alwaysFlOoReD's race truck

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Hey all,
I fixed everything that I listed in my last post and headed up to Castrol Raceways on Saturday morning. Unhooked my truck, I flat towed it 1 1/4 hrs to the track. Here's a video of the grounds before anybody is really moving yet;

There was 7 monster trucks to begin with but they broke down one by one. One of them actually broke his frame in half, I didn't get pictures of the break but the word was there was welds on top of welds on top of welds.
Some pics of some of the trucks;

Time Flys did the best in my opinion;

These trucks look to be fun to drive but expensive to build and definately expensive for upkeep.
Anyways, on to the really exciting stuff, MY truck
As it sat before the races;

A little bit of damage;

Third time lucky on this one corner, the track is watered before most races and I would always oversteer. I finally hit something, here's a vid of what I did;

Of all the things to hit on a track, a VICE
O.K. Here's what you've been waiting for, I came in FIRST in one of the heats where I didn't spin out in that corner;

I was racing against fullsize trucks again!!! and won!!!!
Anywho, enjoy,
Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I haven't worked on the truck since I raced last. I did buy a used Hurst shifter for C$145.00 shipping included, I plan to install that this weekend if I finish the kitchen renovations. I've also started gathering the pieces to do the 64" chevy spring swap. I got the springs for a case of beer ~ C$15.00. It took about an hour to cut them off with an angle grinder, well about 15 min a side but trying to set the truck up on logs safely in a field was fun. I then took them to a spring shop to get the old bushings pressed out and I expected them to have it done in about ten minutes. I left it with them and got a C$110.00 bill !!!! They ended up torching them out, I should have done it myself Then the spring bushings were another C$90.00 which I expected. I still have to pick up the shackles, I was quoted C$84.00 Belltech? 2" chevy drop shackles and C$79.00 for reg chevy shackles. I'll have to see what just the shackle bushings are worth - maybe I'll build my own shackles. I plan on flipping the shackle mount so I'll have to measure once I have everything apart. I'm planning on taking the spring and shackle mounts from a '77 f-150 that I have, that should bring the frame back up a couple of inches.
TTYL
Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I finally got some stuff done on the truck.
I had put an add on kijiji.com;
http://reddeer.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...est-and-tune-on-race-truck-W0QQAdIdZ230089256
and got three responses, two were for the track I already can go to, and one is for a homebuilt motocross track about 15 minutes away from my shop. I was going to the motocross track today but ended up having to weld in some brackets for a tow bar. The tow bar I usually use is lent out so I have one that folds up that I bought at a yardsale in the spring. Pics tomorrow.
I also put in an electric fan. My emergency fix at the track finally busted, the fluid clutch is shot, and the extra one I have is going to be a bitch to get out. I didn't think to check the book on how to get the fan off and took out all four bolts that go into the water pump. Then I figured out I have to leave them in in order to undo the big fan bolt. OOPS!!!! Oh well, that gave me incentive to do an electric fan. I rooted around my spare parts pile, also known as the junk pile, and found a fan from a Chrysler. I don't know what it came off of but it fits pretty damn good. It fits all the way across perfect and leaves about 3" on the bottom of the rad exposed. I wired it in so it comes on as soon as I turn on the master switch, that way I can't forget, and there's less to break down IE, a temperature switch going faulty. I ran it for about five minutes at 4000 rpm and it didn't over heat, but that was with no load. We'll see tomorrow when I run it at the motocross track. Again pics tomorrow. And maybe some video of the back suspension working. I want to video the suspension as I do the changes to it to see what exactly happens.

Richard

 

[1slow5oh]

ugly as sin but still cool......

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

ugly as sin but still cool......

