1971 f250 DESERT truck- 10/24 race prep

[1971ford]

[jp2005]

Nice pictures, did anything break the second time around?

[Judgement699]

My word sir, that is one awsome looking truck.

[1971ford]

I jumped the truck twice as many times as the last time out (giving buddies rides) and beat the heck out of it and only had one little problem, the bedside brace broke off. I welded it back on and am going to put a couple gussets on it and wrap it in plate. I fixed it within 5 minutes of getting home.

Thanks Judgement699!


I just revalved and rebuilt the coilovers today, and we will be going back out again, for a final testing on saturday.

[robroy]

Good afternoon Ryan,

Those jump photos are insane! I know from my limited experience with airborne driving that an inch feels like a mile when you're behind the wheel. I can only imagine how thrilling it must be to leave the ground in such a significant way!

Robroy

[Racer Z]

What stands out from my view (in relation to the last picture of you a mile in the air), is that your truck is still level. That's a good thing. In stock form, most cars and trucks do a nose-dive which really sucks.

Keep up the good work.

[1971ford]

Thanks Robroy, the time spent in the air is pretty amazing! (and smooth).

And I think I have the weight bias pretty well leveled out. The spare tires and fuel cell in the rear along with the dana 60 helps keep the rearend down from having the 429 up front. This is a nice jump too though which really helps, it's a long run-up, no-lip jump so it helps keep the truck level. I landed flat every jump. The really steep, big-lip jumps that i don't have pictures of me hitting make the front end touch down long before the rear, but I don't think any built truck can land flat of those suckers.

[1971ford]

Hood mounting is 99% done... Need to figure out how to get the bolts/nuts on the hood pins to clear the cage so the front sits where it should.





Need to trim and brace the bedsides tomorrow morning



BFG's


And dad got the Lowrance GPS up and going, wooooo!



Testing tomorrow. Brother is getting more HD footage. Should be fun comparing pre-valving to post-valving!

[westco]

Great pic of your truck in full droop.

[1971ford]

I got some more of those today!

Flew through the air for 55 feet until rear tire touch down...

And hit another jump wide open throttle at about 60MPH, who knows how far i went off that one....
So stoked to see the video once my brother gets it together.


Front valving feels pretty damn amazing. Waiting to see video.
Front is bottoming out still but i'm hucking it even bigger now, and still only have 150 psi in shocks and bumps.
Rear valving felt pretty good, definately softer but not too soft.. Felt like the rearend was MUCH sloppier and bouncing way too much though, valving is either still far off or it just can't keep up at all with the coilovers now that i'm going twice as fast as i was the first run.

Not a single problem, and beat on it all day. Before heading out I braced the bedside supports and gusseted the rear spring hangers, i luckily noticed they are starting to bend in! The hood and the hood did great, i thought for sure it would bang around/be noisy and have to come off immediately.


Need to finish the hood mounting but it's 99% done

[BobbyFord]

Wow, this truck has sure come a loooong way. Awesome work, Ryan!

[ford4x4fun]

Good Work That picture makes it look like it just floats through the air!

[Hemmi06]

[Ranchero50]

Going to be much better feeling once the rear end can hang with the front.

I was wondering how long the rear bedside brackets would stay together after a few commuter flights
Jamie

[1971ford]

Thanks guys,

Jamie I can't wait until I 4-link the rear next season.The front is so amazingly soft and the rear is definitely not as nice of a ride as the front, but it's not bad. Front has 21" travel strapped and bumped and the rear has about 11"