Front suspension for street/drag

[tinydb84]

For that price I'd be interested. Especially if it had some design to it. I did a sfbd on my 75 and started drilling 2.5 inch holes in it for looks and quickly gave up on that.

[Kyle@FTP]

YA that seems like a lot of work. Thats why the water check is oh so nice! haha.

[BR3W CITY]

Problem is that itll be $175 to ship $175 worth of metal. I think your better off in printing the drawings/3ds file and selling them for $5.99 so we can just run them on our own jets or mark them off and torch/plasma/sheer

[ItsRandy]

Originally Posted by Kyle@FTP

Thank you for the feedback. My though was not everyone has access to solidworks or a water jet. for $150-$180 they get a product that just clicks together and weld.

For a long time I had just a welder and a grinder, I imagine there are a lot of guys that have just a welder and a grinder.

I have a welder and a grinder.

[Kyle@FTP]

See, Randy gets where I am going with this! haha.

[Kyle@FTP]

We made some great progress last night. Spindle and hub assembly are built and in the proper location. The cross member with lower pivots is roughed in and the lower arm is roughed in as well. Hopefully we can get the top arm and shock mounts in this week as well then start fine tuning from there. My buddy Matt at Funkhouser race cars is doing a great job bringing my bar napkin idea to life!

The plan for my build is a dual adjustable QA1 and air bag up front but we are also building a coilover option for those that dont like/believe in/need/want an airbag

[Super73]

Is it to late to make the cross member out of 2 pieces of round tube? Might be lighter?

[Kyle@FTP]

When we finalize things the crossmember will be chromoly tubing. It was just faster to do it this way to start laying out pivot points.

On the shelf bushing, on the shelf ball joints, brake pads and rotors. The A body spindles give us that flexability, plus there is a crazy amount of cheap to expensive disc brake options from every manufacture under the sun. The goal is light and strong but I also want to be able to buy parts at the local parts house and know they will be on the shelf. I think anyone who buys one of these would like that option as well.

[Super73]

Wonder if a mustang ii spindle would work too. Bet it is lighter, perhaps not as strong but those roundy round guys sure beat the crud out of them.

[BR3W CITY]

If you want a truck to run the full coilover version on, let me know. I have very little problem driving my truck 28hrs out to the coast...and its not like I ever "have" to be anywhere.

[Kyle@FTP]

If the Mustang 2 spindles are lighter I would bet not but much. The reason we decided to go with the A body spindle is it has no steering arm. We didnt want to be constrained in our design making sure the steering geometry was ok. This way we can build exactly what we want, then with the amount of aftermarket bolt on steering knuckles we just find what works. If nothing works we build our own.

[Kyle@FTP]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

If you want a truck to run the full coilover version on, let me know. I have very little problem driving my truck 28hrs out to the coast...and its not like I ever "have" to be anywhere.

Or we will just ship one to you and use you as the test pilot for install instructions.

[Super73]

Looks like you have a G body spindle. Curious as to what it weighs in with the steering arm bolted on it. The bare MII spindle is 7lbs. I understand the idea of flexibility in the design with different arms.

[Kyle@FTP]

Its an A body 2' Drop spindle. Its a summit brand but summit usually has their name put on quality pieces. and now that we have it in our hands, its a good solid piece to work with. If we have any issues with it there are 15 companies that build them. I will weigh the bare spindle next time I am up at the shop (this is a after hours project).

Safety is my main concern. I have no desire to be 160mph through the lights and having to be up on the wheel during shut down.

[Super73]

Kyle,

I'm not saying the Gbody spindle isn't stronger. But keep in mind all the various applications in which MII spindles are used and how abusive some of those applications really are. To say a MII spindle might fall apart at 160mph just isn't fair. There are a lot of them on cars going faster than that.

I'm trying to go high 8's this year on the bottle and hopefully deep 8's next year via turbo. I am confident in the MII spindle.

Now, I know your building a cross member geared towards something more than cruising to the grocery store and running the drag strip with potentially even heavier trucks than mine (and what you are shooting for weight wise with your truck). In that scenario I can see over building. Your but is on the line if there is a problem or someone abuses things.

[Kyle@FTP]

Sorry if that last post came across as knocking the Mustang II spindle. That was not the intent. There are plenty of dudes beating on that spindle way harder than I ever will will beat on my spindles. We just chose the A body spindle for ease of use, options and on the shelf parts. Im sure the same would have been said for the mustang II spindle. We just didnt want the steering armor caliper mounts cast into the piece.

[skeeterbug]

I hope your idea pans out for ya kyle, I love the idea of someone finally making a crossmember setup to cater to us speed jockeys. Im all in!

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by Kyle@FTP

Or we will just ship one to you and use you as the test pilot for install instructions.

Winking aside
I would be willing to put together a start-finish video for you guys if that was something you'd consider. We've got some connections up here that could probably work nicely for all parties involved. I'll pm you on the rest.

[BigDan3131]

With the A body spindle we can use up to what, a 14" rotor with it if we wanted to build the truck for Pro Touring/Pro Race style trucks too, right? Can/could that be done with the M II spindles?

[Kyle@FTP]

I weighed the spindle we are using last night. It came in a 8.7 lbs bare and With the steering arm I bet it will be under 10.

Big Dan, There is a lot of options out there for MII stuff. It wouldn't surprise me if someone made a 14' brake set up for it.

We will be using a MII rack set up. Cost effective, available and the same mounts you can run manual or PS.

[ptc]

Originally Posted by Super73

When I first put my truck together:
Ls1/4l80e with stock verter
Bench seat
7" steel wheels with 275/50/15 on all 4 corners
Had hood, inner fenders, front bumper, bench seat, wheel tubs and most the bed floor

3,940 with me in it.

Just for giggles I did a comp on your truck drag times.... very respectable!!!! Im in sac building a pro street/track truck right now, would like to bend your ear a little bit about where to go with it.



Based on your time information and weight you would have the following HP:

engine = 712 hp
bottle = 827 hp

Kyle, the stuff is looking great.... Make it race worthy and youll have nothing to worry about!

[ptc]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

Problem is that itll be $175 to ship $175 worth of metal. I think your better off in printing the drawings/3ds file and selling them for $5.99 so we can just run them on our own jets or mark them off and torch/plasma/sheer

Kyle, - This is where product suppliers need to start finding ways to cut their costs so that it makes getting these products more feasible. UPS has a "BOUNTY" on shipping that is getting outrageous for us home builders to get product.

Maybe a consortium of suppliers can do a co-op and start their own shipping company or something for large product....

and start using USPS flat rate until UPS feels the hurt!!!!! Consumers RULE!

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by ptc

Kyle, - This is where product suppliers need to start finding ways to cut their costs so that it makes getting these products more feasible. UPS has a "BOUNTY" on shipping that is getting outrageous for us home builders to get product.

Maybe a consortium of suppliers can do a co-op and start their own shipping company or something for large product....

and start using USPS flat rate until UPS feels the hurt!!!!! Consumers RULE!

I have made friends with various reps over the years. You can cut your costs by like 50% if your able to make truck-shipments (i.e., a whole 42ft'r to yourself). This is where haveing distributors really pays. One truck to the midwest can service 15 states cheaper than direct-shipping from a coast.

[Super73]

PCT,

I will be at sac on April 18 for tnt and grudge.

[ptc]

Originally Posted by Super73

PCT,

I will be at sac on April 18 for tnt and grudge.

OK well I'll try to be out there!