication of the rear hub/knuckle assemblies: The assemblies are not finished in these pictures. Braces, caps and additional structure is being added.

Next up was the frame mount for the forward links. The mounts each took approximately 4 hours to fabricate. There are 5 bends in each very short piece. In addition to the bends are 2 compound notches, this piece had to fit just so. The mounts are within a 32nd of each other. A custom jig was made to align the mounts and they were installed.

More work on the front mounts. Also, I will keep adding posts to this over the next couple of days. The forward mount will have a double shear mount added to it. It will look like the one in the pic

Well done. several questions as I am locked down on this thread like a kid on a video game-, can other axles be used in this? Mark has made those shafts with 21 splined inners, does your Polaris axle have 21 splined ends on the trans side? Could the complete cv shaft be used instead of your custom ones? The brake hub on the trans, did you remove the brake disc as you have mentioned your going to use rear discs on each hub correct? Battery is relocated to what area? Are aftermarket rims needed on the rear to accommodate the brake calipers? BTW where did you get that head from, looks custom. Very nice work on all fronts, that ody looks sweet to begin with!!!

Thanks Mudbogger. Where to start, first let me say there are many more posts and pictures that I need to put up in this thread. I wanted to get it going after posting the teaser thread. I would highly recommend reading that first if anyone hasn't.
http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16406

I made the custom axles because I wanted to get the buggy going. I will be revisiting the axle/trans shaft etc interface in the future. There is absolutely no reason that just about any axle cannot be used. The one I chose, just happened to let me pick up an available knuckle, hub and other matching components for relatively cheap. Since the entire set up is hand made, any or all of the parts can be substituted.

I will be using the Polaris Rear disc brakes. The factory odyssey brake rotor is being retained as a parking brake rotor only. I purchased a manual style racing go kart caliper that will be mounted in place of the factory caliper and I will retain the factory emergency brake assembly including the cable. So when I pull the ebrake handle, the manual caliper will clamp the factory brake disc. (I'm pretty sure I saw this idea somewhere...Maybe an RPM trans??)

Battery...The battery is mounted in the factory location. I removed the rear lower battery frame mount so that I could gain access to install the upper link mount. I will be trimming the factory bracket to fit back in its place. I've already had it where it goes and it's amazing how stock this entire project looks. That was however part of my goal.

One of the first items I made for the buggy was the cylinder head. I got the idea for it from one of Canadian Oddy's posts. I'm pretty sure he made a similar one. I liked it and changed a few things for mine. I hope everyone realizes the custom water bottle /over flow tank is temporary. I made one but I haven't installed it due to the pending Engine swap. Here is the lin to the head build
http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16232

I had to perform minor surgery for the Polaris brakes to fit in the current wheels I'm using. They were on the buggy when I bought it and I kinda like them.. I'm sure I will change them at some point for a variety of reasons, but at the moment they are on. I cut the brake rotors down to reduce the diameter. Even cutting them, there is still a whole bunch more brake available then the single factory disc. In addition, I re-drilled the bolt pattern on the wheel to match the wheels I have. I also machined the hub to fit the center of the wheel keeping things hubcentric.

Incredible work sir!!

The next item on the build list was setting the buggy level and starting to lay out the links and brackets. I'm sure many people on the board have changed a CV style axle in a car. You unbolt the old one and install the new one. But have you ever thought about actually setting the correct installation distances between CVs. Well this was the first time I have. The inner Polaris CV cup has an enormous amount of plunge designed into it. I wanted the most range I could get out of the axle, and at the same time I wanted to be mindful of the over all width of the buggy. The axle shaft itself has the splines raised on it. This fact makes it alittle tough to shorten the axle part and re-install with the CVs if your trying to shorten the entire assembly. In order to set the axle plunge and ensure both sides are the same, I made spacers that I installed on the inside of the inner CV assembly which effectively set max plunge. This aided in keeping both side the same.

Looks like someone built their own liquid cooled head ☺but yours is a lot nicer than mine.

