alwaysFlOoReD's race truck

[Destroyer000]

pvc not a goooood idea.. i had a mud truck i was messing around with and decided to try it with what i had lying around... once thermostat opens the pipes get wavy and blow apart... i ended up using some exhaust tube... works much better.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for the input. Like I said to wahlstrom1, if it doesn't work I will at least have a pattern for the exhaust shop to work from.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Hi again, it's been a while, hasn't it? Too long. Anyway, I finally dragged the truck in to do some work on it. I've been wanting to fix the rear shackle bracket so I can get back some height and I finally figured a way to do it. Well... I figured it out quite some time ago, and decided it was time.
I had some brackets kicking around in my salvage pile and some bent plate. I put the two together;





Bolted it on;


^^^ I threaded the frame and then added a lock-nut welded to the frame. I had a bolt thru both then tacked the nut, removed the bolt and finished the weld.





This raised the back of the truck about an 1.5" and the ability of another 1" if needed. Tying the two sides together should make it strong enough for any loads.
I also swapped out the front 87 stx high rider springs for some 91 stx springs, they are about 1" difference;



That brought the front down 1". But I think the bumpstops aren't in the best position, the passenger side allows ~3.5" of up travel while the drivers side only has ~1.5" because of the pumpkin. I'm going to cut away some of the drivers side to even things up a bit. I'll take pics of before and after and post later.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I was having problems with the rad losing coolant. Driving by the local rad shop on Saturday and saw the front door open so I stopped in. I explained to the owner what I was trying to accomplish in the future with putting the rad behind the cab and asked if he had any good rads in the back that he could sell for cheap. Went up the stairs to a back room and after looking through the F/U pile he pulled out the exact rad that I was using presently , less work hooking that up and I could have a brand new rad for $25.00 I also asked if he had some thin gauge connectors so I could make some adapters to neck down to the 1" rad hose that I bought. He provided 4 for an extra $5.00. I hooked it all up and went for a test run but I was still losing fluid Thinking it might be a head gasket issue I decided to use RonDs rubber glove test and that came back negative.
[Sunday I was driving by the same shop and the door was open again, in I went. I wanted to make some inline bleeders for when I put the rad in the back. A shout out to Flo at Hi-Tech Radiators for providing all the pieces and helping me out.]
So I decide to make a bigger overflow tank. I took the stock tank and connected the windshield wiper fluid side into the rad side with a tee fitting I fabbed up with copper tee and copper bushings and brass air fittings.



It seemed to work when I put in water in the wiper side as the water migrated over to the rad side, however in real world use the rad side is emptied first in the cooling phase and then sucks air while the wiper side still has water in it. I suspect it has something to do with the wiper fluid motor. I did take it out before I started this and blew into the line. Air went into the tank but I didn't think to test in the other direction. I also have the option of using a closed system tank from a 92 f-250.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Re; overflow tank. Added pic in previous post. I checked the flow in the other direction and there is flow both ways so I decided to add another line going from one side to the other and that seemed to solve the problem of suction water from only one side. I also added new homemade hood pins;



I bucked the hex off and round off the end to a point then dropped the hood to mark where to drill. That worked well and I then fabbed some washers to strengthen the hole. Added small hitchpins and Bobs your uncle. Pics later.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Here's a pic of the overflow tank with the extra line;





I drilled a hole used a couple of wiring grommets to hold the hose. The hose fit good and tight [<<reminds me of german virgins joke] but the grommet was loose in the hole I drilled. So I used an o-ring and stuffed it into the grommet and it seems to be holding. If there is a problem later I will find a better solution. for now it's good enough until I move the rad to the back.
I started on a bumper mount utilizing my tow bar mounting, I'll have more pics later;



And as a final pic, here's my to do list;



Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Got the front bumper done but not painted yet.



I know it doesn't look all that special but I can pull two pins and remove the bumper and install my tow bar. Also I want to keep the weight down and I'm not in a type of race where I need to nerf anyone.
I started out cutting off the front part of the frame off a parts truck I have





I made them as even as I could





The factory tow bar mount





one I started on





The plate with two nuts, it gets welded to the front frame pieces





And a side view



There are two hitch pins that go thru a hole on the top to lock everything together, I didn't get a pic.

And finally, some pics of adapters and bleed valaves I made for when I move the rad to the back







Ten days to race day

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yesterday I started out figuring out how I was going to make a driveshaft loop for the rear. Then I thought that as long as I was building something off the rear to hold a cable, I might as well extend it a little and make a kind or wheel hop stopper thing-a-ma-jingy. I finally finished today after a few false starts. I decided to use two bolt on the rear axle cover and some holes that were already beside the pinion.





Originally I was going to use a round pipe slid inside a square tube so that there was the ability for rotation as well as fore/aft movent, the pipe end being held in a bushing to allow up/down motion.



After building and mounting it and cycling the rear I realized that there was too much movement up/down, almost 6-8", and something would break. So I decided to change to a slapper bar style.







I still have to test but using the jack to run it through the range of motion seems to show that it will work. We'll see tomorrow.

