Any suggestions??

Just popped over from the Toy forum.
Wondering if anybody has any suggestions on what I may be missing. For the unaquainted, I have an '84 Toy, with a Ford 5.0 HO efi, C-6, NP205, D-44(5.38) 9"(5.43&locker), 4 point internal cage, 12 1/2 inch lift, 39" Firestones soon to be 39.5" boggers, and a snorkel. The truck is basically for weekend fun, but I'd like to run it in the local mud bog competitions (streetish class) this spring. I've fabbed a front coil susp, and now working on a rear version. I know it isn't much info to go on, but I'm looking for ideas on mods to do while it's in the shop for the rear susp. and fenderwell headers.
Thanks in advance PJL

The one thing that I could see that would slow you down, that is alot of tire to turn with an engine with a 3 inch stroke. The amount of power it takes to turn four boggers through mud is amazing.
I also wouldn't be surprized with the amount of mods that you have if they don't put you into some kind of super stock class. But if your going there for the joy of running it through the pit that shouldn't bother you.

Personaly I would get a lighter tire for the front. Say a TSL. Boggers are a lot of weight.

Dave
86 w/33's
Stuck? I aint stuck!

<font color=purple>Yeah, at the very least, you might consider TSL's up front with matching Boggers in the back. None of the true competition mud BOG machines run Boggers on the front (with the exception of a very few nitrous-assisted big-blocks I've seen). If your local competition is done "drag" style, then the tire of choice is 38.5X11 Boggers at all 4 corners. Needless to say, that'll change the appearance a lot from what you have intended, but fat tires don't work very well in shallow mud.</font color=purple>

TEX

[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Got Mud?
G.U.M.B.O. Mud Racing

Hey Tex, how do the 38.5x11 boggers perform on the trail? Would it be of any value to drop down to 35's just for racing? I don't have a great budget, but I'd like to lean, performance wise, towards a good general offroad tire. I don't want it to be too venue specific.
Thanks PJL

Another advantage of the skinnner 38s is near a hundred bucks cheaper per tire.

<font color=purple>I couldn't even begin to tell you how 38.5X11's would do on the trail, so I'll leave that as a "no comment". As far as a smaller set just for racing, you'd want to take RolngThun's advice to check out the rules a bit better first. Bog-style competition typical will have a number of different class sizes for tires, but as you increase the tire size, other mods become legal. A Ford motor in a Toy might automatically put you in the 40" class or something like that. So, a switch to smaller tires might not be such a great move. I can tell you this much, 35's don't make a very good race tire in deep mud. 36x12.50's, Q78's (35.5X11), and even 34's all seem to do better than 35x15.50's. The 34's are one of those tires that just works better than it probably should. And the Q78's & 36's offer greater ground clearance than the 35's without the handicap of having your front tires "plowing" mud. The decreased weight of narrower tires & rims also helps you get off the line easier. I switched from 38X12.50's to Q78's for this season & lost only 1" of actual diameter (36" vs. 35") - measured height. That means I only lost 1/2" of ground clearance, but reduced my wheel/tire combo by 16 lbs on each corner - plus, the Q78's have 27/32's of tread depth compared to 23/32's on the 38's. My truck got a little quicker in deep mud & a lot quicker in the shallow stuff. I run Toyota axles, so my truck has as much clearance as a full-size on 39.5's. That's a nice advantage.

Anyhow, I don't know if I can offer up specific advice without knowing more about the rules you'll face most often there. Sorry if this isn't much help[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/blush.gif[/img].</font color=purple>

TEX

[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Got Mud?
G.U.M.B.O. Mud Racing

Hey Tex, what's the actual heigth and treadwidth on those 38.5 x 11 Boggers? Do they need alot of power to spin 'em?

<font color=purple>I haven't measured too many of the 38.5X11's real close because most classes cut off at 36" & the next one up is 39" (under the old "measured height" rule). They were way too tight in 36" calipers, but nowhere near 39" calipers. However, one small group still has a 37" class & 38.5X11's have gotten in that class before & based on that plus checking a couple of times with the 36" calipers, I'd say these will go right at 37" or a bit more if on really narrow rims. As for the amount of effort to spin them, it appears to me that they require about the same effort as a 38.5X16 or 39.5X15 TSL, but still quite a bit less than 39.5" Boggers (which are almost snug in a 39" caliper). This is sort of a rough estimate from watching friends who switch tires around a lot. A lot of guys graduate from the 36" class to the 40" class without doing anything to the vehicle except the tires the first year. And those that go to 4 TSL's or 38.5x11's clearly lose power compared to their 36X12.50's, but not nearly as badly as those who buy at least 2 39.5 Boggers. I know this isn't a lot of help, but never having run this tire it's the best I can do.</font color=purple>

TEX

[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Got Mud?
G.U.M.B.O. Mud Racing