Autocrossing your chevy truck....who wants to?

[PCHRODS]

Originally Posted by Jacfourteen

Looks like fun! You have any videos of the beast in action?

You can go to YouTube and type in PCHRODS it will pull up a ton of videos pre-hotchkis suspension I will try and get some more up loaded over the weekend with the new setup on it!
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[Jacfourteen]

Truck looks good. Here you go, I linked some of your vids up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvpm1UPhfu4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLWUKEL2pjQ

Keep up the awesome work!

[brad_man_72]

oooh look at me im so cool driving my old truck around cones.
try it pulling a boat blindfolded!



bobbo navagating, me driving and several other board members rowing the boat at the midwest all truck nationals in kcmo. i placed 2nd.

on a serious note thanks for the suspension info. i can hear the local autocross from my house and id love to crash the party with a bunch of old farmtrucks.

[suttoncurt]

I would love to get into this ! Tried to run mine at the 2010 hot rod power tour but the tech inspection got me - no seatbelts Will definatly run it next year

[martindc1]

Are you running in SCCA events? If so, what class?

[PCHRODS]

Originally Posted by martindc1

Are you running in SCCA events? If so, what class?

We plan on it next summer. Not sure yet which class I will be in with the truck. I believe it's in one of the solo or soloII, I will get back to you on that one!
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[martindc1]

My guess is C Prepared, unless the classes have changed within the last few years. I used to compete pretty heavily with a Mustang in E Street Prepared. This involved using R compound racing tires. I would drive to the events on street tires with the racing tires in the back seat and trunk and then swap them to the R compounds once I got there. I generally used Hoosier but the Kumhos were good as well. In my experience of buying those tires, they were cheaper the smaller the rim diameter. So your best bet with those would be a 10 inch wheel in either 15 or 16. You could use a 15x10 factory steel wheel this way, provided you haven't put any crazy big brake system on your truck. In my experience, the big brakes weren't necessary for autocross either because of more weight and the fact that runs are only a minute or so. However, you could play with pad choice.

[N2TRUX]

Rob- We really appreciate you opening this thread up. It seems that the trend to build "Pro-Touring" trucks has grown from a small flicker to a huge flame in the past few seasons. I think you will find that most of the members here are more the "Joe-Touring" crowd but we all enjoy the big buck trucks too.

Certainly the Ride Tech sponsored autocross at the Goodguys events has been a huge catalyst in this trend. Unfortunately the GG staff hasn't had the vision to adopt a rolling 30 year break like NSRA has. At least us "late model" guys have Super Chevy events to look forward to.

When time permits, please drop by the Suspension Forum here. You will find many of the industry heavy hitters call this their home. Even your buddy and nemisis Rob from No Limit has found it a comfortable place to hang out, despite his strong Ford bias. Make it handle- LINK

[PCHRODS]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Rob- We really appreciate you opening this thread up. It seems that the trend to build "Pro-Touring" trucks has grown from a small flicker to a huge flame in the past few seasons. I think you will find that most of the members here are more the "Joe-Touring" crowd but we all enjoy the big buck trucks too.

Certainly the Ride Tech sponsored autocross at the Goodguys events has been a huge catalyst in this trend. Unfortunately the GG staff hasn't had the vision to adopt a rolling 30 year break like NSRA has. At least us "late model" guys have Super Chevy events to look forward to.

When time permits, please drop by the Suspension Forum here. You will find many of the industry heavy hitters call this their home. Even your buddy and nemisis Rob from No Limit has found it a comfortable place to hang out, despite his strong Ford bias. Make it handle- LINK

Not entirely true in the 72 and older limitation for goodguys, the only events that hold that title are the "nationals" events they hold. All of the "get together" events they hold throughout the year that have auto x are open to all years of cars and trucks. I too have noticed a fair amount of growth in the pro-touring style with trucks lately, my main focus has been to get some of these truck owners with some badass trucks to think outside the box ( their trailers) these trucks were made to haul not be hauled!! Buy as you suggested I will definitely drop a thread over in the suspension barracks and see what kind of feedback I receive! Rob @ no limit has some great products and a *****in effie, but we do need to bring him over from darkside into the chevy world super cool guy though been hanging out with him at all the good guys events and even got to compete with him at a few other events as well! And even for a ford that truck gets it on!!
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[PCHRODS]

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[PCHRODS]

[breeh]

Originally Posted by PCHRODS

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Love it!

[PCHRODS]

Thought you guys would like this, you've been asking for photos and these are the most recent!!

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010...hevy-c-10.aspx
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[Tom Vogel]

How is that Locker diff working for you on the autocross?

[BustedTruck]

Wow! Nice truck. Thats all I can say.

[PCHRODS]

I will let you know on the locker this spring, just got it and haven't tried it yet, the brand new auburn took a poop at the optima challenge, and lockers are what the big boys run so I figured why not?!?! Right?!? I needed something that was gauranteed to push BOTH tires!
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[djw32]

Rob,

I got the Ls motor up and running. I will see you at the next GG event in costa mesa or del mar.

[PCHRODS]

Originally Posted by djw32

Rob,

I got the Ls motor up and running. I will see you at the next GG event in costa mesa or del mar.

Costa Mesa is no more when you gonna bring the truck by so I can see it? We would love to see you at delmar floggin that beast around the cones!! Go to www.goodguys.com for the show schedule and it will tell you which ones have the auto cross.
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[Tom Vogel]

I asked about the locker because my currie 9" has one (havnt even started the truck yet, so I dont know how itll work). Ive been mulling this pro-touring thing over since I figured out that it was way more than 20" rims.
By the by... there is an autocross at the Las Vegas Super Chevy Show the last weekend of April. Also planning to be at Del Mar, but probably wont be taking the Jimmy as it wont have the whole interior in it yet. (unless the wife gets real generous..lol)

[67chevemall]

where are all the trees? That is no fun...

