Project: Barnyard Budget AXS10

I recently acquired this 1st Gen RC SB S10 with complete intention to build a CAM Class Competitive pickup. I'd like to set the mood with the following movie quote.

"You don't need to think. You need to drive. You need speed. You need to go out there, and you need to rev your engine. You need to fire it up. You need to grab a hold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra! And then, when the fear rises up in your belly, you use it. And you know that fear is powerful, because it has been there for billions of years. And it is good. And you use it. And you ride it; you ride it like a skeleton horse through the gates of hell, and then you win."

The truck lasted a mere 16 hours in the garage before disassembly had begun. It was actually quite easy since the previous owner had robbed the electrical, engine, transmission, and fuel tank for a different project leaving the  bed and dog house loose on the chassis. Less than 2 hours from rolling it into the garage we had a bare rolling chassis.

The following week I spent a few evening stripping the chassis down. There were a few items I immediately wanted to add and or subtract from the chassis before it would be delivered it to Hoosier Truck & Trailer just South of Indianapolis to have the frame blasted and a coat of epoxy primer on it. I knew my intentions for the front suspension, but the rear was still in the air at that point. It's kinda still in the air today actually. Some will ask why paint instead of powder coating. With some of my previous experiences with suspension tuning, there will probably be multiple different chassis mods over the next few years. The paint will be much easier to deal with when it comes to grind, weld, break, fix, paint, repeat....   

MOAR, moar!

Nice build and welcome aboard!

Yes moar, please.  I see several of the ideas that have floated around here begging to happen.

im interested to see to what extent you want to build it to CAM rules.
I'm super jealous of the PAX allowed on CAM. not sure why noone local has anything prepped for it, mainly it's just the catch-all class with old american cars running on all season tires going against almost stock but not quite stock enough recent-er mustangs.

Well since you guys asked....   

Up front the pre-blast work started by installing a set of Speed Tech Chicayne mounts.  These have recently been released for the G-Body cars and I knew the front suspension was very similar. I called SpeedTech and asked if they had tried them on an S10. The answer was "no", so here it is Guinea Pig #1. The RideTech CoilOver kit would work just fine without them, but the Chicayne allows you to run an inch longer shock. And let's be honest I'm a guy and size matters, right?

The Chicayne kit as I received it.


Frame rail before trimming.


Trimming begins

Chicayne inserted

Once both front Chicayne mounts were welded in I moved to the rear and made quick work of the stock rear leaf mounts, bumpstops, and spare tire mechanisim.  Back onto the trailer it went for its ride to Hoosier Truck & Trailer on South side of Indianapolis. Dropped it off on a Friday evening and the following Thursday I picked up back up  looking all fresh and clean.

I've been eyeing that kit and similar for awhile.  The main advantage coinciding with the longer shock is you can run a coil-over without using the stock spring pocket, which by design had some huge draw backs.  Being able to use the common coil-over spring sizes and eliminating the offset alignment of the spring and shock is huge.  Plus getting rid of that terrible shaft style upper mount that always gives me drama when trying to remove shocks.

Do you think the upper control arm mounts will have enough support after removing that much material?  The ears appear less supported now.

All the work is looking top notch so far.

I was gonna say, Harley has been thinking about this for a while, good to see someone moving along with it.
The ears look like there's plenty of room for some gussets, might as well if there's any worry, but personally I think this looks stiffer than stock against lateral forces. the main chunk that was removed looks like its for supporting the vertical loading of the stock shock

what I would rather do is see a lip welded around the extended clearance hole. a stress riser there would be bad i think

I have zero worries about that UCA mount being strong enough. The Chicayne actually welds to in creating gussets that were never there originally. While the frame was being blasted and epoxied the front suspension components came in from RideTech. It's the standard off the shelf G-Body TruTurn system except for the lower control arm bushing have been changed out to S10 sizing.



I just started with the HQ adjustable rebound CoilOvers for now.


On the G-body RideTech runs it with a stock spindle but I'm going to run McGaughy 2" drop spindles with a C5 brake mod.
 

im interested to see to what extent you want to build it to CAM rules.
I'm super jealous of the PAX allowed on CAM. not sure why noone local has anything prepped for it, mainly it's just the catch-all class with old american cars running on all season tires going against almost stock but not quite stock enough recent-er mustangs.

From what my local SCCA rep has told me as long as its live rear axle and stockish frame rails Il be living in CAM class. It will have bed sides, roll pan, and a tailgate net and most likely no floor for the first incarnation. Battery, radiator, and fuel cell will all be between cab and axle. The goal of 315-30-18 Falken all the way around will most likely require flaring of the front fenders.
 

Moar goodies arrived!!!!   I picked up this 9" housing with .250 wall tubes and big bearing ends off of an eBay company. Will be using Mosier Engineering to get a set of axle shafts and bearing coming for it. Then I can get to laying out the rear suspension. I ordered it 3" narrow than stock S10 with the plans of ordering a custom offset wheel with lots of lip on rear from the beginning. http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Inch-Ford-Rearend-Axle-Housing-GM-Chevy-S10-S-10-/221675418667?hash=item339ce2742b&vxp=mtr
 

The bracket is definitely beefier and gussets differently.  The narrowness compared to the original is what concerned me, but Cactus has a point that the original structure doesn't necessarily support it well laterally either.  I could easily enough run a quick FEA on the two configurations when I get some spare time.

New parts are fun.  Does the TruTurn system include taller ball joints?  What all did they change in the geometry?

I know upper and lower balljoints were pushed forward to recenter wheel at drive height. I was told the lower is actually a little further than upper for increased castor ability. Not pictured is a set of billet adjuster sleeves, heim ends, and heim adapters to improve the bump steer issues. Ive forgot what they rate the bumpsteer at now.

With a solid coat of rattle can black on the front frame section was time to install some parts. I was too excited to take pics during the arm install so this is what we ended up with.

Score of the week....  Complete set of C5Z calipers, rotors, & abutments.

Did this build ever get completed? This is basically the road I am traveling down, just in a slower drawn out manner. I'll be running in CAM-S this year.

Still not finished but I have been working on it again.  I guess I could start updating this again.

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