Autocross Ranger: V8 Swap, SLA, IRS

Able to get an aluminum roll pan fabbed up and installed.  

With the Electric assist units, The Toyota boxes from the early Prius etc do not require a controller box to work. When wired in Failsafe it produces enough assist to be functional. The Saturn box needs a controller to work right but that does give you adjustment on the feel.

Both boxes work well for the street but I have had problems with both units when driving aggressively with large sticky tires. They overheat and lose assist. On this truck I am building now I am going to see if I can get some sort of cooling into or on the box and see if that cures it.

MulletTruck said:

Both boxes work well for the street but I have had problems with both units when driving aggressively with large sticky tires. They overheat and lose assist. On this truck I am building now I am going to see if I can get some sort of cooling into or on the box and see if that cures it.

This is interesting to hear, and something I will keep an eye on. I am running the Saturn box in my truck and have not had any issues so far autoXing with 11" slicks. 

Thanks MulletTruck for the heads up.  I'll be using a Saturn ION unit with controller.

Gumby,  Do you have any photos of how you mounted and ran your steering unit?  I've yet to pull the dash and get the original column out, but I've been curious on how the whole electric unit will fit in the Ranger.  I also have a manual Willwood brake master I'll be installing at the same time.  That might free up some space.  I imagine you probably have a manual brake setup as well?  Any photos under the dash, firewall, etc. would be great if you have them. Thanks.

I installed the complete Saturn column. No dash in mine, so the column is mounted on the dash bar of my cage and the stock Ranger pedal hanger bracket. I will see if I have any more pics tonight on a real computer.

I am still running a booster, but I dropped back to an '84 part that is smaller with lower assist. I will be looking at a dual master/balance bar setup when I upgrade front brakes.

Not a whole lot done this past weekend.  

Was able to fit and mount the new sway bar.  The wider front tires this year have truly fought me the entire way.  Starting from chassis clearances at full lock, brake caliper fitment, coil over repositioning, flare reworking, and redoing the sway bar.  I hope it was worth all the aggravation. 

I also got to play with the dimple dies.  I wish I had gotten these sooner...everything I own would be dimpled!

It's been a couple of weeks since the last update.  In an effort to get the electric assist power steering installed I got carried away with the whole dash removal process.  The stock dash hid a lot of my own butchering.  Shortly into trying to remove the dash in one piece I quickly realized both the dash and wiring were in horrible condition.  At that point I made the call to completely redo the dash and wiring.  Big move but, it was one of those things I felt like I wouldn't be satisfied until it was done right. 

So on with the photos.....

I did get the dimpled door cards done and on before the dash destruction.

10 minutes after I made the call to just rip and cut everything out.

A now pile of dash, venting, and wiring bits.  I should have weighed it all.  In total I'd guess in the 40-50 lb range.

Cut out the old-butchered firewall and adding in fresh-new panels.

Adding brackets for Saturn electric power steering column and popping holes in the firewall for the Wilood master cylinder setup.

Seam sealed and ready for the rattle can.

Sprayed with a fresh coat of black.

Column and pedals mounted up.

Started on a new electrical board that will mount on the passenger side firewall.

Looking good.

That's a big shift on the interior! What's the plan to keep a CAM legal dash?

In reply to gumby :

Right now I've started with a bent aluminum dash frame.  The cam rules (like most) are quite vague in stating that it can be "modified".  I plan to graft the upper dash portion onto the aluminum framework for that finished-modified look.

In reply to JGRAHAM :

I wrapped my aluminum dash in satin black vinyl, and it really make it look like a more "finished" piece.

In reply to Gimp :

I've admired your recent dash work.  Your probably a little to blame as to why I'm redoing the Ranger's dash.  I may go a similar route and just recover the aluminum frame with some nice vinyl.  I've seen a few "custom" dashes on CAM cars. I'm not sure I'd catch much flack locally so long as it remains as you say "finished" in appearance.

Time for another update.  Paying work has been extremely busy so the hobby work has been quite slow in return.

Fabricating a new dash frame.

Really digging the wrinkle finish paint.

