Think You Need a Pro Shop to Build a Rockcrawling Buggy? Think Again...

Building your own rock crawler, buggy, or bouncer doesn’t require a massive shop or tens thousands of dollars in specialty tools. You can actually build a solid rig in your garage with surprisingly basic equipment and a reasonable budget. RG Sabat has built four different off-road rigs over the years, and his latest build - the Shelby 545 - proves that weekend warriors can create serious machines without breaking the bank.

The beauty of building your own trail rig lies in the simplicity of the required tools. You don’t need a fully equipped fabrication shop to start bending tube and laying down beads. A decent two-car garage gives you plenty of space to work, and even smaller spaces can accommodate a build if you plan your layout properly.

The most critical tool in your arsenal is a quality angle grinder. Having one or more grinders makes fabrication flow much smoother - dedicate at least one to cutting discs and another to grinding discs. You might even add a grinder with a flap disc or a wire wheel. This eliminates the constant disc swapping that kills your momentum during long fab sessions. Weight matters more than you might think when choosing grinders. After hours of cutting and grinding, a lighter grinder reduces hand fatigue significantly.

Your welder choice depends on what you’re planning to tackle. A 110V unit with flux core works fine for thinner materials up to 3/16", but most axle brackets run 3/8" thick. That’s where a 220V welder becomes essential. While 135A 110V welders have built lots of wheelers, a 175A (and up) 220V welder will tackle the serious structural work in one pass. It’ll produce stronger, cleaner-looking beads.

A drill press with variable speeds and a strong motor handles everything from small pilot holes to large openings. Having a complete set of bits from 1/8" up to 1" covers most drilling needs and hole saws can help you tackle even larger sizes (though they aren’t as precise). The drill press also provides the accuracy needed for creating proper perpendicular holes in mounting tabs and suspension points.

Tube bending separates the budget builds from the professional-looking rigs. Skip the cheap Harbor Freight benders that create kinked tubes - these are for plumbing!. A quality bender from a company like ProTools or JD Squared will create smooth, consistent bends that look professional and maintain structural integrity. Benders are pricey and will be one of the more expensive tools you need to work with round tube.

A chop saw speeds up the cutting process dramatically when you’re working with long tubes and can really help when you need to get a tube to an approximate length (most tube comes in at least 20’ lengths).

You should have an engine hoist to move around all your heavy parts. It can help with positioning and installing your engine/tranny/transfer combo, but is also useful for moving and positioning axles.

The “nice to have” tools can dramatically improve your build quality and speed. A tube notcher transforms the tedious process of hand-notching joints with grinders into quick, precise cuts. Jack stands and a floor jack make chassis work much safer and more comfortable. A portable bandsaw with a table base handles smaller cuts and detail work efficiently.

A plasma cutter represents the ultimate upgrade for serious builders. A 40A unit cuts through material faster than grinding discs while producing cleaner edges. The time savings and reduced consumable costs make plasma cutters worthwhile investments for multi-build projects. By itself, this is a pretty expensive tool - if you need to cut parts out of heavy sheet frequently, another option is an oxy-acetylene torch.

Material selection affects both your budget and the final product’s strength. DOM (drawn over mandrel) tubing offers the highest strength and smooth internal surfaces for easy sleeving during repairs. However, DOM costs significantly more and requires special ordering in many areas. Cold-rolled electrically welded (CREW) tubing provides excellent strength at a fraction of DOM’s cost while remaining readily available at most steel suppliers.

The internal seam in CREW tubing prevents easy sleeving but doesn’t compromise structural integrity for recreational builds. Avoid black plumbing pipe pipe entirely - it contains impurities and lacks the manufacturing standards needed for chassis construction, even though it costs less than proper structural tubing. It is not safe.

A typical build might use 300-400 feet of tubing, with 15 pieces of 24’ lengths providing enough material plus some offcuts for future repairs. Using 1.66" outside diameter tubing with 0.125" wall thickness for main structure and smaller 1.05" tubing for interior work saves weight without sacrificing strength.

Building your own rig requires patience and planning, but the tools and materials remain surprisingly accessible. Starting with essential tools and upgrading as your skills develop makes the investment manageable while still producing professional results. The satisfaction of wheeling something you built yourself makes every hour in the garage worthwhile.