King Sand Cars

[Morgan]

Search came up a little empty handed since this site lost most of its content, but I sold my Turbo S RZR yesterday and was kind of eyeing a King car. Looking for some first hand feedback on them and whether they are worthwhile or not. I have lots of experience with 4 cylinders and engines in general so the Busa doesn't scare me, but what are some of the other known issues on them? I know they won't thrash around, and I'm not a smash duner anyways, but I was thinking one of them may fill my void. It's tough to see 30K sitting here doing nothing when I could seemingly replace it with a 15K car that would do near the same in the dunes since I only make it out a couple times a year at best. Appreciate any insight.

 

[ROBERT L]

You won’t be disappointed in a King Sand Car. They are well built and a BLAST to drive. My only disappointment was that I sold mine.

 

[Hondajimz]

My buddy Kevin ( Toys for Big Boys ) has a beautiful blue one he'll sell ya.

 

[Spills]

I loved mine! Like Robert said, they are an absolute riot to drive! They were built off of a sprint car jig and they love sliding sideways. They will not handle whoops or the washboard trails like your RAZR did. Just cruise through that stuff. Freshly blown sand is where they’re happiest. They can be a rougher ride on busier weekends with deep tracks and your trying to slide across them. I tried like hell to find the rev limiter and rarely did. They just keep screaming. I replaced sprockets and chain every year with CV maintenance and an oil change. Some of the earlier models were prone to cracking in corners of the chassis. Check for those carefully. There were “updates” that were done with later and later models. All cars will have a number underneath by the fuel tank. I think they went up to 80-something last I heard. An option some aftermarket companies offer is “back-cut” gears which help with positive shifting. But the only reason I sold was the need for a 4-seater. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one again. They are too much fun.

 

[Morgan]

I loved mine! Like Robert said, they are an absolute riot to drive! They were built off of a sprint car jig and they love sliding sideways. They will not handle whoops or the washboard trails like your RAZR did. Just cruise through that stuff. Freshly blown sand is where they’re happiest. They can be a rougher ride on busier weekends with deep tracks and your trying to slide across them. I tried like hell to find the rev limiter and rarely did. They just keep screaming. I replaced sprockets and chain every year with CV maintenance and an oil change. Some of the earlier models were prone to cracking in corners of the chassis. Check for those carefully. There were “updates” that were done with later and later models. All cars will have a number underneath by the fuel tank. I think they went up to 80-something last I heard. An option some aftermarket companies offer is “back-cut” gears which help with positive shifting. But the only reason I sold was the need for a 4-seater. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one again. They are too much fun.

This was pretty much in line with what I had taken some notes on so far. There was a car in Waddell for sale, but I saw where the frame had cracked and been fixed, the back cutting is something I do on TRX transmissions so I can do that myself, chain/sprocket/axles I was thinking 2 seasons probably 4 or so trips. I did come across a post that also said the same where the guy said his RZR was better in the rough/chop and he would park the King car when it got rough rough. I also came across a King car that had a newer style Sandcraft/Rogue tire setup that I'm guessing would help in the chop compared to the Dune Sport style of tire they normally came with. Appreciate your insight.

 

[ROBERT L]

They came with 13.00 Extreme rear tires. They were a very flat paddle tie. Like the Funcos run. I feel they were one of the main reasons they slid so well. If you could find a tire similar.

 

[SLAYERMARQUEZ]

I've owned 2 king sand cars. Number 19 and 48. My advice would be to find the newest car(highest number build) possible and maybe one with a turbo lol. The older cars have frame issues at the shock mounts, rear cage, and trailing arms. I had to completely redo the frame on the # 19. #48 had all the frame updates and ran great. Ill post some pictures if I can find some. They are fun machines and they love fresh powder dunes

 

[SLAYERMARQUEZ]

Here are some pics

 

[Rockwood]

Be prepared to mercilessly beat that engine like a red headed step child that owes you money. It’ll take it, but it’s also required. Not a “3rd gear duner”

 

[EastMT]

Here’s a video of a Tom Pro non turbo vs turbo up Choke Cherry at St Anthony.

 

[Morgan]

I've owned 2 king sand cars. Number 19 and 48. My advice would be to find the newest car(highest number build) possible and maybe one with a turbo lol. The older cars have frame issues at the shock mounts, rear cage, and trailing arms. I had to completely redo the frame on the # 19. #48 had all the frame updates and ran great. Ill post some pictures if I can find some. They are fun machines and they love fresh powder dunes

I did come across both your cars on IG on my rabbit hole search, nice builds. I did notice the later cars had more updates, and I just looked at #7 on Friday and it's pretty worked over with breaks and fixes. I found another one that's high 50s that seems to be much nicer overall and then #78 but it's a little more than I want to spend and it does have a turbo on it, which I had kind of told myself I was going to stay away from. Other than the turbo kit, it's a super nice car. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Hondajimz]

I did come across both your cars on IG on my rabbit hole search, nice builds. I did notice the later cars had more updates, and I just looked at #7 on Friday and it's pretty worked over with breaks and fixes. I found another one that's high 50s that seems to be much nicer overall and then #78 but it's a little more than I want to spend and it does have a turbo on it, which I had kind of told myself I was going to stay away from. Other than the turbo kit, it's a super nice car. Thanks for the insight.

