another S10

[greencactus3]

hi guys, im new here.
i recognized a few names from s10forum and protourings10, and figured i should join here to learn more!

im a full time undergrad ME student at U-M now, and ive been working on my longbed s10 to get it to be more fun, on my college budget.

ive taken it to the open track days at Waterford Hills, and everytime, just want to make it faster.

so, pics!


starting with how it looked like the day i drove it home (already with 170k miles on it)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/2267829_2_full-1.jpg

annnd now.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P10701811-1.jpg

....actually thats a lie.... it was like that during the transition from fall into winter, as you can see it already has mudflaps on to keep body rust down from the salt they pile on the streets here,
and since it is my daily driver and i do need to carry stuff at times, here is the sorry state it is in now...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif


i do photography on the side as a hobby, so ill have a lot of photos up with whatever i do.

so im gonna whore up this post with my favorite pics of my truck

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P10702121-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P10702281-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P1030695-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P1030950-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P1030933-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_4393-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P1030591-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/P1020077-1.jpg

[greencactus3]

aaand then theres a few pics of me on the track

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_0001-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_0002-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_0003-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_0018-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_0019-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_9989-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_9994-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/IMG_9990-1.jpg











so anyways, enough of that 'showing off'

and onto plans...

losing the dumb leafsprings for a 3link design, and well, here's some screenshots of how ive been designing.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/untitled3-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/02/untitled1-1.jpg

theres still a looot of reading i have to do on race car suspension theory, and then i gotta figure out how to implement all that into mine, with very little money to spare.

so hopefully you guys can help me do this, as my truck is scheduled to come off the road to get the rear suspension rebuilt as soon as school gets out for the summer, and it has to be back on the road within a couple weeks (a month maybe), as i have to get a job to afford more modifications... among other things haha

[hardline_42]

Welcome! There's a wealth of knowledge on this site. PS, nobody here knows I'm building an s10 too so don't say anything!

[ProTour2V]

what did you use for pics 8 and 9? how did you make them look that way?

[greencactus3]

aside from the ones at the track, all the photos are from my fz7.
what do you mean? look that way?

[Twentyover]

Think he's refering to the star effect of the lights? My old man used what was called a cross-star lense attachment, but he was optical not digital...

[ProTour2V]

oh, you guys have some bad a$$ cameras. i just have my nikkon cool pics. I love it, i would like to get those effects though. I was hoping you can do that with a computer program.

[greencactus3]

ah no need for a star filter. easy trick is to just wipe some light oil (like off your nose) in the pattern you want on the lense.
dont forget to wipe it off later tho.

but in general, you just gotta find the right angles and distances to not get the 'glare' from the lights, and mess with the settings to get it the way you want

and yea, you can do that with photoshop easily. ive never used any other program so i wouldnt know about those tho.

for reference the one by the building was shot at F/8 and a 4 sec exp. at ISO100
the one by the streetlight with the blue/purple sky was F/8 and 3.2 exposure, although that one was closer to sunset than the building one

my favorite time to shoot is a few minutes after sunset

[ProTour2V]

thanks for the info. is there anywhere on the net to download photoshop?

[jerome]

is it static dropped right now? what suspension parts up front? It looks a little too low to be taking advantage of the suspension geometry.

The rear suspension looks very similar to the suicide doors 3link. Are the lower bars parallel? You'll find that when you try to increase antisquat, the roll understeer will increase, which is not good for autocross. Try designing in some convergence in the lower bars. Are you planning on a wishbone locator? A panhard would give you adjustability to move the roll center down, which is good in moderation.

Also, you probably won't need the lateral adjustability for the coilovers/bags. They should be as far outside as possible, can't think of a situation where you would want them further in.

It looks like the upper link is offset to the drivers side. It would be better to offset it to the passenger side in order to dynamically cancel some of the driveshaft torque pushing down on the drivers tire upon acceleration.

Truck looks great. I'm in college too, its tough to find time to work on projects.

Jerome.

[greencactus3]

i have no idea if you can download PS, its a pretty big program

yup. its static dropped with coils/spindles right now, and itll be going up a little bit in front this summer, i just wanted it low when i did it, didnt know anything about suspension geometry. im still learning too

and yup, its the SD 3link but its not gonna be bolted on in the 'stock' location.

im trying to get the lower bar parallel to the ground at ride height (setting that at 4" ground clearance on my current tires)
with the upper at 8 degrees down.

since i have no way of welding anything large, this limits a lot of things...
like a panhard bar.
so for now, im just going to use the SD wishbone.
after midterms are over ill be crawling under the truck to take more measurements so i can actually think about clearance and stuff, because i think i NEED to offset the wishbone to the pass side to clear the gas tank anyways.
glad itll actually help too

thanks for the help! once i get the measurements im missing i can get more detailed in the designing of the rear
its on hold now for studying, and that i cant crawl under the truck here at my apartment

[Twentyover]

Cactus- you still using Optical? (was shot at F/8 and a 4 sec exp. at ISO100). I thought I was the only one living in the stone age

[greencactus3]

optical? uh... digital camera if thats what you mean..
panasonic fz7

[Twentyover]

No- optical refers to a camera that uses film....

Remember those?

[greencactus3]

No- optical refers to a camera that uses film....

Remember those?
nah, i just call those film cameras.
but no, havent used one of those since middle school lol