3/4 Race - Shop Truck

Well damn. That truck is badass!

Fitzauto wrote: Well damn. That truck is badass!

My thoughts exactly! Now, if we can get a comparable "last gen" S10 movement going in parallel with all this Ranger love, maybe I'll get some bad ideas on what to do to mine

I replaced a 2.3 motor in one of these while I was still in middle school. It's how I paid for my first "real" tool set. As a result I'm a little more sentimental about these than I probably should be.

How much can those 2.3l's put out before ventilating the block? I keep getting bad ideas.

stock bottom end takes 430+rwhp according to some google searching.

simon_C wrote: stock bottom end takes 430+rwhp according to some google searching.

from what i've seen that is for the turbo bottom end, i think the n/a pistons are weaker and dont hold up to boost nearly as well

Is it the pistons themselves or (what I'm assuming is) higher compression that causes issues?

You guys really aren't helping my poor decision making...

In reply to Crackers:

I believe the regular 2.3 has hyper eutectic pistons while the 2.3t has forged pistons.

Awesome truck! I've seen your ranger on instagram.....those photos have helped lead to my own autox ranger

I finished up the panels that seal the tunnel today, and reinstalled the seats. This should keep the safety police off my behind.

Looks like the earliest event isn't until 4/1, the wait is killin me!

Loaded up Saturday morning and took the truck to its first autoX of 2017

https://www.youtube.com/embed/abjZBvoHw1A?ecver=1

Need to add a bunch of spring rate and try to dial out the body roll. Looking for a bigger sta-bar for the Toyota front end as well. Might need to go splined bar like the rear will be.

Overall it was a good day with 9 runs and nothing broken!

Enjoyed your in cab video. What pound springs are you currently running? Is your current sway bar a stock Toyota?

Is there any more diverse class than EMod?

JGRAHAM wrote: Enjoyed your in cab video. What pound springs are you currently running? Is your current sway bar a stock Toyota?

Stock Toyota front sta-bar, yes. Looks like 11/16" The only bolt-in option I have found so far is a 1" Belltech. Currently 500lb front springs

loosecannon wrote: Is there any more diverse class than EMod?

I don't think so! This car runs locally with me. Mid-engine STi swapped with a Porsche transaxle.

When starting this build, I simply looked at the pile of parts I had available and the SCCA rulebook. EMod looked like the only class where all my junk fit without anyone telling me how (not)to build it

I would like a photo album of all the EM cars from across the country

The truck and I have a couple more events under our belts, and making solid progress on sorting out the combo/relearning how to drive.

Changes to the suspension for Fun Event#1: Bigger front sta-bar

Installing rear sta-bar

This setup was a marked improvement in roll, but was stiff enough in the rear to unload the inside tire on right hand turns and upset the Trac-lok.

Next, for Points Event#1, I swapped the rear bar(850) to a 750, and stepped the front springs up to 600lbs. Also got a fresher, softer compound, set of tires mounted up. These changes worked quite well together. The rear tires stayed planted, the truck rotated well, and I was able to pull out a class win. Managed 17th of 107 overall RAW. Let's face it, in a sport scored on PAX, I can do whatever I want with the results. If I manipulate the RAW list and drop the real racecars, I was 11th quick out of all the door slammers. Not displeased with that! There is more in it and I will be working to find as much of it as possible

Oh, and I found a good place to put my external mic

Glad to see an update! You're getting it dialed in. It just takes time. Looks like a strong turnout for CAM up there.

4 weekends without an autoX is too many! Loaded up and rode down to Mid American Air Center for an event with Southern Indiana Region. No changes to the truck, just looking for more seat time.

My daughter turned 12yo this spring, and this was her first opportunity to jump in the passenger seat

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PhHnBpLohPw?rel=0?ecver=1 https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5RAisL9euA?rel=0?ecver=1

The truck performed flawlessly, but the driver is still leaving time on course. Managed to make a decent day out of it, and finished 4th overall on the RAW list.

I always thoroughly enjoyed the events where my kids got to ride the first time.

My 2017 autoX season is complete. I made more suspension changes to the truck in the final few events. Upped the front springs to 800lb and took some camber out of the rear tires. Drove better, but pics of the truck on course showed quite a bit of rear lift under braking. Raised the rear spring rate at the final event but the truck went dead loose. Disconnected the rear sway bar and picked up 2sec on my last run!

Looking at final results from the local region, I won the class championship for Emod. It appears that I took the divisional class trophy as well.

I've got a short list of upgrades for this winter, and I am hoping to drop a bunch of weight off the nose.

This, I like.

Awesome update. I'm excited to see your weight savings!

Three weeks ago I decided it was too cold to take this truck out to autoX.

Two weeks ago it was on the ground, 100% ready to go. Next event is this weekend, weather looks great!

Then outta nowhere I got a phone call from a guy I had been in on/off contact with over winter, and I took everything back apart

Several hours of measuring and transferring notes so that THIS could happen

I am stoked! I built the truck by feel and whatever fit, along with what I had access to and could afford. There was little math involved. When the opportunity arose to have someone else science the E36 M3 out of my setup and provide custom valving for my shocks, I jumped! Time is short but it wouldn't be any better later in the season either so what the hell.

I did not get any of my weight reduction stuff done this winter, but I did get a shorter set of steering arms modded and installed

It is looking like I should have the shocks back, even if I hafta banzai run to get them, and still be able to make the event on Sunday.

I know that truck!

This thing is sooo beautiful! Tell us more about the shocks and work you're having done...

The shocks themselves really aren't anything special. They are some old circle track PRO Shock units that I nabbed off a swap meet table. They were valved for roundy-round stuff and under damped for my spring rates, but they were sizes I could physically make fit. At $10 each, I knew I could correct the other issues later and still be ahead.

On the lift, with the shocks and springs off the truck, I measured up all the LCAs and checked motion ratios in droop and compression. Measured unsprung weight, wheelbase, and track width. I had rough ideas on most of the numbers from my pre-build calculations, but some changes had been made on the fly and I needed to confirm everything as accurately as possible. Corner weights were carried over from last year since no major changes have taken place in that regard.

The shocks were dyno'd, and parts were ordered to revalve them based on calculations from the measurements I made.