Race Comanche

[RidingDirty77]

Hey guys! New to the forum! Thought I'd creep in on some of your tech write ups and see if anyone has any more power squeezing ideas for my race truck. Already lots of mods on mine but I'll make a write up for that eventually. For now here's some race day footage of my 89 short box 4.0 I race in a pro lite 4x4 circuit in Alberta, Canada.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DI6Cjz3eHrY

 

 

 

[JENSSEN]

Welcome! think I know that Jeep LOL

 

I can help you get some HP if you want to spend a few bucks

[Comanchel0ver]

Nice another Alberta MJ we're pretty rare on here.  Is that race footage at T.O.R.E.?

[daking]

Very cool. 

 

Looks like fun, goal is to go around the track based on a time, right?

 

I Sand Drag (Not my Comanche). My formula for my race truck is only ~40% on power. That is I'll only spend 40% or so of my energy and budget on the engine (current engine is just shy of $20,000). I apply ~60% of my efforts on other parts of the truck, like suspension, cooling, transmissions, gears, and so on. When I was competing, I was mostly un touchable. Trucks making more then 100HP then me, I was beating them. They wore focused on making more POWER, I was focused on the whole picture. 

 

Looks like there are MANY variables in your type of racing, I'd say power as a whole would not be my main focus. What are the rules, or the basics of the rules? Stock engine? body mod's? Suspension mods? so on.. 

 

I'm sure you have lots of mods on you truck, I look forward to see and reading about them. So, I may say some things here, that you already know...

 

I'd focus on the suspension, judging by the terrain. Normally I don't like anti-sway bars, but in your case, you may want to look into that. Better bump stops. I use " http://timbren.com/" on most of my stuff. Although, maybe airbags not affixed the the axle may work for you..  Real good shocks, you want one bounce on impact. Power to the wheels will be affected if the truck keeps bouncing after impact. 

 

On the engine, Can you swap in a HO 4.0? You can modify the crank sensor to advance your timing a bit. ( I just learned that, I'm a HEMI and LA Mopar guy mostly). You can add a CAM (may be bending the rules). Look at freeing up what power you already have. Electric Fans, Electric Water pump, Alt disconnect when racing, AC removal, better exhaust and intake... Of those, I think electric fans will make the largest change. As you need as must go power as you can get. A clutch fan will slow how fast your engine can rivv. Remove that, and your engine will rivv faster. 

 

Tires. You may want to experiment with tires. Go lighter rims, Although I think I see Alum rims on your ride already. Also, smaller, wider tires. The smaller dia, will equate to a lower effective gear ratio. looks like in your type of racing, its all under ~40 or 50MPH. Don't fear the gear, go low. The lower gear will allow for far faster acceleration, and in your case lower gears, greater control. Do you race in 4X4? If so, you may want to look at running a front gear ratio that is just a bit off  from your rear. If you can get the front tires spinning just a touch faster then the rear, it will help with turning at speed. (this can also be done with different tires front and rear, or air pressures)  I'd experiment with different tire pressures. Soft track? lower pressure. But not too low, as the tire may roll off the bead on a turn. Also, too low of pressure adds resistance to your truck. Speaking of racing in 4X4, do you run 4Hi or 4Low? Depending on your top speed & current gears, running in 4low may net you faster times. On the subject of gears, you may want to look at a locker or limited slip in the rear. I'd go with a limited slip, as it will grant you better control at speed on dirt, over a locker. Because of the rapid turns, I don't think I'd lock the front. keep an open dif. 

 

Weight, In that type of racing, Power to weight is important. You need that truck to "jump" forward when you gas it. Making it as light as you can will help. weight distribution is important too. I think I would want the rear to pull down a bit. I noted you had a tire back there, thats a great start. I would re locate the battery back there too. moving ~40# from the front, the rear, effectively is like like removing ~60# from the front. I put the battery on my Comanche under the bed, as far back as I could. 

 

 

Brakes, again, moist racers focus on the "go fast" stuff. You need to apply focus to the whole truck. Having "ok" brakes compared to "Great" brakes will make you FASTER! Being able to slow down later, and maintain greater speed as long as you can. 

 

I'd steep back and look at each thing. Don't make too many changes at once. Keep track of the changes. I have a test track at on of my proprieties. I make timed runs, adjust and run again. Get lots of video, don't watch the video, STUDY it. Make sure to video the trucks that are faster then you. Don't just study that, uber study that. Slow mo that. Watch for tire speed, suspension movement, type of tires, kind of engine and so on.  Keep your mouth shut. It may be cool to brag about your mods to other racers, but they will take your ideas and run with them. When I race, I give my competitors false information. It's funny, case at the next race they will have applied my false information.

 

If you ain't first, your last.. "Ricky Bobby" :)

[RidingDirty77]

Jenssen... wonder who YOU could be lol.

 

Yes this is TORE.

 

Race footage doesent do my speed justice. Hitting that second jump I was doing about 80 kms an hour.

 

Everything mechanical I could pull from the engine to let it rev was removed. I've got electric fans and the alt does disconnect. It's a pro lite circuit. I can cut weight and modify the stock engine up to everything except turbowing or super charging. (No Nos)

 

Upgraded injectors and fuel pump and I've opened the air up. Letting it drink and breathe better defiantly helped my throttle response. It likes to jump off the start line.

 

The ignition system has been upgraded (ford 300 distributor caps are awesome)

 

Cutting weight is next. I had to really race the truck to figure out how it's balanced. It lands surprisingly well but it's still very front heavy. Moving the fuel tank and batter to the rear and centering them. Already talking to a guy from pro fender about getting some tuned suspension. That's number one on my list and getting some air bumps.

 

Racing is for sure a big learning curve and I've got quite a ways to go. I'm excited to see what else I can do to this monster.

[RidingDirty77]

There's more mods but like you said. Do T tell everyone everything. I'm not mentioning what else I've done in case some of the other racers are in here. ;)

[Pete M]

soooooo... stroking the engine out to 4.6l is allowed?  :brows:

[RidingDirty77]

soooooo... stroking the engine out to 4.6l is allowed? :brows:

Yup. In prolite it's allowed.