Hackster's Autocross Track Day Truck (Garage Build)

[hackster]

Forgot to keep this up to date...last update before SEMA and Invitational.

Went through all the suspension, remade the rear axle side panhard bar mount to hopefully get the rear roll center down a bit.

Replaced the rear springs with some 450lbx8" springs and replaced the front springs with 650x10" beehive style springs. Reset all the ride heights to be close to how it was and threw it on the scales. Believe it or not this thing is not horrible My next changes will be much much better weight distribution but for now I have to live with a 3550 lb weight with the race seats and and a 55 front 45% rear weight distribution and 3550 lb total weight.

Then was the brakes. I built some heat shields for the brake lines near the exhaust and covered them with heat tape. Been having some brake issues. Got the shields installed and rebled the fronts. Well the passenger side. Got to the drivers side and started inspecting it and found the lower piston was leaking into the dust shield. Curious if that was letteing air into the system. Replaced the caliper with a new one and bled the crap out of the system. Hoping all is well.

Loaded stuff up and headed south.

We are here in Vegas now...Loading into SEMA tonight as we are one of the last groups to load into the show. I will be there all week long and the truck will be in OPTIMA Alley. Not sure exactly where that is as I have yet to be there

[hackster]

Finally onto a new page.

So we made it to SEMA, got the truck unloaded and where it needed to be and parked it in Optima Alley for the week.



Truck sat there like a good little girl all week long, I did not spend much time with it while it was there but did manage to chat with a few folks I have met on the web and everyone seems to like it and they were super nice.

Made it to the Lateral G dinner at Margaritaville and had a great time, finally got to put names with faces on this site and there are some crazy talented people on this forum and some nice fellows as well. Great to meet a lot of you guys, just sorry I did not get to meet more people.



Saturday was the Speed Stop first for me. First time out on the new setup and the truck handled lots better than the last time, no apparent issues with the brakes either so I was pretty happy so far. Managed to improve my time on the 4 runs that we got. Not last place but pretty close to the end of the list.

Autocross was next up for me. We had two courses and 4 runs per course. Truck handled better, but apparently the limited slip was not enjoying life and I had a tough time getting the truck to rotate and put power down on corner exits. Either way, my runs were in the 29 second range pretty consistent on all 8 runs. I was in the bottom of the field on this segment as well.

We did the Road Rally and that was actually pretty fun. My wife and I hopped in the truck and headed out for a couple hour drive that ended in a private evening at the Shelby Museum and production facility and a great dinner.







Again no issues on the truck so all good.

Sunday is all about power and drivers ability. I was in run group A intermediate. I think it was the slower run group and that was just fine with me.

We got two morning and two afternoon sessions. I ran the first session and got the feel for the track again and felt pretty good, pretty slow lap times but not last in my field.

Adjusted the rear coilovers and truck was getting better, same issue with the limited slip not locking up on corner exit but corner entry was awesome. Truck is handling better than ever at this point and would be a little loose on exit if it was spinning both rear tires....

Got a little faster and a little faster the last two sessions but still pretty slow. I need to get a lot more aggresive on the braking zones, stop early braking and carry more corner entry speed to get my lap times down.

All in all I am pretty happy with what I have managed to build and do with the truck in the first year of having it and on a fairly tight budget the truck has some short comings though the lack of power the truck has, especially on the corner exits and straightaways, it acts like it has half throttle, then just kicks in. You can hear it so that needs to get resolved and it needs a cage and to lose some weight.

But being honest, I am pretty frustrated with my driving ability and being at the bottom of the standings. I don't do at all well with that and I am very competitive. I had a really good time at the Optima events and met some awesome people since February but I am not sure its the right place for me at this point in my life. So that leaves me wondering what should I do now....Do I keep going on the truck, knowing it will likely never get me to even mid pack and just be happy with that or do I start on something else, something with more power, lower lighter weight more track oriented but still not mainstream?

I know I need more seat time, and lots of it. That leads me to think Track Car.

There are some amazing cars and drivers running these events, my hat is off to all of them.

Chad....if you read this, you are a huge inspiration to me. I watch you drive, work on your car and drive it to the limit as many of the guys out there are doing. You work on it in your garage, drive it to the events and beat on it and drive it home. You have made tons of progress and keep pecking away at it. Keep it up man.

And this thing is just bad ass...



Going to ponder what to do next for a bit.

Sean

[waynieZ]

Sounds like you had a great time and got to meet some good people. Glad to hear the truck ran well.

[SSLance]

It was great to meet you and talk cars for a while at the Lat G party Sean. As you know I have been in a similar spot looking for a direction to go and my only advice is to find what is fun for you and keep doing that.

