Chassis build questions

Not yet.

I did find out that a front rotor off a 1980 F100 will give me a 5 on 4.5 bolt spacing!

Will the center of the rotor clear an aftermarket wheel though?

jbozzelle wrote:Will the center of the rotor clear an aftermarket wheel though?

Good question, I will have to meassure that.

Hey Jones, if you have not built your cage yet check out this link ,http://autoweldchassis.com/rbc.ivnu

i will be ordering mine from them

If you did decide to go the SFI route, and if it's a regular cab truck, the funnycar cage would be a bitch to deal with getting in/out of the truck vs using an extended cab truck.

But that's still easier to deal with than trying to get in/out of a F/C cage in a regular cab Ranger.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:If you did decide to go the SFI route, and if it's a regular cab truck, the funnycar cage would be a bitch to deal with getting in/out of the truck vs using an extended cab truck.

But that's still easier to deal with than trying to get in/out of a F/C cage in a regular cab Ranger.

I am just going to do the 8.50 NHRA cage. I might look into adding a funnycar cage if there is enough room for me to get in and out of. I do want the most protection I can get. (I doubt I could have enough budget to power the truck past 4.80et in the 1/8 mile.)

If you did an 8.50 cage and wanted to add a little more protection what would you add?

Do you believe I need to go ahead and purchase and install the front lowering I beams, wheels and tires, before I start working on the cage and rear suspension?

A friend of ours has a mid 80's chevy reg cab chassis truck deal, just has the 8.50 cert deal no fc cage.....he's a pretty big boy and can get in and out pretty easy.

He finally took it out and only ran it like 70% wot, still ran a 8.48 so he's gonna update the cage. Big inch Chevy w an F3 on Q 16

Here is some pictures of a Chevy Madman & Co Racing built. I have been talking to him about doing the work for me. Except mine will be ladder bars with leafsprings.

That looks like some nice work there. An 8.5 cert is easy I had an NHRA/IHRA Tech inspector check out my cage in my truck and he said it would pass to 8.50 just gotta pay him and it could be cert'ed and mine is a Jegster kit. I run a truck and you don't have to remove the rubber bushings to install the cage. If you are worried about every ounce of weight remove them after you have the outriggers welded in, speaking of outriggers the rules stated either rollcage tubing or .083" wall MS 2x2" but I felt a lot safer using .120" wall rather than 14gauge to secure the cab to the frame. I also added gussets that are not required but again makes me feel safer.

bigblok2000ranger wrote:That looks like some nice work there. An 8.5 cert is easy I had an NHRA/IHRA Tech inspector check out my cage in my truck and he said it would pass to 8.50 just gotta pay him and it could be cert'ed and mine is a Jegster kit. I run a truck and you don't have to remove the rubber bushings to install the cage. If you are worried about every ounce of weight remove them after you have the outriggers welded in, speaking of outriggers the rules stated either rollcage tubing or .083" wall MS 2x2" but I felt a lot safer using .120" wall rather than 14gauge to secure the cab to the frame. I also added gussets that are not required but again makes me feel safer.

I agree that I want to feel a safe as posable.

Chrome-moly CAN be mig welded. You have to use the correct filler wire. Thin wall tubing (such as roll cage tubing) doesn't require pre heating so mig welding is ideal. Much faster.

two95s wrote:Chrome-moly CAN be mig welded. You have to use the correct filler wire. Thin wall tubing (such as roll cage tubing) doesn't require pre heating so mig welding is ideal. Much faster.

While it may be physically possible to Mig weld 'moly, it's just not legal to do so in any NHRA/IHRA/ADRL/SFI/etc drag racing specs.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:

two95s wrote:Chrome-moly CAN be mig welded. You have to use the correct filler wire. Thin wall tubing (such as roll cage tubing) doesn't require pre heating so mig welding is ideal. Much faster.

While it may be physically possible to Mig weld 'moly, it's just not legal to do so in any NHRA/IHRA/ADRL/SFI/etc drag racing specs.

Exactly, it is very easy to do but the powers to be think that it is not safe, so.....it is illegal.

If I go CM it will be done by Madman and they tig everything. If I have to do it myself, it will be MS and I'll use my trusty 220v Miller Mig.

One of our local guys, Barry Wright Race Cars, is one of the top Super Late Model dirt car builders in the country. They MIG every c/m chassis they build. It's just not accepted in drag racing.

I can see where the dirt car stuff probably could get away with Mig welding 'moly since they probably use thicker wall 'moly tubing for a larger amount of their chassis than the thin wall tubing range (.083, .065, .058, & .049) that is used for drag race builds.

For me even if Mig welding 'moly was allowed in drag racing, there is no way in hell I would do it. No matter how good someone's Mig skills might be, they would be hard pressed to lay down consistent/even Mig passes on the thinner .065/.058/.049 'moly tubing without creating either a "too-cold" start, or a "too-hot" finish, since you can't ramp/control the filler wire speed & amperage heat up/down with a Mig in "real time" (as the weld progresses) like you can with Tig welding's hand fed filler rod & foot pedal controller.