Finished up the pre-assembled electrical panel.

Roughing in all the wires.

Was able to repurpose an old, failed attempt at the dash frame.  I was able to mount all the switches but cut the top off for access.

Started work on the center console.

and thats it for now...I need to take a few more photos of the current/running/driving state!

More we need more

In reply to Noser7 :

I'll get more photos up this evening.  Thanks!

This build is amazing! Awesome to see other minitrucks going full racetruck and doing crazy suspension swaps.  Your fenders definitely gave me some ideas if I need to widen my truck's body lines. Keep on trucking 

Hit another milestone this weekend.  I was able to get it out to a local event for a good shake down.

Heres a few photo leading up to the Sunday event.

Getting it scaled, balanced, and aligned.

Valve adjustment and other engine odds & ends.

loaded up and headed out!

I'd consider yesterday a successful 1st outing with the new setup.  I was fearful of a mechanical malfunction or break down.  Everything stayed together!

I did notice a few characteristics. 

The truck as one would expect oversteers considerably.  I still feel though it's much more than last year.  Heres a few ideas I've had on this and would love to hear what others think.

1-  add more camber and toe out to the rear end.  I noticed the the rear tires were not scrubbed as much on the inside.  Increasing camber may even out tire wear and get more grip. The toe is currently 0 degrees.  Maybe +1/16th out would help initial bite?

2-  Remove the rear sway bar.  I reused the OEM 2015 mustang rear bar.  With only 1150lbs on the rear end I doubt I need much roll stiffness as compared to the mustang.  I noticed during runs I was getting slight one wheel peels in hard turns even with fresh clutch packs in the diff.

Another issue, brakes. 

During the off season I switched all the brakes out for the new mustang GT system.  I paired this with a Wilood manual master cylinder setup.  1" MC on rear and 7/8" on the front.  I had thought these MC sizes were spec'ed accordingly to the mustang caliper sizes.  The brake pedal is very firm, but weak.  I was nearly standing on the pedal and could not lock up the tires.  Do I need a smaller MC bore or more pedal ratio?  Have any of you guys had similar experiences?  

Thanks all!

Brake compound and bedding?

In reply to JGRAHAM :

Definitely add more rear camber, if it’s still too lose unhook the rear swaybar end link on one side between runs at the next event. If it’s still too loose at corner-entry add 1/16” toe-in at the rear. 

I think you need to swap the front and rear master cylinders but you can confirm that with the Wilwood Tech line. A slight toe in on the rear will give it some stability. Your wiring looks amazing

Thanks Pete.  So Toe IN at the rear should actually help with oversteer?

Loose, 

Interesting.  I was under the assumption that I'd want to generate more line pressure for the front, which using a smaller bore MC would do (7/8" front, 1" rear)  Maybe I have it backwards and need to look at it from a volume perspective?

JGRAHAM said:

Thanks Pete.  So Toe IN at the rear should actually help with oversteer?

Loose, 

Interesting.  I was under the assumption that I'd want to generate more line pressure for the front, which using a smaller bore MC would do (7/8" front, 1" rear)  Maybe I have it backwards and need to look at it from a volume perspective?

The cars with rear steer turn the rear tires in the same direction that the car is turning to improve stability, if you toe the rear in slightly, the outside (loaded) tire will be turning the same direction that your truck is turning. We messed with rear toe on our autocross Boxster, toe in would stabilize car, zero toe got it to rotate quicker and toe out made it tail happy.  You are right about the master cylinder sizes, smaller mc bore increases line pressure but in most applications, the front calipers have more capacity than the rear calipers so to get your rears to lock up, switch your front and rear master cylinders.

JGRAHAM said:

Thanks Pete.  So Toe IN at the rear should actually help with oversteer?

It will reduce oversteer, especially how quickly the truck rotates at corner-entry. So if your oversteer doesn’t happen until mid-corner there may be other causes, though toe-in might help there too. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Thanks for all the info.  Sounds like I'm be putting more camber in and getting a touch of rear toe in.

So, you had it on scales. What does it weigh?