i am thinking of making a tube/swamp buggy and i was wondering what you guys would suggest to use and any tips on making one keeping in mind that i have a very low budget and most of my parts etc.. are coming from a salvage yard...if anyone knows anything and would like to help i would appreciate it very much...thanks  

Are you looking to build a swamp buggy like they race in Flordia?  There are different classes and rules to follow there, but if this is just for fun then your imagination and pocket book is your limit.  Just for fun you might want to check out this link www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH_FVSkoNfM

You will need tall skinny tires and axles to handle them, the correct gearing for tire size, good power to turn them.  For a tube chassis, diameter and wall thickness depends on the size of the buggy, and weight.  I would suggest a minimun of 1.750" Dia. .125" wall thickness and a maximum of 2" Dia. .188" wall thickness DOM tubing.  Chromoly tubing really isn't in the low budget category but you could use thinner wall thickness with it.  I don't want to go into detail of what I would suggest because I don't want to write that much here.

I thought you needed to put money into your Chevy pick-up truck for a different rear driveshaft and rear pinion yoke and seal.  If you don't need that as a daily driver, use that as a low budget swamp runner build.  

sorry i made you think of a swamp buggy from florida er somthin like that, i just want to build somtihng out of the parts i have laying around, somthing homemade if you would call it that, i wanted to make a tube chassis or somthing of that nature just to beat around in the woods and some of the deaper mud pit without worying about it being the only thing i have to drive. Thats what i was thinking but i just found a new salvage yard where i can git parts pretty cheap.  

First question. Can you fabricate, well?  

im pretty good but i have help...my buddy runs a weldin shop. so i do have access to pretty much everything i need and any help if needed  

ok... well then... go look for some 3/4 ton axles... dana 60's are about bulletproof front and rear... or you can find an old 1/2 ton ford pickup with the high pinion 44 and a ford 9"... then find some nice long leaf springs from just about anything... look for a moderately light vehicle... something to haul people... blazer, jeep, something like that... then look for a drivetrain... you might peek under some of the trucks and see if you can find a divorce transfer case preferably an np203 or 205... then just hook it to a 350 w/ an sm465 or nv4500 from a 2wd truck... re gear with some nice low gears and some big tires  

the pedal assembly from an early 90's dodge p/u is pretty easy to disassemble and fabricate into a new vehicle... it's just a single pin that goes through both the brake and clutch... so just some plate welded in the right spo twith the proper sized holes and you'll be good to go... and if you're going with a manual tranny (less plumbing) then find one with the hydraulic clutch... will save you a headache on linkage... a plaz and some 14-16 gauge steel plate will do you wonders for a firewall...and it might be easy to find a pickup cab that's been rolled... cut the top off and just use the tub for your seats/firewall/ and everything else...  

gotmike:
ok... well then... go look for some 3/4 ton axles... dana 60's are about bulletproof front and rear... or you can find an old 1/2 ton ford pickup with the high pinion 44 and a ford 9"... then find some nice long leaf springs from just about anything... look for a moderately light vehicle... something to haul people... blazer, jeep, something like that... then look for a drivetrain... you might peek under some of the trucks and see if you can find a divorce transfer case preferably an np203 or 205... then just hook it to a 350 w/ an sm465 or nv4500 from a 2wd truck... re gear with some nice low gears and some big tires

Before choosing axles, what size tires do you plan to run.  Choose axles strong enough to handle the tires.  The lighter the rig, the better; then you can get by with lighter duty axles for bigger tires.

About 3/4 ton axles: The GM 3/4 ton solid front axle is just a 1/2 ton axle (D44 or 10 bolt) with 8 lug hubs (and the brake caliper has a slightly larger piston).

If you use 1/2 ton axles, I like the idea of the 9" Ford rear and D44 high pinion front.  I also like the divorced mount transfer case (you just need the room for it since it mounts farther back from the transmission).  As a note, if you do go with a divorced mount transfer case, center it between the axles so you can use identical drive shafts front and rear.  I already have that plan for my 1 ton 2wd crew cab with a high pinion D60 up front.

If you go with 1 ton axles, a GM 10.5 14 bolt FF will be a lot cheaper than a D60 rear.  Up front go with a D60.  Alway regear according to tire size and transmission used (if you use an overdrive trans. you will need to gear lower than you would with a non-overdrive for any road use).  Most of the time trucks are geared too tall.