1971 f250 DESERT truck- 10/24 race prep

[FordTruck]

Cool in True Blue Trucks this month there was a big write up about PMC Racing.......it was a good read oh ya and I saw this in there

[1971ford]

Man, why can't I find deals like that? All I need is bent beams and coils so I can clear 33s. Dang. Well, you will be driving right by me on your way, .

Menace,
I'm thinking I'm going to get rid of the coils, 1 ton bent beams and radius arms all in one bundle that i just took off the race truck.
Come get them.

Cool in True Blue Trucks this month there was a big write up about PMC Racing.......it was a good read oh ya and I saw this in there

Yep my dad bought that issue and got me a subscription to the article, perfect combination of off-road racing and old ford stuff all in that one magazine, it was cool!


New vs. old





THe solo swing set we are borrowing to look at the geometry but my swing set is going to be totally different. It will be pivoting from the inside of the frame most likely.



Finding out exactly where the mounts need to be will be fun..


Problem #1 is that on the passenger side the j-beam can't bump out 1/2" below the frame rail like how i was planning on bumping it. I am probably just going to trim those plates down on the i-beam pivots and plate the gap closed to give it strength, so i can still bump the truck to just about hitting frame.


Problem #2 is that I had to pop the misalignment spacers out because they were way too wide. I'll have to get new spacers that arn't as thick. But even then the uni-ball cup is way too wide for the beam pivots. The j-beams can't fully droop before the uniball cup binds with the pivot walls. I'm thinking i will just cut the sides of the cup down a little, but haven't looked at it yet.


Not exactly where the shocks will be but close. just seeing where everything is going to fit



Pulled the lights and skid plate, because the bumper is next to meet the sawzall
All the skid plate tubes are going byebye because the truck will need a new skid for swinger steering.
While i'm at it i might as well make a new bumper

[67mann]

Very that your truck made it into a Mag.

And get some more Fire Extinguishers in that Garage,before ya burn your parents house down

[Menace Kustoms]

Man, why can't I find deals like that? All I need is bent beams and coils so I can clear 33s. Dang. Well, you will be driving right by me on your way, .

Menace,
I'm thinking I'm going to get rid of the coils, 1 ton bent beams and radius arms all in one bundle that i just took off the race truck.
Come get them.

Man, you had to drive by my house to grab those J-beams, you shoulda dropped them off! PM me though if you're serious, maybe we can work something out.

[1971ford]

Very that your truck made it into a Mag.

And get some more Fire Extinguishers in that Garage,before ya burn your parents house down

yea, I should probably have one close by but I have the garden hose 5 feet from the truck

Man, why can't I find deals like that? All I need is bent beams and coils so I can clear 33s. Dang. Well, you will be driving right by me on your way, .

Menace,
I'm thinking I'm going to get rid of the coils, 1 ton bent beams and radius arms all in one bundle that i just took off the race truck.
Come get them.

Man, you had to drive by my house to grab those J-beams, you shoulda dropped them off! PM me though if you're serious, maybe we can work something out.

I thought about that, But I wanted to make sure nothing went horribly wrong with the j-beams in which case I would be making the J-beams out of the old beams.
There is the leduc swap meet in so-cal on feb 28th that were going to...

[Menace Kustoms]

I'm down, PM me fo sho.

[1971ford]

I had a ratchet strap holding the j-beam up at ride height. Tried to slowly lower it and it released all the weight of the j-beam, allowing it to freely pivot down to the ground 2 feet below. Onto my toe. It is now a bloody colorful mess of pain.
working on the truck sucks while you're in pain but the desire to hit the dirt again over powers it.

Worked all day to get just the radius arm mounts positioned and started. At least that is out of the way. It takes so long, having to get the pivot in just the right spot.

First i established ride height which is 5 degrees on the kingpin but the knuckle takes awawy 5 degrees so I have 0 deg. camber at ride height.
Caster is set at 10deg. ride height.
Bump travel at ride height is 7 1/8" from frame to beam so i'm guessing 10" at the wheel of bump travel. leaving probably 9 or 10" of down travel.

plate is 3/16 and holes are punched for 3/4 grade 8 bolt




Bump. Justtt enough radius arm to frame clearance. Less shaft will show when the shock is mounted in tabs.


Drooop


The j-beams bind up, but an inch after full droop. It's the uniball cup on the beam that is binding. I'll grind an 1/8 out of where it is hitting on the cup and it will have more room


Ride height

[Menace Kustoms]

19" of travel is very respectable. As long as it's not dirty hooker travel.

[1971ford]

Of course it's going to be dirty-hooker travel, it's i-beams!

[1971ford]

Today I didn't want to get dirty, just not in the mood with my foot. So I took a break from front suspension and mocked up the whole front clip and I am now working on mounting that.
Hood will have hinges that have pins in the pivot so the hood can be pulled off quickly or hinged up if i am by myself and autofab hood pins on the front.
Fenders use the stock 2 cab bolts and grill bolts. Fenders can still be removed in less than 5 minutes for testing or whatever. Grill will be hung off a 1" tube with tabs and a few bolts.

I love all the space in there to work on stuff, and you can see how much lighter the front end is now without the inner fenders, core support and second hood layer. although the engine cage tubing added some weight back.

[1971ford]

Fab'd the upper/lower coilover mounts on each side and dad slapped the spindles/discs on for now.

20.5" wheel travel at KING PIN. 10.25 up and 10.25 down. Just happened to split exactly in the middle. So the numbers will be even bigger at the hub.
I'm satisfied!

Then set it down on its new front end for the first time. Had to go to work 10 minutes after putting the wheels on so only had time to droop it out for fun. I'll set ride height and bump it tomorrow.





Now i can roll the dang thing out and clean the garage.

[BobbyFord]

That looks awesome Ryan!
Nice work!

[fomocoguy]

Wow that's a lot of travel! Now if you get in a police chase you can jump a loading ramp or car hauler just like in the movies! All kidding aside very nice work.

[Ryno F-250]

Great looking truck, I am gonna be doing something similar to mine. (probly not that extreme though) Great build!

[Ranchero50]

So with the front end so articulating do you need to do something in the rear as well? 4 links or?

Jamie