After two straight weeks of hurdles we are able to post our first test run. This is far more complicated than we ever imagined. With each problem that we solve it seems to create a new one. The time involved with a truck like this is incredible. Don’t ever ask me to put down on paper what we’ve spent. Attention to detail is the key to producing a truck like this. We’ve done the best we can and hope that the rest of the testing goes well.
Click photo to see the slide show!
Stewart has been working on the new truck everyday for the past month. He and Ronnie have re-done the steering and rear nessie arms.
Our first try revealed several problems with the uniballs on the arms- portions of the mounting on the rear axle hit the frame.
There were many problems with both the front end and the rear areas. As these pictures show there were many hours of cycling suspension. This type of suspension is not Wicked Sand Toys specialty… they build the Rolls Royces of sand rails, see the back cover of Sands Sports.
As of Jan. 29th the new truck is ready for custom headers. It will be in their shop for a couple of days and back to work next week. We could be ready for shocks and finally assembly.
He had a chance to meet with Dave Whitehead, the engine builder on Friday. Enjoy the video.
Click photo to enlarge.
Everyday for the past week I have woken up and wished I were in Baja. The Baja 1000 started today. I am not sure what I miss the most the name recognition of the Baja 1000, the beauty of a surfside village like Loreto Bay, the undevoloped views of mountains, desert, and the ocean, a small store in the middle of nowhere with a Diet Coke (Coke Light), or stories that last a lifetime. But this is what I do not miss; the armed guards at every checkpoint, the parking lot that charges $20 to protect your truck that ends up getting keyed anyway, and the threat of being targeted by the drug cartels for just looking at them the wrong way. So, instead of going to the race… I had a root canal.
Speaking of pulling things out we pulled the engine out of the new truck to be rebuilt again by Dave Whitehead. It goes into his shop Monday, 11/24/08.
Baja sucks but not being there sucks too.
Our meeting with Dave Clark went great. He spent an hour and a half telling us about our truck and how he built it. There was a lot of emphasis on SCORE rules using the old 2002-2006 Rulebook. There has been many changes since then. That could be why the truck was never finished. I am not sure though. It doesn’t matter to me, once we finish this truck it will put Lost Boys Racing on the map.
The time, money, and expertise in this build is already above my expectations. I hope we can finish this truck soon and that Gary Turner and Dave Clark wouldn’t mind having their names on it.
Well it’s rolling (literally) again after we had to take a 1 week break from the new truck to focus on the Silverstate 300. I worked on it Sunday for 6 hours, replacing A arms and making ride height spacers that fit in the shock mounts.
Monday I ordered wheel bearings and races from the new ORW, Temecula. Also, I went down to Kartek and spoke with Mike about the other missing hub parts. He called Dave Clark, the builder to get the right answers. He also told Dave about our purchase and that I would like to meet him, I spoke with Dave briefly, about 5 minutes and my first impression was that he is a very smart and nice guy. He is willing to get us going in the right direction and would be excited to see the truck finished. We are taking the truck over to Frank Nye’s shop next week to meet with Dave Clark.
Currently, we have our best mechanics working on the truck…
He can build front ends with his eyes closed…
But plays around too much.
Not too much work done this week on the new truck. We picked up more parts from GT; bearings, trans, third member. We are still missing parts and we’ll go back the first of October to pick up what is left.
Most of our time has been spent getting ready for BITD‘s Silver State 300. We are planning on running the old truck, our original truck. It has been sitting in the yard for a year or more but with some hard work and new parts it will be ready to race this Saturday, 9/27/08. Kurt, Eric, Derek, Stewart, and Ruben have been cleaning the truck and repairing the fuel systems. Now if we can get rid of the spiders we’ll get the rest of the repairs done. Hope to see everyone at the race this weekend!
BITD 2008 Off-Road Racing Schedule.
Well, it took 4 days to just get the truck off the trailer. First we had to get it down to Wicked Sand Toys to get Shawn’s and Ronnie’s opinions on the new truck and to go over what they thought they could help us out with. We picked the wrong day! They have been working 24-7 to get ready for the Sand Expo, Costa Mesa. They still took a look at it and have a lot of good ideas. We will need to go back in 2 weeks.
Next, it was time to reorganize the shop. Out with the old crap and in with the new crap! It took 3 days but it looks 100% better; new shelving, new bins, and clean floors. Week 1 complete.
Lost Boys Racing 