Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-31-2011, 08:32 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
TroySmith80's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 219
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Wow, 60-70 pounds of boost?! And under 11 1/4 mile, that's nuts! I love it!

Why do you want 4x4 if you never plan to go off-pavement? For snow/ice?

__________________
For Sale: 1992 E-350 EB 4x4 High-Top
TroySmith80 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 08:56 PM   #12
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Quote:
Originally Posted by TroySmith80
Wow, 60-70 pounds of boost?! And under 11 1/4 mile, that's nuts! I love it!

Why do you want 4x4 if you never plan to go off-pavement? For snow/ice?
Traction!! And it will never see snow or ice only because its the friggin salt they put on the roads. The 2000 texas van has 370k on it and not a spec of rust on the body (although it needs some body work). My 03 with 200k that has been in Chicago it's whole life is starting to bother me with the rust issues. I already replaced the rear doors, and one side door needs replaced. The rear fender wells also need some attention before next winter.

Plus, at the power levels I am hoping for the rear suspension would need a ton of work to keep it 2wd. And a fast 4wd van is just plain cool!
rpminc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 09:58 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
TroySmith80's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 219
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Wow, i wouldn't think running in 4x4 would help for racing or be practical for just driving around on pavement. So much more drivetrain power loss and reciprocating mass and binding in turns. Wouldn't big-fat-sticky rear tires work better?

I'm sure you've thought of that and know more about it than i do. Just not what i would have guessed. Let's see some diesel cloud drag videos/pics of the van!
__________________
For Sale: 1992 E-350 EB 4x4 High-Top
TroySmith80 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-01-2011, 09:17 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

4wd will help with off the line traction. No more spinning the rear wheels, just go.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 12:26 AM   #15
Senior Member
 
jage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,643
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
4wd will help with off the line traction. No more spinning the rear wheels, just go.
If that's true why aren't more/all strip cars 4x4?
__________________
it was good to be back
jage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 02:03 AM   #16
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
4wd will help with off the line traction. No more spinning the rear wheels, just go.
If that's true why aren't more/all strip cars 4x4?
Many are AWD. Nearly all drag racing pickups are 4wd. RWD is great when you have the proper weight distribution.

The RB vans do not have great weight distribution. The extended vans are pretty close to 50/50 so they can get by with wider tires in the rear (or on my case doubling the tires). The short vans are so light it the rear, even wider tires don't help that much. Sure, you could add weight, but then why not add weight that can also drive the front wheels?
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 09:59 AM   #17
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Also, 4wd adds weight. Weight is the enemy of drag racers. If you can get enough traction with less weight then that works. If you have too much horsepower, or too little traction/tire then 4wd may be an answer.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 10:54 AM   #18
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

To me, it's not all about the weight. Its about a unique badass street/strip ego crusher. I guess if were a vehicle that I would attend diesel drag events with and compete, it would stay 2wd. Do a ladder bar setup and use huge slicks. But street manners would suffer horribly.

With 4wd I can drive to the track, right into the staging lanes, and embarrass the hell out of the guy in the other lane with the new corvette. Same thing on the street. I could drive around in 2wd with the hubs locked, and pull a lever if the need arises. Also, I could put some e load tires on, and tow whatever I want.

Anyways, here are a few pics of what I have going. I got it as low as possible in the front hacking the crossmember up. Most of the 3/16 steel plate is tacked in.




Front and rear heights are the same. The 245/75/16 factory tires are almost exactly the same size as the new 275/60/17's, so it almost looks factory that way.

The factory f250 radius arms and trackbar mount wont work. So I ordered a bunch of parts from ballistic fabrication to make a 4 link setup for the front. Some of the parts will me here this week, and some are backordered.

Here is the suspension geometry laid out on a piece of plywood.

Open to suggestions here. Far from ideal, but with the very limited travel I am going to have, it should work fine I think.

The trackbar is getting cut, sleeved, and extended. Then drilled and tapped for an adjustable rod end to be used with a welded on bracket. To keep the draglink and trackbar parallel, the draglink will have to go through the top of the pitman arm. There is just enough clearance under the steering box to do this. There is plenty of meat on the pitman arm to retaper it the other way for the bigger f250 ball joint.

Also gonna make a custom adapter for the bottom of the springs using the van spring retainer.

If I chose to lift it 4" instead of lowering it, I would be done by now!

Hopefully some progress this week when the ballistic stuff gets here.
rpminc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 03:35 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

What do you have, 1" of up travel on the front suspension?

Have a shots of the van so we can see how it sits like a 2wd van? The one picture has a jack and stand under it.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2011, 05:59 PM   #20
Senior Member
 
jage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,643
Re: New member-4x4 drag van

Quote:
Originally Posted by rpminc1
Same thing on the street. I could drive around in 2wd with the hubs locked, and pull a lever if the need arises.
Add lockers and do quad burnouts in 4-lo...

Looking forward to the YouTube vids of all this.
__________________
it was good to be back
jage is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:31 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.