I see a lot of buggies listed as "dual sport", which to me, don't constitute what I would consider dual sport. Seems like some people think if they ad a windshield, they now have a dual sport car. To me a dual sport car would have considerable extra bracing, boxed arms, larger spindles, larger rod ends etc. I spend the majority of my time in Glamis but have found myself doing more hard pack the last couple years. I'm seriously considering a dual sport car but would like advise and opinions, since it seems to differ quite a bit, in what a true "dual sport" chasis has over a sand chasis?

I agree with you. A dual sport should be built beefier to handle the rigors of hardpack abuse.

I had one builder tell me that more dual sport cars are built with heavier duty 90* a-arms vice sand cars which usually have narrower arms. His reasoning was that the 90* arms hold up better to impact, and the narrower arms turn sharper, which is desirable in the sand. It wasn't any sort of rule, just a general observation he made. He also makes cars with either style arm.

Typically dual sport cars have radios, intercoms, maybe parker pumpers, more tools, spare tire racks, higher side panels, roof racks, more lights, etc.

I have seen a number of ads on here where guys have listed it as a "dual sport", apparently simply because they have 2 sets of tires/rims for it. I don't agree with their opinion, but I'm not going to mess up their for sale ad. Although it brings up an interesting point, if someone is naive enough to buy a car sight unseen or without driving it, and a seller is unscrupulous enough to advertise it falsely, then I guess another sucker is going to get taken because of it. Currently, the concensus is to not try to question any ad, anyone who does so gets beat down.

So, buyer beware. Anyone who tries to clarify or correct an ad is going to get labeled a "hater" or even worse, "opinionated."

This is a dual sport...

Dual sport means an extra 25k...

your avatar is

Don't hijack the thread.

what ever floats your boat

My understanding like everyone else is everything about them is stouter. No sand bling, just a raw class 1ish car....like 9rocky's.

ok back to topic..... beefy arms, cage bracing, bigger fuel tank,lots o lights, racks, spare tire holder, extra luggage compartments, is that dual sport enough ?

30+ gallons of gas?

Here are some pictures from the build of the car I put on earlier. Even though Penhall builds a stout car, we added even more to make this car even stronger. I could swear the trailer groans every time we put the car on it.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. That's why I started this thread. I don't want to throw anyone down in there own thread but I see it all the time on here and in other places.

Personally, I think most buggies listed as dual sport, real are not. At least from my perspective. Good to know others feel the same.

Damn right it is. Very nice!

Isn't there a minimum thickness (inches) of the cage for a dual sport?

Geez 9rocky! Awesome car...think I might have seen it on bear valley road....I live in Apple Valley as well.

You probably did. That is our pre runner for these guys...

Not officially. No one would argue about 9rocky's car, but there are plenty of others that are nowhere near that beefy.

At 2500 lbs empty, in some respects my car doesn't look all that beefy, especially compared to 9rocky's. However, since it was built by Foddrill (who builds primarily offroad cars) and does exhibit some of the characteristics of a dual sport, I call it a dual sport. But I'll be the first to admit that it's stretching it some to say that. I can drive it in the dirt, and it will hold up to most situations, but I wouldn't race it.

Just run your car inn the desert for a couple of years. At the end of those years, you will have beefed up all the areas of your car that are required to call it a duel sport.

To me, there is no rule for a duel sport. Either your car can run dirt or it can’t…

Here are a couple Duel Sports Cars playing in the sand..........Glamis is a Big Sand Box that is Fun to Play in... But these cars are built to take the abuse of the desert...Most of the so called Duel Sport cars wouldnt last 5 miles in the desert trying to keep up with a car that is built for the Desert.

It seems as though a "dualsport" is really just a Desert car some one decides to use in the dunes sometimes right?

Yer gonna' need a big boat.

True dualsport cars!

Click to view attachment eff* dual sport!

heres a picture of a badass daul sport.....

I love duals....wouldnt have it any other way...hate to mess up purdy paint jobs, and break twig a-arms...lol

Nope! Definitely not strong enough for the desert!!! You should just give it to me and build a better car.

I think I would like to see the lower A-arm's be mounted with Uni-Balls as opposed to heim's


Especially with almost an inch of thread showing on said heim joint......just sayin

I think this is strong enough to run the Dez for play.

2" Hollow spindels

Uni-Balls

Engineered chassis design and triangulation

Stronger than I am brave.......

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Yes.....they are. With ME driving. Besides......it's the unexpected big hit that is gonna rip your front end off.......not big balls.

I thought dual sport cars were the ones that...

A: Drive real slow to the bottom of the big hill or the drags.
B: Watch (how ever said being a spectator is not a sport?)




You know you have seen many of them as well.

The arms on the SCU I wouldnt trust on a flat out whoop run, the mosebilts I would say over built for just being "sandcars".

I have a feeling this thread is going to keep going and turn ugly....lol

I'm not gonna knock SCUs arms, but your exactly right about my car, hence the term "dualsport".

Not many buggies in here I would trust for a "flat out" "whoop run"

But.......my definition of a "flat out whoop run" may differ from yours dramatically.

What is the issue with the arms on the SCU? You also would not trust Alumicraft? They are almost a carbon copy....

I would....

What he said is you have a "overbuilt" "sandcar"

I'm not knocking your buggy. I just pointed out the one thing I would change........