Thanks

Here's a vid of my stock suspension, dual shocks;

I'm going to try to get video of the spring shackle working, trying to figure out where to mount the camera for best viewing
And as promised,
pics of the electric fan;

I'm not completely satisfied with the way the fan is working. I think I have to get a thicker core rad for this to work.
And the tow bar set up;

This set up is pretty cool. I picked up the tow bar at a yard sale in the spring along with a set of v-bar snow chains that fit my 31/10.5r15's for ~C$75.00. The tow bar folds up if you want to drive the truck on the street and, by pulling two clips, you can take it right off. The brackets I made will bolt onto any RBV so I can use this set up on my b-II as well as any other ones I get mobile.
later,

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Minor used hurst shifter problem

I installed the used Hurst shifter and it seems to work very well. All the slop is gone and I'm not searching for third gear any more. Unfortunately the splines on the handle have worn away and even when fully tightened the handle will move slightly when shifting - can anyone come up with a quick and easy fix?

I've thought drill another hole and install a roll pin. Or two holes and two roll pins.
Or file out the splines by hand.
Weld tack, top and bottom.
Other suggestions welcome.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I forgot to take pics of the shifter handle thingy. It's not the top where you grab with your hand, it's at the bottom, kind of where it comes out of the trans.Not to worried about it for now, I'll probably do locktite.
I've been working on the rear spring perches, and have removed the rivets and put in bolts in the front perches, getting ready for moving them forward [EDIT; for 64" chevy springs ]. Then I started thinking, OOHH OOHH it hurts! I'm going to drill the springs 6" ahead of the original holes, leave the front perches where they are, and double up on the rear shackles;

You can see the doubled up shackles sitting on the frame. I may run as pictured, or I may use the bell-tech shackles attached to the perch, then the stock shackle attached to the bell-techs, then the spring attached to the stock shackles. I'm still playing around with this idea in my head. One of the things I've figured out is why the spring bushings are mounted solid to both the spring and either perch or shackle; it acts like a dual rate spring that way. I'm still trying to figure out the best angle to bolt the shackles in so there is no binding. If I run the second shackle in the hole where I have the bolt in the bell shackle, it's almost exactly 6" behind the original perch. That should take care of the 6" longer spring.
When I drill the spring, I'm hoping that the other springs will help support the weakened main spring. It seems that it will in my head, but the proof is in the pudding. Another [hopefully] benefit is the shorter front side of the spring will help prevent spring wrap, I'll cut the back side of the bottom spring off. I hope this acts to stiffen the front half of the spring so I don't need anti-wrap bars.
If you have ideas or comments please let me have them.
Thanks,

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've been talking to Copykat [Joel, thanks for taking the time], and he's talked me out of doing the double shackle - for now. He said they were a lot like a revolver shackle which I had never heard about or seen before. Interesting concept, I probably would have got to that design if I was doing rocks or ramps, but he reminded me this is a race truck! I want to follow up on the double shackle/revolver idea when I get to work on my b-II. I think it has great possibilities and maybe is like the ttb - in that how it works is not understood well. Yes, I will go back to the original design with the front perch moved forward 6" and shackle perch flip - again, for now. Eventually I'd like to try drilling the springs 6" so that I can move the back spring perch instead. [In my class the wheel base cannot change] I'm thinking if I do that the spring will act like a variable rate spring which I think will work better in this type of racing - more like the coil-overs with two springs, but in my case non-adjustable. I need a dedicated test track close to home so I can time my truck to see if these changes actually make a difference in speed as well as comfort. All in good time.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've finally got my spring frame mounts removed. Only one of six bolts decided to take it easy on me. I used the method that gwaii mentions; cut the head of the bolt off, then turn the nut in, add washers behind the nut as needed to pull the bolt through. Also used a zip tool to cut the bolt inside of the shackle or mount in two cases where the thread in the nut stripped out. Gotta love the smell of burning rubber, reminds me of drag racing.

So now I'm at the point where I need to decide how I'm going to put it back together. I've decided to move the front mount forward 6", keep the shackle mount pointing in the stock direction, and use 2" belltech lift/drop shackles. At the same time I'm adding spring perches to the axle so I can run spring under axle. From the research I've done, that'll negate the need for anti wrap bars. So I'm hoping that the ~4" drop from the s.u.a. will be countered by the 2" lift and the 64" chevy main + assorted ranger and b-II springs.

