Been duning for years, 250r's, hope to get a rail someday soon but in the meantime, the father of a member of our group, 50 yr old, is interested in getting a turnkey-rail. He is not a very experienced duner or knowlegable about the various manufacturers or even about what options he would want. He wanted a local builder and SandCandy is the only local builder as we are from the San Francisco area. On our trip this weekend he informed us that he went and talked with them, toured their shop and was happy with what he saw and heard. I had to hold my initial comments back because I had seen one of their rails and remembered how ugly (to me) it was. I also remember reading somewhere about poor design and craftsmanship but can't relocate it.

I've been a lurker and learning here for about a year and have ridden in a few rails so I have some Idea of what I would want. He has taken me under his wing as an advisor for the project. We are going down there together for a meeting next week. He is really excited and I am too, he said I would be welcome to drive it!!!

This would be really easy if he were getting a Funco, S/U, ETC...Etc.. Etc. Something of proven quality with a large customer base, I could just go over the build sheet with him and then wait for it to show up.

I want it to be Safe and Reliable and Durable. hopefully handle decent as it will get used for duning more than shown off. We have decided on a LS1, Mendeola, Power Steering, 4 wheel brakes, 5 seat. bypass shocks on rear.

Would love to hear any and all coments and suggestions with Sand Candy, what to look for when I go to their shop, how to handle spec'ing all the components

I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions as I go along on this adventure.

I think they are ugly also. Do some searching. I remember some talk about some bad welding and pics to back it up. Definitly do your homework on any builder before you put any money down. Good luck.

first mistake is the mendeola

Well sandcandy cars have a very distictive look to them...and I dont think I have ever seen one in the dunes...not sure anyone here owns one...

I would first question how long they have been the biz...and where did they come from...

Being pretty new to the biz, are you willing to be their R&D department? Because chances are, you will be.

My suggestion for what its worth...forget about location...be willing to travel if need be...go with an experienced builder.

My personal guildlines(after kicking myself in the ass) if they haven't been around for at least 10-15 years, and recognized as a leader in the biz, Im moving on.
R&D isnt done in two or three years, it takes a long time...and a lot of cars. I have learned from shotty business people and wont be a sucker agian...

Go with someone who has proven themselves over a long period of time...sure that cuts your list of potential builders down to only a few...but its a huge investment...

Just my opinion and its probably worth exactly what you paid for it...

Hey Tom, What about that company in Bakersfield? maybe they should check them out?

Sorry I couldn't resist.....

Let the record show I did not start it this time...Bakersfeild? Where the best pick up line in a bar is "hey baby...nice tooth."

And every year, they have a sale on summer teeth...sum'r in the front, sum'r in the rear, sum'r on the side...sum'r even real...

Sorry...back on topic now...

There is a reason these folks have the reputation they do. I would recommend the money be put on a sure thing instead of taking a chance on an unknown. The extra mileage you have to travel initially is well worth it. You will get a great dependable car from either of the companies you mentioned above (Funco, S/U) along with proven quality customer service. Many board members here have had great success with their cars and respect for the builders. I have an S/U car and I love it.

What do you know about the customer service at SandCandy? I am not knocking them as I don't know anything about their company. That is something to look into though. It doesn't matter how close a shop is if your car ends up sitting there for weeks or months waiting on things like, initial build, repairs, or general service.

What is the wait time on the build?

It would be a good idea to get a parts/cost break down so you could compare to other manufacturers build sheets.

Good luck with the purchase. I hope the guy you are helping out gets a great rail no matter which builder he goes with.

I would suggest choosing a reputable builder that has put out at least 100 cars(ask for pictures) and has been doing it for at least 5 years. You do not want to be somebody's R&D department.

Who the he!! is Sandcandy?

I've never heard of sandcandy.


There are plenty of good to great used rails for sale.


Why waste your time and money on an unknown?

http://sonic-motorsports.ebizautos.com/det...DY-DUAL-SPORT//
I kind of like it, but the nose has to go.

It would take too long to list everything that's wrong with that chassis.



Drive a bit and buy something else.

Holly crap,...I think that sand candy car actually has about 10 degrees of forward rake. There has been discussion on wether or not to run rake going rearward, but forward is a definate no no........