For me it is plainly whatever lets me get the most seat time, which is a mix between a few fun big travel events each year mainly to meet and hang out with people and as many autocross and track days close by to fill the void in the mean time. I also will never be the fastest car on track but I certainly enjoy messing with the fast guy's heads by running them down in the corners and I know you like that as well.

Good luck with whichever direction you chose, love what you have done with this truck so far.

[modernbeat]

Originally Posted by hackster

...But being honest, I am pretty frustrated with my driving ability and being at the bottom of the standings. I don't do at all well with that and I am very competitive. I had a really good time at the Optima events and met some awesome people since February but I am not sure its the right place for me at this point in my life. So that leaves me wondering what should I do now....Do I keep going on the truck, knowing it will likely never get me to even mid pack and just be happy with that or do I start on something else, something with more power, lower lighter weight more track oriented but still not mainstream?

I know I need more seat time, and lots of it. That leads me to think Track Car....

Sean, I've got some advice on both of these subjects.

First, you have to know that your truck will never be in the top half of the field. The weight, balance, and aero will never allow it to compete with the more highly refined cars. If you love competing in the truck, you can either be happy with it as-is, rebuild it at a huge cost only to be 70% up the field, or retire it to fun runs and develop another car. A truck, as cool and easy as it is, just isn't the right choice for competition.

Next, seat time. We have some customers that have built some fairly powerful and fast cars. Cars that are much faster than their skills. They weren't able to develop their driving skills in those cars. So we built each of them a simple trainer car with safety, consistency and low maintenance costs as the focus. Both of them do a huge number of track days with instructors and are able to push the boundaries in these slow, small-tire cars. When they run their FAST cars, they can now push them much harder. I'd recommend the same. Buy a ready-to-run, simple, small-tire, low-power track car and get some instruction so you can drive it at the ragged edge. This will help whether you end up sticking with the truck, or going for a more competitive car.

[GregWeld]

Jasons advice is stellar!

Go out and buy a used MIATA SCCA spec track car --- they're 10 Grand or less -- drive the crap out of it CHEAP -- learn the LINES and get seat time and more importantly -- get instructor help. Practicing bad habits just makes you really good at doing it wrong. LOL


Sorry I didn't get to come and see you -- I watched the event and since I was sitting with Basher -- paid particular attention to you.... I thought you looked good out there. 600 hp shy? Yeah. Pushing a brick? Yeah. Fun to watch? Hell yeah!

BTW -- There is NOTHING to be gained by being in the top 20 or 30 at a USCA event. Nobody is going to write you a check. Two weeks after it's over nobody gives a crap. Regardless of lap times.... Just go out and run with your friends and ask yourself at the end of the day..... "Did I have a blast or what!"? DONE.

[DBasher]

Great advice from two guys that have been there, done that. I doubt you'll fit in a Miata though, you're not exactly petite.

You're a builder and I have a feeling you're not done...either a redo on the truck or something 180 from what you've got, The conversation came up a few times over the weekend about more power vs more seat time, nothing wrong with both but as you know, $$ invested in you at this point is money ahead. Look how far you've come after just 9 months...kudos to you, Sean!



I had one job last weekend, introducing you and Greg. I failed.

[Chad-1stGen]

Hey Sean it was great seeing you and the truck last week. It's hard not to get caught up in lap times and being competitive but you have had a blast building and then driving your truck right?

Thanks for the kind words. Even though there is no USCA event at Thunderhill next year maybe we can meet up at that track or another one and do some ride alongs together.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by DBasher

I had one job last weekend, introducing you and Greg. I failed.

EPICALLY....... LOL

[GregWeld]

Sean ---


I will also ADD to this discussion because it needs to be said and read.


Anyone that THINKS they can build some bad ass car -- and go out and drive it 4 weekends a year - and then they THINK they can run with the top 15 or 20 guys that are driving WAY more often than that. Dudes gotta have his brains taken out because they're scrambled!

Let's just take Mister (I say Mister with the greatest respect) Stielow...... ZILLIONS of laps under his belt.... huge horse power cars for a number of years.... ADD to this the man just happens to be a suspension engineer so the cars are great.... He drives often enough to not be rusty. I need half a day to run the cobwebs out of my head when I haven't driven for months! (HATE WINTER!)


Okay --- I guess what I'm saying is that "being competitive" is always a matter of "how competitive". Personally I'd rather just go out and have fun. Beat who I can and let the others go by. There are many out there with lots of experience that have built cars just to run these events..... and very few have actually won.... and a winner at one event doesn't (as you know) put you in the top at the OUSCI in Vegas.