If I'm lucky I'll be able to get some frame mounts from a '97 and up ford from Bulldog Scrap Metals and then do a shackle mount flip, though I don't know as if I'll need one as I'm allowed maximum 12" of movement front and/or rear. I guess I'll see when I'm done.

I got a piece of 2.5" x .180" x 24" tube to make spring perchs from, cost C$5.00. I'm thinking that I'll set the axle on top of the perch on top of the spring and tighten down just enough that things don't move, then make sure the center line of the pinion and tail shaft are parallel at ride height. Then I'll weld in the perches to the axle tube. If this method is not a good way of doing the perches, please let me know.

I've also installed an after market steering wheel that is a smaller diameter thinking that will give me quicker steering response. I'll just have to remember to bring the old one in case it's too small when racing.

I have to find some of the plastic that goes at the ends of the springs. Does anyone have a name and a source for these thingys.

Richard

 

[gwaii]

you're making me jealous with all this racing stuff.

looks like you're having a hoot....keep up the good work!

 

[Andres629]

Haha, Richard, that thing is cool. Needs a coat of paint though, I think.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

you're making me jealous with all this racing stuff.

looks like you're having a hoot....keep up the good work!

I will when I get on the track!

Haha, Richard, that thing is cool. Needs a coat of paint though, I think.

H&A Industrial Paint and Sandblasting are going to do a 50/50 [50 mph+50 yards away= 100%] paint job for me. They said they would sandblast and then paint with direct to metal paint for free!!!

I picked up a 3 ton arbor press today, and I'm going to try arching my springs with it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I bought a 3-ton arbor press thinking that I would be able to use it to re-arch the springs.

It turns out that it won't work. I took it back to KMS Tools - no hassles.

I got my spring pack put together

I used the chevy 64" main leaf, then chevy 3rd leaf, then an f-150 leaf, and finally the short, heavy spring at the bottom from the f-150.

I was able to reuse the ford clamp

I used a grade 5 bolt that I had around, I don't think that a grade 8 is necessary because of the for grade 8 bolts that I'm going to use to clamp the springs to the axles, similar to airtruksrus [on fordranger.net]. I built a spring perch that I was going to weld on but changed my mind again :-\.

It turns out when I made the perch that the two 'arms' that run up were just shy of touching the upper perch and were 1/4 bigger than the axle tube. I made some shims from 1/8" plate to correct this and then had the thought of using the shims but not welding it solid, that way I can change the angle if need be. I've heard of but never seen of similar bolt on brackets for lowering trucks so I figure that mine should work.

Tomorrow I hope to have everything buttoned up and take it for a test drive. The race is this Saturday, the 23rd. Wish me luck.

Richard

 

[gwaii]

luck

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Well, I got the springs back in. It was a little bit of a chore, I kept forgetting things and would have to undo what I'd just done in order to fix it. Oh well, typical for me.
Here's a pic of the brackets I'm using to sandwich the springs and new perch;

And installed;

As you can see in the last picture, the shackle is slightly more than 90* to the spring. I'm going to leave it like that for now. I may change it later for more preload by tightening everything when the suspension is unloaded. I'll see how it works first. I think I'm lucky in how everything lined up when I put this together.... The shocks will bolt right up without changing any mounts. I've got 12" of axle movement... which is the max allowed under the rules I'm running. Though I'll have to get new shocks to make use of the full 12". It was late last night and I didn't get a chance to check how the center-lines of the pinion and trans line up. I have a feeling that is going to need some work. If I could have found a '97 up f-150 front of the rear frame mount and used it I think that the center-lines would have been back to ~ stock, as that would have dropped the front ~ the same as the back got dropped. And that would have given me a little more up travel. I have ~ 5.5" of usable up travel as it sits now.
Now for some testing... hope it hangs together.

Richard