I'm putting 15 degrees rake on mine.....(in the correct direction )
[attachmentid=61845]

Uh...yea...Those pictures sure didnt help much. Seems like a lot of pictures..of one car. Where the rest of the cars they built?

Sorry, they may be good cars but there just isnt enough history on them...

Go with a proven leader who has been around and has been a leader for a long time...
SandCars Unlimited, Funco, Suspension Unlimited...

There is a reason they are the leaders and have made it for all the years they have...

Check into Playtech... j/k

Got any MORE pictures?

I don't have as much money into my rail as most of you do....I have a Prowler SandSprite IV that I built from the frame up. It cost just under $10g's and took almost 2 years on my budget. If I was spending the kind of money that you guys are on a rail I would go with the reputable builders that everyone is talking about....FUNCO etc... After all, you get what you pay for and most importantly that includes GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

check out sand cars unlimited, they have a good roller package.

And did you notice that the front mounts are single shear?

One other point if you go with Funco/SU or another "proven" builder-it does not HAVE to be a "local" company. Anyone who is reputable and proven reliable you can TRUST to be working on the car whether they know you are stopping by or not. The only time you have to be there is to pick the car up and even that could probably be arranged for a fee.

Is the build time/wait as "fun" when you can't go see the progress? Obviously not, but you will know you are getting a well built, duneworthy car that you will be able to have ALOT of fun with AFTER the delivery

I live in the sacramento area and I will be picking up my new Funco this weekend and all I can say is the service and profesionlism have been top notch and recomend them to anybody ,Grant has been great to work with and very pacient with me hope this helps. paul

Here is how I look at it. All of the builders were small at one time.

I personally have seen there cars in person and I like the way they look. They use well known suppliers, their welding is top notch, and they are a good group of people.

Learn what you can about what you want. Go and meet the people that will be building the car. If you think they will do what they say, then I say go for it.

Holly crap...people are going to be crashing and breaking bones all over now because of those darn single shear mounts....

I knew someone would point them out...it was just a matter of when...

Holly crap!! Theses guys cant even mount the paddles correctly. Take a look, they are backwards!!

LOL

The front shock angle is off too,..since they decided to run a forward rake which is a bit beyond belief (the front wheels actually cycle forward when they hit a bump instead of backward or at least up) they should have put the shock frame mount at the tip of the nose so they would at least be in line with the forward angle, lol.



Question for someone who might know,..is it really a good idea to put a bend in the B Pillar like that so as it flips the tube knows which way to go?

I don't konow about that other car,..they also have this bad boy for sale,...

Awwwwwww,....and another winner,..I don't know which of these 3 I'd buy, tough call. I do like the bench seat in the tail though, looks like a good design idea, think i'll go for that one so I have a place to put my mother in law, lol.....

Probably did that so that they can drive around on the asphault and do less damage to the paddle blades...Dunno, just a thought. Sorry I coulndt come up with anything bad to say about it. Its definatly different, not really my style, but I think its kinda retarded to give these guys such a hard time just becasue they do their own thing.

OK fine, I'll fess up, I'm only saying this because I'm the owner of the little yellow and blue soap box car. But Eff all u haters, look at the chicks I scored with my sweet ride.

I do like the dual front air bags option.

I saw Sand Candy's display at the SSSS a couple of years ago and me and my buddies couldn't stop laughing at their cars, I have to say that they were the biggest pieces of shiat I have ever seen! One of them had an Audi 1.8 turbo transverse engine mounted way over to one side of the car, completely throwing off the balance. The build quality and frame geometry was SCARY!!

it's not about doing their own thing. It's about some of the things they did while doing their own thing and that's the thing were talking about with them doing their thing and not doing thing their doing thing not,...ummm,...thing............ummmmmmmmmmm

Is it me or are those rear sand tires on wrong.

I guess you didn't read all the replies before you posted, lol......

I guess not

few more of them and the geomotry on that car might actually look right huh?

At least their Busa powered cars don't look quite as bad as the other ones..
Take the advice of the other posters here and talk your friend into going with one of the bigger name builders.

I'm not knocking all their cars. Their 2 seat busa rail has always impressed me look wise. Even Ford, the builders of the bad arse cobra , manufacture a tempo, lol.....