Did you reach out to Kevin ? His is N/A

 

[HP.Habits]

Im always excited when I hear about people shopping for streetbike cars. Ive owned my fair share of them and always have some saved in my favorites. I will always choose one over a SxS. Even with NA motors, the power to weight usually puts these about even with a 200 hp Canam. If they are Turboed, oh man, plenty of butt pucker moments to come. First time I ever passed someone on a dune run was in a NA R1 powered car. Its true, you will work the crap out of those cars, but they are a blast and extremely gratifying to drive.
Just my 2 Cents: I always look for any that have some cab reinforcements, rear shock reinforcements. Most of those cars are built pretty lightweight and the stress cracks show. Happy Hunting

 

[CampfiresNbrews]

I too owned a King Sand Car. #53 I believe? Car was so much fun in the tight and twisty stuff. All the quad guys loved it when I’d lead the group. The big cars hated it cause they couldn’t keep up or maintain the line. Slot car on rails. The thing loves to drift in the turns but is very well planted. That’s the thing I miss most about that car. Never got the shocks all the way dialed In so the whoops were a problem. Actually, the choppy stuff did get better after a revalve. Definitely look at the later cars perhaps 60’s on up? Beefier trailing arms, reinforced rear frame and front arms. Only thing I never liked was the spindles/uprights. It uses a type of screw in ball joint. I never had an issue but in the back of my mind it was there. Saw one with a double shear upright. Maybe they changed to that in the later cars? I also added the Tom Pro reverse box. Super fun times!!

Found some pics.

 

[n4st]

Currently running #17!

Bought it in 2019. You've already got good advice to look at the later builds. My two cents:
Echoing others, make sure the transmission has been redone to undercut the dogs (at least on 2nd gear.) Or be ready to make that upgrade right away. These cars pop out of second pretty easy. Bonus upgrades are solid shift shafts and billet forks. Confirm with the seller this work has been done, or get somewhere you can rip in 2nd gear before you buy it. (I've pulled the engine twice on my car, first time was for this issue.)
Check that the car has upper engine mounts. The earlier builds only had two radius rods running from the front top mounts to the lower cross bar. In chatter, the engine would torque pretty bad (like side to side) and all this was reacted by the lower case mounts. Cracked my case pretty bad before realizing (2nd time engine was out). I added two additional radius rods at the upper rear mounts and that solved that issue.
I had electrical issues for a bit, but I think the lesson learned is to heat shield the battery/and run a good agm. It sits close to the headers (in a non-turbo set up). I redid all the electrical to be external which is personal preference. The tube routing made it tough to diagnose electrical issues. I re-organized the electrical panel too to avoid some major chaffing I found. Not sure if they fixed any of this on later models but I would take the side panel off when you look at these to have a peek.

Broke an A-arm in the heat affected zone of this lattice type stiffener weld. Re-did it so its a solid stiffener. I think the newer cars have the lattice thing still.


Shift handle had a bunch of slop and would cause inadvertent shifts in really bad chatter. I just drilled some more holes higher up to get better feel on the handle.

I had trouble keeping my engine cool. These cars have massive radiators, but they're tucked behind the drivers side seat facing sideways. I've heard they did this to keep the engine running hotter like 220s-230s, but I would get pinned at 250f constantly. I moved mine up in fresh air and now it's running happy 230s on hard rips. Its probably just an old, corroded, radiator.


Anyways, BUY ONE! They're so much fun to drive.

 

[77charger]

I loved mine! Like Robert said, they are an absolute riot to drive! They were built off of a sprint car jig and they love sliding sideways. They will not handle whoops or the washboard trails like your RAZR did. Just cruise through that stuff. Freshly blown sand is where they’re happiest. They can be a rougher ride on busier weekends with deep tracks and your trying to slide across them. I tried like hell to find the rev limiter and rarely did. They just keep screaming. I replaced sprockets and chain every year with CV maintenance and an oil change. Some of the earlier models were prone to cracking in corners of the chassis. Check for those carefully. There were “updates” that were done with later and later models. All cars will have a number underneath by the fuel tank. I think they went up to 80-something last I heard. An option some aftermarket companies offer is “back-cut” gears which help with positive shifting. But the only reason I sold was the need for a 4-seater. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one again. They are too much fun.

my brother had one a later model with the full dash and did the alternator upgrade.But anyhow he had his shocks revlaved and made a big difference on the whoops handled pretty good.Right after a few guys who had the cars also did the same and happy.

 

[Haulinass450]

Awesome cars. I had #70 and the only regret was selling it. You can dune the shit out of those cars and never be disappointed. Front disc brake wouldn’t be a bad option but not necessary. Not having reverse is a pain in the ass some times but you get use to it.