Oh, and I did build the cable loop but forgot to get a pic.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

After getting the bedsides mounted and some reinforcements added I noticed that I didn't Have much room between the axle and frame. So I used the adjustment I had built in to the shackle brackets that I built. I hope that it's enough as right now I don't have time to go sua.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

29"x8.5"x15" super swamper TSL 55#
Gear/Range/Time
1,2,3 / 4lo / 6.31s
2,3,4 / 4lo / 6.31s
2,3,4 / 4lo / 5.81s
1,2,3 / 4hi / 5.75s
1,2,3 / 4hi / 5.54s
2,3, / 4hi / 6.53s missed shift

31"x10.5"x15" M/T Baja Claw 64#

1,2 / 4hi / 5.66s
1 / 4hi / 5.66s stayed in 1st no shift
1,2 / 4hi / 5.50
1,2 / 4hi / 5.53
1,2,3 / 4lo / 6.62
2,3 / 4lo / 5.46
2,3 / 4lo / 5.57
2,3 / 4lo / 5.82
2,3 / 4lo / 5.57

I guess it really depends on track surface and which tire I decide to run. I'm leaning to the swampers as they are lighter but it means an extra shift. I don't want to change tires if I can help it but I'll do what needs doing. Points are combined from slalom and drags.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I survived the weekend!
It was a blast even though my back was a hurtin' unit. I must have pulled a muscle in my lower back when I was loading tires or tools. I didn't get much sleep and popped a lot of pills, it was to the point that I had to drop out and run to the nearest hospital for a shot of something. On the way there I took three different types of pain killers and by the time we got to town I decided to buy a back brace instead of visiting the hospital. That did the trick good enough to last the weekend.
The events were;
sat morn; drags
sat aft; slalom
sun morn; drags
sun aft; slalom
The points were added from each days events and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places were tallied at the end of Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't place in any event. The truck performed good but the driver made a few mistakes.
Sat morn at the drags there was 6 trucks in my class. I was in 4low with the 31" baja claws. The track was in the center of the clay oval on hard packed clay. I killed in the first run. The second run my truck was moving at the start so I lost. Next run I got the starter to place a rock under my front tire so that I wasn't dq'd again but got beat, I ran out of steam at the end of the track and the other truck beat me at the end. Oh well.....

Slaloms were run on part of the clay oval and part on dirt. Starting in front of the grandstands and fly down turn 1 and 2 then hard right off track and immediate left thru sand to a hard right up a packed dirt hill about 12/12 pitch for 40 yards. Over the crest and try to find the course to the left. Over a slight cliff and down to a hard left then a left sweeper, back thru the sand and back over the track into the infield. A right hander, straighten out for 100 yards for a small jump and you cross the oval into a table top. A rough right hander around a copse of trees and back the way you came, now turning left into the table top and across the track. A small jump into the infield as you turn right and run for the track and one last left turn back onto the track. Now a straight run to the finish with 3 whoops just before the line in front of the grandstands. On Sunday the track was run in reverse.
The truck handled mostly good but I need to put in heavier springs in the front and rear to handle the landings better. The front I have the stock 91 ranger stx springs. The rear is a ~90's chev rear main spring with two ford ranger springs and an overload. I need to go to a cut f-150 in front and add some springs to the pack in the back.
Overall the truck handled great, making it up the hill no problems. It was just the small jump before the tabletop that had such a harsh landing, the guys said I was scrapping bottom as I landed.
Here's some pics from sunday;



The girl that beat me;


Coming down the 45* hill;


Random shots;







It was a fun weekend!

Richard

 

[rangerdanger208]

racing looks so fun!!! we don't have anything like that around here. just circle track stuff.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I decided to change the front springs and moved the rear shackle hanger back to stock orientation for now. I got 2" of lift in the front and 1.5" in the back. The reason is that I was hitting the bump-stops too hard last year.

The front;
I decided to use some front springs from an '88 f-150, 91 ranger on left;



bottom;



Top;



I cut one wrap from the top;



ranger coil height;



f-150 coil height, cut piece on top of stock coil;



The f150 coil uses 3/4" coil and the ranger uses 5/8". After cutting, the f150 coil is 3/4" taller but raises the front of the truck 2".
The coil fits both top and bottom. I was surprised that the capture washer on the bottom works but it does. A portion of the coil hits the beam where it rises for the knuckle. At the top the coil bucket is different from side to side in how the coil end is oriented. On the drivers side I captured the coil end with a piece of stainless meant to hold offroad lights - application unknown...it was a dumpster find. I'll have to take a picture later. The passenger side I used a hose clamp...we'll see how well that works but I want to figure out a better way.
The f150 beam has a cast bottom piece that would work to raise the truck 1.5" but I don't want lift, but it is something to think about rather than using washers if doing a cheap lift on an RBV.
I'm trying to be ready for a race at the end of the month. I'll try the front coil at this length and if I don't hit the bump-stops on jumps I'll cut coil until I do. I want the lowest COG I can get without hitting too hard.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Going racing tomorrow.... Finally!
Wish me luck.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Came in second place in my class. Got a trophy, $100, and a battery charger.
Pics and blow by blow to follow.

Richard