Heims? Uniballs? To heck with that! What happened to the part about Surf n Dune giving me his car????

seems to me it's a waste not to get something set up for dunes and dirt. These days ya never know when a spot is going to be shut down so you'd better be able to run somewhere else also

Dual Sport Sandco. No spare tire carrier but frame is SCORE legal with a bar added to the rear window opening. I drive it hard in both the dunes and the dirt of Ocotillo and I have to say the hardest hits its ever taken have been in the sand, not the desert hard pack. I think 10 really big jumps at the dunes would be equivilant to 5 miles through the badlands. I have prerun with this and lighter cars and feel the heavier car is more stable and harder to get unsettled but doesn't recover as quickly when it goes bad. The reinforcement adds a lot of weight to a DS frame. Big pounds when arms are made of plate not just plated tubes. 37" BFG Projects on Robby Gordon's with a canister airfilter does not mean its a dual sport.

Please dont think im knocking a manufacturer or your car, Im sure ur car can take alot. I like seeing boxed arms if Im going to be hitting hard pack at speeds around 60-100mph. Its for my peace of mind that Im not going to have a hiem/uniball let go or a tubular arm. I have seen boxed arm s let g as well but less frequent and it you ever handled a true boxed/hard pack built verses a tubular....substantial wieght differance. Thats all, being around baja/MDR/BITD world and doing baja races and hanging around shopd that specialize in off road racing, I know what I would want to call it a dual sport.

One thing to keep in mind is that "weight begets weight."

Meaning that a beefier this leads to beefier that and the added mass detracts from the handling and increases the impact on the suspension when you hit a big whoop or a rock. You can't change the laws ofphysics. To make these things stronger, the weight seems to go up exponentially.

Yet a 2 wheeler can fly through the terrain as fast, if not faster with a skilled rider. Sometimes bigger and beefier is not always better.

Well I think for some people it depends on a few things, when was it built? 5 years ago some race cars were not built as tough as the dual sports today, it is complete opinion, I have seen some cars that are called dual sports but look more like PRE-RUNNERS, some manufactures duals are lighter than other manufactures sandcars, I sure there are a couple of people out there that think a beam car is a sandcar and anything more is a off-road car. So what is a class 9? I think it is a race car, but it has a swing axle and singe shocks. Mine was purchased as a dual sport 4 years ago from Desert-Dynamics and the new dual sports are completely different. Some cars now are border line Trophy Trucks.

my desert dynamics dual sport has a few things different than the sand version. boxed arms with huge uniballs 2 in spindles, alot more bracing in the chassis also thicker wall thickness in many tubes, rear trailing arm heims are bigger and inner pivot is uniball instead of bushings. my rear amrs are actually the race arms dave makes for his class one cars. my rear pivot housing is heavily braced and gusseted as well. my rear upper shock mounts use a big shear plate instead of tube gussets. there are a few other things that makes daves dual sports different than his sandcars. front bulkheads are different on the DS and a power rack can be used on it.

I think the idea of what a "dual sport" is an evolutionary process.. What was a "dual sport" 2-3 years ago, is today just a "sand car" today. It's all relative and based on your opinion of your buggy. Is it a dual sport because you have two sets of tires that allow you to play in two different terrains? Maybe.. My car is no desert car, but I can take it other places than the sand which allows me to enjoy it multiple different places. Maybe it's a tri-sport because I drive on the pavement? lol

Well......I'm not claiming my buggy to be a "dual sport". I'm not claiming it to be a Class1 car either. Nor am O gonna compare it to a Class1 Desert racer.

However.......my buggy weighs 2370lbs wet. I think for it's weight it is pretty stout and stronger than some 3000lb plus buggies I've seen as claimed "dual sports"

I think for Dez cruising it is fine.

Don't forget......a well designed tube arm is stronger than a poorly designed boxed arm.

Tube vs. boxed is a mild-cromo or ford-chevy debate.

Very well said. I agree 100% with both of you.

Sorry bro. You're car IS NOT A DUAL SPORT. It is a Dez racer through and through. That thing is gonna sink to china when you take it to Glamis.

Unless you fill the sand tires with heleium

Add 1200HP and Viola our Class 1/Prerunner becomes a great Dualsport, LOL.

i dont really see a difference between sand car and dual-sport.......if you are driving off-road you can crash just as easily in the sand or dirt. my cars come only one way-with i guess whats called "dual sport" X bracing in the chassis....my "true" sand cars are my REVO cars, great for 80% dunes, 20% dirt, 1.5" chassis, boxed plate arms, smaller shocks, rack, wheels etc....my MB series cars like Rons are great for 80% dirt, 20% sand (but they dont feel like a "big" car in the dunes, still handle great, just heavier.......). 1.75" chassis, bigger everything!- besides the different front suspension the chassis are almost the same, including my beam cars. they all get x-bracing-i wont put someone elses family in something i dont feel safe putting my own family in......a "dual sport" i guess... my .02

I think dual sport is a myth. I dont think there is any real way to make a car work good (not acceptable, good) in both environments. Dirt cars are to big and heavy for the sand, sand cars are to weak for the dirt. Dual sport was a marketing campaign...

Best answer yet "Marketing Campaign" Add a few more tubes placed in strategic locations get rid of the wing trunk, don't put any bling on it and voila The dual Sport car is born.