Need some advice on a pro street truck build

I am looking at building a street/strip F150 short bed with either a 60 over or an 80 over 460. Already have a 4.150 stroke crank and a set of all out C8 heads to start with. After spending 9 years truck pulling, drag racing is a new thought process for me. First off, is where can I find out about the different classes and what class would be a good class to build for?

Right now I am thinking along the lines of building a motor in the 550hp range with a a C6 and a ladder bar/coil over 8.8 rear end from an Explorer. This will be a street legal truck but not a driver, just a quick trip to the local dog n suds and maybe car shows and some drags on 1/8th mi tracks. Any thoughts and tips are appreciated.

Alan

At what point is a cage required

HorsinAround wrote:At what point is a cage required

At the local tracks I frequent it's 11.49 or faster in the 1/4. They also told me no quicker then 7.00 in the 1/8th.Once you hit 9.99 in the 1/4 you need more then a 6 point cage along with more safety equipment. Keep in mind these are little rinky dink tracks and you might want to check your local tracks for a website and read their rules. good luck and be safe

Alan, Bunker Hill has a street index deal called heads up street brawl . They have 7.50,8.00,and 8.50 index classes. http://www.bunkerhillrace.com/dragsched/drgsch.html
NLR in Morocco Ind has 13.00,12.00,11.00,and 10.00 index and bracket racing at the ultimate shootout races. http://nolimitraceway.com/index.php?page=shootout

I run the 12.00 index class at NLR and would fit in the 7.50 index at Bunker.
Your going to have more cubes than me so you might fit in the NLR 11.00 index. Although there isn't many street/strip cars in the 11.00 class.
I don't think Bunker has any index faster than 7.50.

Alan,
Mike has a lovely little truck. And its low-buck too.

Regards.
Al

Thanks for the information. Is there a way to get a balll park et the setup should run so I'll know what rules to build to? What is the difference between an 1/8 mile setup and a 1/4 mile setup on the car/truck?

Mike, i might be emailing you with questions if that's ok?

email me anytime Alan

I'm in the mid 500hp range with a c6 and 4.10 gears. 29.5x10.50 hoosier slicks
We leave off a Merkl transbrake at 3800,shift at 6200 or so and run 11.90's
The truck was heavy last year. The plan is to lose at least 300lbs by spring.

i just put the explorer 8.8 under my 68 mustang and IMO with a bbf in a truck you'd be ahead with a 9".the 8.8 is a good setup and strong but the caps on them are small and break easy.you can get steel caps and a cover to beef it up but still not have a 9".JMO

lol i knew you would be back in the saddle even thou it isnt truck pullin
but a fast ford truck is also very cool

cool40 wrote:i just put the explorer 8.8 under my 68 mustang and IMO with a bbf in a truck you'd be ahead with a 9".the 8.8 is a good setup and strong but the caps on them are small and break easy.you can get steel caps and a cover to beef it up but still not have a 9".JMO

I was wondering about that myself. Where is a good place to get a housing? I think I will want one a little narrower than stock width for a pickup as I will be lowering the truck a little, and most likely run a 10.5 slick like Mike is.

Dan, yea it's driving me nuts not having something to work on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting around, I have been catching up on some things around the shop and place, but I really miss spinning wrenches. I really enjoyed truck pulling, but between the cost to stay competitive, the maintenance and the travel expenses it just emptied my piggy bank and cause too much of a strain on the marriage. I finally said enough is enough, and even though I really struggled with selling it, I'm glad now that I did. I bought a bike to cruise with and am looking to a truck to start this build. (Have one spotted in Milwaukee right now)

HorsinAround wrote:I am looking at building a street/strip F150 short bed with either a 60 over or an 80 over 460.

I'm kinda partial to the first Generation Lightning's (93-95) myself.

They can be picked up kinda cheap as a roller. They have an excellent 8.8" H/D housing that you can utilize, as well as a little tougher/thicker frame.

HorsinAround wrote:First off, is where can I find out about the different classes and what class would be a good class to build for?

It's REALLY tough to find a class that the trucks fit in. The rules & classes are designed around the typical pony car,.....not a pick-up truck. Mine is basicly set-up to bracket at the local track and a couple of times a year I run in the NMRA series that have a specific truck class,.....but it's bracket/open-comp format as well.

HorsinAround wrote:Right now I am thinking along the lines of building a motor in the 550hp range with a a C6 and a ladder bar/coil over 8.8 rear end from an Explorer.

A 550hp engine should move along a pick-up truck pretty good. When I originally did the Big-Block conversion in my 93 F-150, I installed a 600hp Ford racing crate engine along with a C-6 tranny and a ladder bar rear suspension. At that time it weighed a heavy 3900 with me in it and it ran 11.19 @ 122 IIRC.

HorsinAround wrote: Any thoughts and tips are appreciated.

I've been hot-rodding / drag racing these type of trucks for a long, long time. If you need any insight or ideas, I'd be happy to give you some pointers.

Thanks Copperhead, the 92-96 is what I am going after. I have been playing with 87-91's with the pulling truck so I thought I'd mix it up lol.

I am not sure where the motor will end up until I get the heads flowed. Maybe I can bring them with me to the tech seminar and have Charlie go through them, put valves in and give me the flow #'s, then I can spec a cam to get into the HP range I am thinking about or a little higher. Just want to keep it somewhat streetable.

Did you or Mike have to narrow your rear to fit the slicks you are running?

HorsinAround wrote:Thanks Copperhead, the 92-96 is what I am going after. I have been playing with 87-91's with the pulling truck so I thought I'd mix it up lol.

I am not sure where the motor will end up until I get the heads flowed. Maybe I can bring them with me to the tech seminar and have Charlie go through them, put valves in and give me the flow #'s, then I can spec a cam to get into the HP range I am thinking about or a little higher. Just want to keep it somewhat streetable.

Did you or Mike have to narrow your rear to fit the slicks you are running?

Love the idea of trying to keep the truck streetable . It should be a fun setup when you get done with it . good luck on the build.