I want to thank everyone who took the time to post on this subject, especially those who have profesional knowledge of what they are looking at. And thanks for posting the picture of the rail, I should have done that (if I had a picture to post.) I will hard copy all of this to take to my friends father. I will keep you all posted and I do trust your opinions as this group collectively is a goldmine of technical information.

looks poorly engineered... lots of dead bars.....






Looks Great!!! I'll take 2!!

The front end raking the wrong way is a pretty HUGE deal. When you jump the car and you land on the front end first , the a arms will have no where to go and end up putting stress on the a arm mounts and eventually you will end up ripping off the a arms. Or another example is, when you are on flat ground and you are going to transition to a steep and quick uphill . Same deal. The front end must have rake, the front a arm mounts must be higher then the rear a arm mounts. Those are all backwards.

I live 10 miles from Gilroy and would not buy one of those, SU all the way.

We had a Sonic Busa powered car in our group, sexy lines, but overall a P.O.S., never had a ride that it did not break. Suspension was beyond maxed out in the rear, cv clicked pushing it out of the trailer, no matter what we tried we could not get the suspension in the rear correct. Destroted rear axle bearings due to install and design failure by the builder. Rear chain sproket self destructed (poor design), car could not hardly turn to save its life! Again, looked awesome, sounded like an Indy car, other than that a total P.O.S., buddy took it in to get what he could repaired (not redesigned, just band-aide) and sold it before it could break again. I fyou see it on ebay, there is a reason why it did not sell locally, JMHO.

Every car that you guys have posted here was build by Sonic. They are not “Sand Candy”. From what I understand, Sonic bought this frame (unfinished) from Sand Candy and then build the car to sell.

The point that you make about the front rake is interesting, though. I am, by no means, an expert on suspension geometry. I have seen a few other cars that seem to have the same forward rake. It makes me wonder how many others are out there, and how serious an issue this is. Does it make a difference if you use these longer a-arms, which mount further back on the frame, as apposed to the traditional a-arms?

S&S Sandcars


RFR1 Motorsports

Hello All, here we are, Sand Candy Motorsports. One of our customers allerted us to this disturbing thread concerning us, our craftsmanship, and our customer service. Please be assured that everyone who deals with us is quite pleased with our work, and especially with our customer service.

There has been some confusion, we have been mistaked for Sonic motorworks. We did sell a chassis to sonic (only 1) and the pictures above are of that car. We do not build any motorcycle powered sand rails. None of the pictures in this tread are of cars we have built

All of our customers are provided with a complete build sheet before we even get a deposit from them, detailing the high quality components we use to build our rails. Everyone is welcome to visit us and to see the quality of our contruction and design for themselves. In fact, we are at both of the major shows at the Orange County Fairgrounds every year, in May and September. Please take a moment to stop by and inspect our work. We have always invited people to sit inside our cars right there at the show, because we know that they will not find any reason for complaint inside or outside the car. And this had led to many sales and many satisfied customers. We are never ashamed to take anyone for a ride in our cars. This also has led to sales and satisfied customers.

We have been in business for 5 years, but building sand vehicles has been our hobby for more than 15. We decided to go into business building sand rails because we realized we could build cars just as good or better than what was out there, as well as bring some much needed new looks and ideas to the industry. All of our cars are balanced and fully capable, comfortable and fun to drive.

If you have any questions or doubts about us, please allow us to address them fully. Please be assured that none of the negative comments in this thread have come from people who know us or our work.

Sand Candy, you've just confused me even more.


Please post the pic of the car you sold to Sonic, and pics of cars you've built, clearly marking which is which.

There are a few cars pictured above, no telling what you're talking about.

This is gonna be good


When will you guys be in Glamis next? I gotta see this.


By the way nice first post! So do you support ORBA, Duners, ASA or any others?

Seems like if you were in biz you would be on this board or others, Gonna be tough on business in Gilroy.

Here are some pictures of some of our recent projects.

Thats a bullchit post....since when is it mandatory for an off-road business to support any of those organizations?...any off-road company would be completly insane to post anything on this board, it always ends up in a pissing match...good post sandcandy...but dont expect these guys to be gentle, your comments will be completly turned around....mark my words your company will look worse after this post is closed...

I like the cars. Nice to see the front trailing arms moved in allowing for bigger tires to be ran in front.
Is there an issue with sand coming in through the opening behind the front wheels?
They are different and look nice.