Hackster's Autocross Track Day Truck (Garage Build)

[hackster]

Originally Posted by grendel

I really like that harness bar. I may have to do something like it in my truck.

Was it a kit?

No sir, like everything else on the truck all built from scratch in my garage.

So I bought 2 belts, got one installed, changed the oil and filter tonight....no metal in this one =) and got these little guys installed in the front bumper. I did not have much choice in the placement of them as they needed to be outside of the framerails as I would not be able to get the ducts under the frame without them really dragging on the ground or getting in the way of the engine or steering. Now to figure out how to get the hose between the wheel, tire, sway bar, strut, coil spring and all that crap.



Looks pretty cool.

Took the truck to dinner, without issue this time with the wife. I have a tough time driving this thing not like an idiot and its fast. Not supercar fast, but damn fast for an old pickup truck.

I wanted to see what she thought of it so we found a little back road and did some spirited acceleration and braking. One time of that and she wanted out of the truck. It does good 1,2 burnouts even with granny shifting the thing and comes to a stop right now... It was awesome =)

Gotta get my **** together and make sure I can tow the trailer with the camper and the extended stinger now.

Happy Friday to everyone.

Sean

[grendel]

You made the bungs and joints?

(Kidding).

I get the DOM and bending the tube, the plates for the a-pillars, etc.

[SSLance]

Speed holes in the front bumper! Sweet!

Good luck with the PS belt, hope it stays together for you. Love the harness bar, very nice work. I bet that truck is a blast to drive...

Show some pics of your camper setup, that's my next project...getting my car trailer setup for long hauls behind our RV.

[DBasher]

Have fun at ORP this weekend! It'll be good to hear what the instructors think about running around the track that fast in a truck.

[hackster]

Originally Posted by grendel

You made the bungs and joints?

(Kidding).

I get the DOM and bending the tube, the plates for the a-pillars, etc.

That is a deeper conversation that just one post my friend.....Let me clarify.

I bought the tube, the heims and the inserts. I bent up the tube off of my plans and drawings, Cut out the brackets, built the links with bungs and tube I bought and welded it all up.

It was not a kit that I bought from a shop or prefabricated from someone else trimmed to fit.

I ordered in a new power steering pulley last night and it somehow showed up this morning at Oreiley's....,.,I never buy anything there but they said they could get it there in the morning and they actually did that. It was the right one to boot.

While I was at my normal parts store visiting my buddy Andrew, I asked about a proper pulley installation tool and looked around on his shelf of tools and low and behold there was a whole kit that had the 8x1.25 one in it that I needed. So I got my crap and headed on my way. I used my Garage heater (Hair Drier and a Towel) to heat up the pulley. You would not believe how hot it will get things, hotter than it should.

The pulley installer was key, and I think was my problem all along (Hopefully) It has a bolt that threads into the pump, then a thrust washer, a bearing and then the threaded rod and press portion. It takes all the rotational torque out of the equation. Got it all ready and with the hot ass pulley, I tossed it on there, got the tool installed and pressed on the new pulley, there was no drama like the first time, no washers getting stacked up. I guess you live and learn.

The pulley went on at least 1/4" or more further than the last one. I am pretty sure that was causing some alignment issues. That combined with a much higher quality belt, I never new that Gates made a regular 6 groove and a green label six groove belt, there is a difference in the backing, the depth of the grooves and the thickness of the belt as well. Still learning.

Got the belt routed and installed and fired it up with no drama. Also finally installed the covers on the battery while I had that disconnected, looks more finished now than before.

Also got some brake ducts installed, not happy with them at all but they should work for the weekend no problem.

So a trip around the block filled up with fuel and onto the trailer.

First time towing with the camper, the hitch extension and the trailer, truck did remarably well considering that there was a massive headwind all the way out here.



Arrived without issue, got the truck unloaded and the registration done, chatted with a few others that were here and spending some quality time with the wife in the camper.



All in all a great day...we are pretty tired though

[andrewb70]

Looking forward to track updates!

Andrew

[grendel]

Beautiful.

And yes, I know what you meant

[SSLance]

Looks like the makings of a great weekend!!

[hackster]

Thanks for following along everyone.

What a weekend...my instructor for the day on Sunday was Peter and he is a very, very experienced driver and racer. I was fortunate to have him as I know him from the Volvo world and he was eager to see what I and the truck could do.

It was a whirlwind schedule, drivers meeting, then classroom, then on track, then classroom, then on track then classroom. We were hustling all day long from about 7 am to about 4 pm when the rain really rolled in hard and I put the truck on the trailer.

I learned a ton, both on the track and in the classroom. I am getting more comfortable in the truck each time its on the track and my efforts to fix things are paying off big time. I had no power steering issues, even on the rev limiter by accident a few times, no leaks or other issues. The brakes performed awesome. The switch to the bigger front rotors and calipers was impressive, late braking was much easier and the motul dot 4 660 fluid, and brake ducts did their job and there was zero brake fade all day.

Truck was an absolute blast on the track, it just kept getting faster and faster the harder we pushed it, its very well balanced and turn in is excellent. We were both impressed at just how quick the truck could go around the track. So was the guy in the c7 corvette that had a rearview mirror full of 68 ford pickup for lap after lap =)

Another epic weekend. The wife had a great time, we got to use the camper, the truck , the trailer and spent a weekend at a beautiful track.

I would call it a total success!!!! Not to mention beating the snot out of the truck and all I did was check the lugnuts all day.









Messing around with this all day on the track was just stupid fun for us. Probably not being driven to its limits as we were both in group 1, but he had a lot of track experience and the car was fast. He could pull on me just al ittle on the front straight when he was really getting into it, but I could reel him in in the first couple of corners after that and be right on his rear bumper. I am sure I dont have a chance against some of the fast guys in a fast car but it sure was fun.



Going to do the rear brakes this week, order some harnesses and get on the front brake ducts...they are hammered and rub the wheels at anywhere close to full lock.

Another epic weekend......now to prep for April Optima in Vegas in 3 weeks.

Sean

[grendel]

You had to be hella fast to keep up with a Z06 with the Z07 package!