[djw32]

Originally Posted by PCHRODS

Costa Mesa is no more when you gonna bring the truck by so I can see it? We would love to see you at delmar floggin that beast around the cones!! Go to www.goodguys.com for the show schedule and it will tell you which ones have the auto cross.
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I will hopefully stop by your shop before Christmas.

[68Stepbed]

I found this site. It's pretty cool. They have quite a few events going on. Even in and around my area. One of the mods, Bill Howell, lives in the same county. I've seen his GTO several times. www.pro-touring.com

Can anyone give me some info on Treadwear ratings. I've seen where alot of AC events require a minimum of either 180 or 200 TWR. My tires have a 420 TWR. Would I still be able to AC? Or are they basically saying you can't use a real sticky race tire?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

.....Can anyone give me some info on Treadwear ratings. I've seen where alot of AC events require a minimum of either 180 or 200 TWR. My tires have a 420 TWR. Would I still be able to AC? Or are they basically saying you can't use a real sticky race tire?

Another good Pro Touring forum is http://www.lateral-g.net and they have a truck section. Its not as active, but lots of good info there.

Take a look at the info Rob posted in the "Make it handle" thread in our Suspension forum- LINK

Originally Posted by robnolimit

Remember in "Days of Thunder" when Harry said "it's all about tires, tires win races" well, he was right. To understand about suspension tuning, you have to understand TIRES. All tires are different, and each will deliver a certain amount of traction. The amount of traction varies with the amount of LOAD on the tires. Yes, traction increases with load, BUT, the tires efficiency falls with increased loads. Tire manufacturures will post a "Tire performance chart", but they are to come by, as most in the business have never heard of such a thing. The chart will show a graph, with a curve showing traction in relation to verticle load (weight). Here is some info from a chart for a 245/40/18 KDW Goodrich.
LOAD TRACTION EFFICIENCY
250lbs 490lbs 1.96
500lbs 700lbs 1.4
750lbs 890lbs 1.18
1000lbs 1000lbs 1.0
1250lbs 1125lbs .9
1500lbs 1260lbs .84
1750lbs 1365lbs .78

This willgive you an idea of how the tire LOOSES traction as it GAINS load. The efficiency is in "G" forces (this is the simplified approach) and is simply Traction divided by Load. If you had the perfect set up, to get the max contact patch, you can chart out the max traction available. So, heres an example. The average C-10 weighs in about 4000 lbs. and scaling it would look like this:
LOAD LF 1195 RF 1160 58%

LR 860 RR 830 42%

Total wieght = 4045

Notice the 58% nose weight? thats pretty common, and it's not good for handling. '47-'59 guys just subtract 100lbs from each corner. If we apply the Traction Curve, we can chart the avail traction. It looks like this:

TRACTION LF 1075 RF 1055 52%

LR 963 RR 938 48%

Total traction = 4031

You can see that the front has 58% of the weight, but only 52% of the available traction. And, at this point, were rolling dead straight, with no accel, brake, or turn. This is the best it will ever be for this set up. At first, you might think that dividing total Traction by total Weight would give you the max G avail ( 4031/4045 = .99G) Looks great! - ahh, no. You know the whole 'weakest link of the chain' thing? Apply the efficiency to each tire:

Max G LF .899 G RF .909 G

LR 1.12 G RR 1.13 G

The LF will loose traction first, at .899 G, and then it's over, thats the best the truck can do. So, can our example truck pull .89 G? - no. We haven't added any cornering forces yet. OK, give this some thought. What does your truck do when you turn hard into a corner? If it's normal, it will PUSH (understeer) going into, and throught the turn, and then transition and get LOOSE (oversteer) as you throttle out of the turn. I'll add to this later. Just think on this a bit.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by PCHRODS

Not entirely true in the 72 and older limitation for goodguys, the only events that hold that title are the "nationals" events they hold....

Not trying to pic nits, but almost ALL of the events in most states are "Nationals".

Regardless, we LOVE your truck and happy that you are representing the GM line in an impressive manner. Your early showings have been impressive. I can't wait to see the action heat up next season.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by PCHRODS

I seen alot if comments regarding the price of the hotchkis kit. Yes $5500 may seem like alot to drop at one time. All I can say is that it's worth every penny if you want an unmatched ride and handling!! I looked at it like this, when I was building our 69 in 2007, as most if you may know there are a ton of companies out there offering different suspension components with only one thing in mind.....ride height. By the time you mix and match all the right pieces to build a suspension package of your own out of everyone elses nic nacs, you spend $2500-4000. But half the time you don't realize it because it's spread out over time and through several different vendors. Hotchkis has over 3 years in testing and development in a suspension that covers all the bases!! Ride height, ride quality, and most importantly handling. Trust me I was in the same boat many of you are with "holy crap, $5500?!?" then I got to see all the pieces and drive their test truck. One drive in their 68 c10 and the first words out if my mouth were, "when can I get one???" if you have to save up for a year to buy one.....all I can say is do it!! You won't be dissappointed!! If anyone is in the los angeles area and wants to take it for a test spin, keys are yours, if you really want to see what a squaking about! Or if you are at an autocross and want to ride shotgun on the course don't hesitate to ask me for a ride!
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Any thoughts of how that 'kit' would perform if the springs were different (air bags)? Front track width (narrowed 2" vs stock)?

Also, many guys don't intend to build their trucks for trailers. But any 'blue collar' guy that spends 25g's on a build wants it to stay as nice as possible for as long as possible. The difference is they substitute real roadways for the autocross . Once there's road scars, the gloves are off!