Go fast trail rig F150

[Mr. VanDii]

Hello there everyone, I'm a fairly new individual to this whole off road gig. I saw some ultra4 racing at King of the hammers and was immediately interested.
Then. THEN! I found out about the EMC class.

I am a mechanically inclined individual with an imagination who likes learning the hard way. I came across an F150 for $700 and decided "Ehh, it's cheap enough, I'll start here!" and so I continued on to drive the rig off road (BTW, I also made it Street legal and drove it with no shame!). After some Internet research and some impressive performance for a stock rig (possibly thanks to some aggressive driving) I learned that this is actually a great base to start.

And so begins my build....


(pictures to come with stories to match)

[Mr. VanDii]

Here is the original machine. It needed minor repairs, but I had a hard time arguing with the price!

I immediately got to the free modifications



This made big differences at the beach and in the mud So I took it to and off road park.
This is where wear and tear started to show, but not completely. What's funny is all that happened on the road when I got back.

As you can see...

The hood opened like a hungry fish while passing a semi. It was every bit as funny as it sounds. I saw it coming, the look on the drivers face was AWESOME!



Then the road bit me a good one... I found it funny that tis happened on he street on not offoad. I don't think that the truck likes the street very much.

[Mr. VanDii]

And so now it sits.

I took it appart and found issues. So I took those off and found more. AAAnd so on. It now sits on jack stands and is waiting for parts

The first and most important is chassis.

On the way is Threat Motorsports C&T and trussed beams with uniballs and pivot cups, heims, and coilovers. There will be an engine cage involved with bump cans near the tire, radius arms are obviously a requirement. Shackles and deaver Q80s with piggybacks and shock towers will suspend the rear.

[Mr. VanDii]

In the meantime, I made a high quality cold air intake to provide some much needed HP.

I can fab one for you for a reasonable price if you like!

[Rmc]

Wow that hood looks crazy.

[7D6F250]

Hey, I think you and I talked about some Deaver coil springs, remember? Glad you found the GFB site!

[Mr. VanDii]

I sure do! I may need them lol. We'll see as we get closer to the assembly. I been having fun with the ideas found on this very site.

As for the hood, that's for custom air flow. It saves on gas, makes big HP numbers, and attracts all the ladies!

[Becks_Bronco]

I'm still laughing about the hood. Never seen that happen... hahaha

Parts list sounds impressive. Can't wait to see it all together. Always have had a soft spot for reg-cab short bed F150's.

[Mr. VanDii]

With the suspension in the making, I figured that maybe I should get cracking on the drivetrain to match the performance. Thanks to Ebay, I have a complete Ford 9 inch center on the way. It's a 35 spline spool with a 4.86 gear ratio. All of this sits in a Yukon H-case. Next, I'll be diving into a salvage yard to get a big bearing 9 inch to stuff it all into.

The front end has me stuck, however. I'm doing the same drive ratio, obviously. A selectable locker seems like the way to go so long as I can find one for a reasonable price. Axle shafts are also a point that needs improvement.

[Mr. VanDii]

Well now, I do believe that it is time to learn how to weld. But first...
As a good majority of you guys know by now, I am a bit of a newb. But, that has never stopped me before! So here I was grinding stuff off of my project and BAM! the grinder wheel explodes. It didn't do much more than scare me fecaless. After calming down, I went off to buy a new one... That was new... Because I kinda didn't want that to happen again. During my travels I started thinking about the project and realized that I will be wanting to make my own role cage and bed cage and box the frame and so on. So, luck would have it, a welding supply place is where the grinder wheel I need is. While talking to the guy about my project and my very low experience level, he turned me toward the Tweco fabricator 211i. The set came with the cart, hood and everything you need to start welding minus the bottle, tig gun, and jackets. He told me that about 1350.00 takes it out the door.

So far I like that deal. He told me lots of great things about it, but he was also trying to sell it. I figure that I want a 3rd party opinion on this thing, so opinion to your heart's content!

Moving onward, I got everything off and my truck is in hovercraft status. I'm thinking about keeping track of the build's budget just in case anyone in my position wants to do something similar. My mistakes can be their lessons.

[Mr. VanDii]

Hover truck. It's a fantastic way to save weight!

[Mr. VanDii]

I got my locker in. I decided on a Nascar locker. This one only saw 980ish miles before getting replaced. The case says that it got new bearings and springs, but then this happened (to the left of the locker). I may just be dumb when it comes to handling new bearings, or these may be cheap. Luckily, I have some new ones ready to go.

[Mr. VanDii]

.

[SteveG]

Oh man, that's quite the truck to start an off road build on!

[Mr. VanDii]

Oh yeah. It's all a good learning experience for me. I have a tendency to learn things the hard way, so a cheap truck is the best way to go! My kit is done and will be on the way shortly! I am super excited.

[F1Brendan]

This thing's cool! Keep it looking beat, you'll never worry bumps and bruises and the patina just flat out looks cool! Stoked to see this thing with some suspension under it. Maybe some factory Alcoa's and 35s too?

[Mr. VanDii]

I got even more redneck with that!

I went to the salvage yard and found these rims off a dodge to slap on, why? Because I have free 33s that needed a 16" rim. The new rims didn't quite fit... So I convinced them. I have pictures of that adventure, but I wasn't sure if anyone would have been interested. Plus they're only temporary, as I would like to use 15x9 or 10 on 35s.

[ChaseTruck754]

why such a wide rim? I like my 35's on 15x7's and will go to 8's.

And sure post pics, we all love pics.

[Mr. VanDii]

I heard it would improve the contract patch. I did notice that the 8" to 9" wide rims are very popular, though.

[ChaseTruck754]

I guess it's all preference. 10" wheels just look way too wide to me. They look "mud truck-ish" for lack of a better term. You can get a little more center wear by mounting them on 7" wheels, but it protects the lip of the rim more (sacrificing the sidewall a bit).