I want to throw a couple pics out there that are jumping ahead in the build. I trimmed the rear fenders and they fit on nicely. I was actually surprised at how little I needed to trim them. One of the last items I need to tend to before finish welding everything is mounting the shocks. I had it worked out to mount the bottom of the shock to the top section of the knuckle and then make a new mount up on the frame. Well, I sat the shock in where the factory shock goes and it has me thinking. I kinda like the overall flow of how it looks. Thoughts?

I pushed the buggy outside to get a better view of things. I thought everyone might appreciate these pics as they ad some clarity to things.

I just want to say that's awesome.. carry on.

Personally, I would have gone with a-arms!

I like the stock shock location
I like the AWD mustang
and , I like that dog

Meet Sasha, american blood line female german shepherd

That is looking sweet. Only thing with mounting the shocks where you have them you aren't utilizing the amount of travel that you have. Would be another expense but longer fox shocks would work well and you would get more travel

Ok how much for a kit!

Beautiful dog!

Excellent work
That is one sick looking oddy all you need now is one of those farr off road rotax conversions and that thing will piss !!!!
Hmmm wonder what you would charge me if i bought a frame in the states and got you to do the mods
And then ship it to me down under to ozzi land
Ps love your dog too

So in regard to the rear shocks. I absolutely agree that a longer stroke adjustable, light weight unit is the way to go. The shocks I picked up are from a 2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 X2. The asking price was perfect, $30 including shipping. The shock mounts I'm fabbing are adjustable, as I do not want to be stuck with a certain length shock and limited choices. I really want to have a pair custom made so that I take advantage of the potential of the suspension.

As far as a new motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), I've mentioned in other posts (they are linked in the first post of this thread) that I am already building a 2005 Artic Sno Pro 440. This is an out right factory race motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) that has 17.1 compression and out of the box 105 HP. I will be lowering the compression and making other changes. My personal opinion is that a rotax in not for me. The sno pro is not for everyone, but man it is a powerful little motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )). Take a look at the pictures. The motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) is very compact, has a reward lean that blends nice with the transmission and the carbs and pipe actually have ample room. Now the down side: $$$$

I will post more pics and the next parts of the build tonight.

Oh, thanks for the comments on my dog..just for shits and giggles I'll put a pic of her sister up later.

Man that looks awesome! Can't wait to hear how it performs. Are you in northern or southern Penn? Go to ky to ride all the time. Several good places

So the SnoPro Engine has the intake and exhaust flange on the same side?? In order to get the clutch on the correct side, the intake and exhaust have to fit behind the seat. Looking forward to seeing how this works out on the FL350.

Go get some Fox Air 2.0's and cut a clean clearance hole in those fenders. Per my calculations with my cad model of this setup (and yours is basically a real life version of it, so its comparable), 9-10" of travel is perfectly possible using 23-25" tires without getting bouncing the frame off the ground. That's a vast improvement over the stock & stiff advertised 5.9".

Dmoney! Always a pleasure to hear from you.. I love the idea of the Fox air shocks. I have only done minimal research on these, however it does seem they would be a great addition here. I appreciate the info from your modeling, worth it's weight in gold... Do you happen to recommend a part number?

The Sno pro Engine totally caught me off guard when I first saw it. I let my idea off what I was looking for go and went forward with this Engine. What awesome is the placement of the intake ports. They are actually in the lower part of the case. Very interesting design. The other interesting aspects: the size of the Engine is readily changed with just changing the upper end. No modifications are needed for the lower end when doing this. I will need to make an air intake "system". I'm picturing a box that seals to the carbs and has snorkels leading up to filters mounted somewhere about the Engine. The exhaust is pretty neat also. It wraps right up and across the top of the Engine, instead of around the side and near the clutch. Time and fitment will tell.

one other thing i noticed is that you are already using a spun fuel tank. i wonder if this would still work with the stock tank.

As for the stock fuel tank, I would say no for the Engine and no for the 5-link. The recoil and the link inner mounts are in the way, resp.