New "race" truck project

Well yet another set back today :doh:. I pushed the truck a little to squeez a mercedes in the shop to fix something on it and I heard this odd sound. Never heard it before so I figured well Ill mess with the benz then tinker with the truck a little. It dawned on me although I had installed all new front brakes I neglected the backs so I decided to start there. Pulled the axle on the pass. side removed the bearing and.... the freaking shoes fell out of the drum all mangled with bits and peices here and there. Well that sucks I told my self surely the other side cant be that bad.... FAIL it was worse, although the shoes were still hanging on the adjuster was falling out, the drum itself looked like someone beat the inside of it with a sludgehammer... Needless to say I found why I felt like I wasnt stopping as good as I should. I went to the parts store and the list of things I needed just to replace the broken, damaged or missing parts was rediculous so I got to thinking about a crawler one of my buddies has. Dana 60 with disc brakes on the back. I decided to hold off at the parts store came home to do a little researching and bam I can totally build a rear disk brake kit for less money and almost 50lbs of unneeded weight. I guess Im gonna go that route. Let me know what you guys think or if you have any experience with this please speak up.

Well I went for it. I ordered the caliper bracket for the rearend and bought all the parts for the disk brake conversion. Its gonna be sweet Im pretty excited about it, definetly ended the day on a much better note than yesterday. This is a pretty straight forward install on the brakes, I hade to drill out the stud holes in the rotor a tiny bit to clear the shoulder on my studs but other than that it all slides right together. I hope the caliper brakets go just as smooth. I think Im done spending money for awhile, my poor wallet needs a break. Let me know what yall think.

Let me know how well they stop! Where did you order all of it from?

I ordered the caliper bracket from Great Lake Offroad, LLC ~ Disc Brake Convertion Kits but all the rest of the parts just come from your local parts store. calipers, rotors, pads, flex line, from a 1975 3/4 ton 4x4 chevy front end... Kinda neat how it all works.

The drums will probably hold better at the line.

Johnelliott52 said:

JQ thought of you today when I saw this little gem at the parts store.

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It's not hard to build a clone of my truck....just leave it out in the weather for a few years and you're there! :lolly:

Seems there every where lol(this is my buddys truck)

Looks good with the H2 wheels

Well I went to Beech Bend race way and watched some pretty fast Duramaxs today. It was nice to see some good 1/4 mile racing. I also squezzed in enough time while Im waiting on my caliper brackets and new crossover tube to install some bucket seats. Its nice to have some side bolsters.

You're making quick progess on the truck! I think 13.34 is the manual trans First Gen record, just so you have something to shoot for

JQmile said:

You're making quick progess on the truck! I think 13.34 is the manual trans First Gen record, just so you have something to shoot for

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Really? When I get my timming done I will hopefully take that record! Becuase I'm at a 13.4 now.

Cnp22 said:

Really? When I get my timming done I will hopefully take that record! Becuase I'm at a 13.4 now.

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JQ is talking about with a VE. Not an evil pee pump.

Exactly. Got a ways to go to catch the evil p-pump record of 12.1

I can only hope to get that record I know it wont be easy but Im workin on it. Im about to put it on a diet when I get it back together, havent decided what Im ok with gtting rid of yet though. I dont think the goal of 13.3 is too far fetched, especilly if I can get the weight down. Ill probably need a gov spring though.

Ooo he just said first Gen I should have figured he ment ve... Is that 13.4 ve a 4x4 or 2wd?

Well went on a big weight reduction swing today, look out the door panels, carper, sound deadener, removed the huge reece hitch welded to the fram, swaped the heavy front bumper for a custom modified jeep cherokee rear bumper. It didnt turn out as good as I wanted but it only weights about 2lbs so it'll work for what Im doing with it. Like I said not how I really wanted it to turn out but let me know what yall think, and keep in mind the huge weight differance. I cant wait to findout how much it ways. Im also planning to get it buttoned up soon so I can take it to a dyno.

Sence this is a track truck do you plan on taking off the a/c? There is alot of weight there to be removed all so get a new belt to bypass the compressor you can remove that, all the lines, dryer, condenser, unneeded wires, stuff like that to shead some pounds.

Got my cooler tubz in today, I shouldn't have any problem with getting it installed tomorrow Ill try and get a picture of it up installed. It is huge compared to that baby stock horn. It ought to help flow quite a bit.

Got the cooler tubz installed today as well as a hood scoop. I redid my watermeth injectors and nitrous nozzle got stepped up to a .120. Painted the covers around the headlights and Im gonna work on the rest of the black around the grill. Still waiting for my caliper brackets so I can set it back on the ground.

While I still havent got my cliper brackets I decided to go for the clutch. Dropped the tranmission and got my flywheel machined this afternoon. The old clutch still had quite a bit left on it, glazed over though. Here are some pictures of the old and new stuff.