Project Barnyard Budget AXS10

[BigMikeIndy]

Spending countless hours track side at events and being constantly surrounded by the sport I have fell victim to the bug. It was late last summer that I finally registered my daily driven pickup in a performance driving school at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green. I spent a Saturday with a group of SCCA National Champions who thought a pickup couldn't handle. By 4pm that afternoon each of the trainers had driven the truck in awe of just how spirited the 5400lb pickup was. I learned a lot that day and went on to compete the following day in a regional SCCA event at the same location. My first time out and I placed 7th out of 13 in the CAM class. I know nothing to brag about.... tell that to the guy in a Viper that was outran by a 02 Dodge Ram. Needless to say I was hooked. I quickly registered for the next even which was the 1st Track-X event held at NCM. Ole Blue as I called it was just a 02 Reg cab short bed Hemi Ram with full ridetech Air Suspension HQ Shocks. Your normal bolt on engine upgrades and a set of ebay drilled and slotted rotors were about all the goodies it had. Ole Blue and I took to the Road Course like nun to a strip club, to say we were out of place would be an understatement. I knew what had to be done at that point, I needed something fast and purpose built and stat! As soon as I made it back to the ridetech Headquarters that following Monday I had helmet in hand and went car to car trying to find something that would accept my 6'4" stature with a helmet on. The dream was crushed and the hopes of simply driving a company car disappeared like an arm less man in quicksand.Or was it? I've learned a lot in 34 short years, pretty ones get everything handed to them, don't piss in the wind, never trust a fart, nothings ever free, and the most important If you want something work for it! By the end of that week the plan was permanently written on a napkin and I acquired a first gen S10 straight from the barnyard. I'm tired of ranting for the evening so here are a few pics of Ole'Blue and what will become the AXS10.





And here is the heap of $hi@ that will become the AXS10... Let the turd polishing begin!



Ill leave you with this great movie quote "You don't need to think. You need to drive. You need speed. You need to go out there, and you need to rev your engine. You need to fire it up. You need to grab a hold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra! And then, when the fear rises up in your belly, you use it. And you know that fear is powerful, because it has been there for billions of years. And it is good. And you use it. And you ride it; you ride it like a skeleton horse through the gates of hell, and then you win."

[Godbolt]

Cool. What is planned?

[bovey]

SO jealous. This is on my hit list of builds.

[chevymike]

Man, I was so hoping you were going to build up the Ram. I have a '05 short bed, standard cab Hemi Ram and always love seeing street performance builds on these. Can you tell me how you liked the Ride Tech shocks?

[BigMikeIndy]

Cool. What is planned?

Cliff Notes > ridetech G body front TruTurn, drop spindles, HQ CoilOvers, SpeedTech Chicane upper mount, and one off Muscle Bar. Rear suspension will be a fabbed wishbone 3 link with ridetech HQ CoilOvers and splined sway bar. Nearly stock LS engine mated to a trans that will probably start as a manual valve body turbo 400. Multiple frame stiffening and weight relocation mods. 315-30-18 Falken all the way around with fender mods where necessary. I've started the framework and will start with those photos shortly.

[BigMikeIndy]

Man, I was so hoping you were going to build up the Ram. I have a '05 short bed, standard cab Hemi Ram and always love seeing street performance builds on these. Can you tell me how you liked the Ride Tech shocks?

I miss the Ram every day that theres not snow on the ground. It was a ton of fun just didnt have enough potential on my budget to make it really competitive. As for shocks par of my reasoning for getting into it was to learn more about shock tuning and futher my knowledge of our product lines. I have a whopping 3 days of experience with adjusting and learning what makes the truck do what on different surfaces but in just those 3 days I quickly understood that 2 clicks of a knob means alot more than I ever expected. Im starting this truck off with the same HQ series setup as the rame ahd just in CoilOver form this time. Once I get the truck on track and plenty of time in it I may look at the TQ setup. Until then I know the HQ will give me more than enough adjustment.

[BigMikeIndy]

The first weekend of S10 possession was teardown and chassis assessment time. Since the truck had already been someone else parts truck it was a pretty easy teardown. Less than 4 hours from my garage door opening I had a bare chassis ready for pre blast mods.

[BigMikeIndy]

I then spent a Sunday morning using a lift, plasma, and welder in the ridetech engineering area. First job at hand was installing the SpeedTech Chicane mounts for a G-Body. I was the Guinea Pig for G-Body on S-10 test fitting and they worked out just as planned. These will allow me to run a eylet top shock mount leading to an 1" longer travel shock.









With the mounts welded in I took a few minutes to remove the stock rear leaf spring and shock mounts withthe plasma cutter. The frame was then loaded back up for a trip to Indianapolis.

[BigMikeIndy]

Dropped the frame off at Hoosier Truck & Trailer on South side of Indianapolis on a Thursday evening to be blasted and a thick coat of epoxy primer laid on it. I've been dealing with HT&T back to the days of opening my first shop in Indy. Great family that treats everyone fairly. The following Wednesday I was informed the frame was ready and I made plans to pick it up that weekend. I was extremly happy with how it turned out. Knowing this truck will see plenty of different version over its lifetime I opted for paint instead of powdercoat. The suspension setup is not all off the shelf so I painted the front section and waited on parts to start arriving. The plan is to get the front on the ground so drive height is figured out before we start fabbing the rear suspension.

[chevymike]

I miss the Ram every day that theres not snow on the ground. It was a ton of fun just didnt have enough potential on my budget to make it really competitive. As for shocks par of my reasoning for getting into it was to learn more about shock tuning and futher my knowledge of our product lines. I have a whopping 3 days of experience with adjusting and learning what makes the truck do what on different surfaces but in just those 3 days I quickly understood that 2 clicks of a knob means alot more than I ever expected. Im starting this truck off with the same HQ series setup as the rame ahd just in CoilOver form this time. Once I get the truck on track and plenty of time in it I may look at the TQ setup. Until then I know the HQ will give me more than enough adjustment.

Cool. I went to ridetech's site and only found front shocks available. Why no rear shocks listed for the '02-'05 Rams?

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Oh yes, I'm looking forward to this one! I'm currently under process in doing my S10 Blazer, version 2.0. It was my first vehicle, which I got from a salvage auction. I finished it when I was 16 in all red, added the black shown below when I was 18 (11 years ago). It's where I learned many of the skills I apply today.



I'm currently doing a V8 swap, which will be followed with a repaint. Turning it into a canyon carver would be a fun change in direction. Just a note... we're sorely lacking in rear suspension options for the Blazers. A 4 link would be killer.

[BigMikeIndy]

Cool. I went to ridetech's site and only found front shocks available. Why no rear shocks listed for the '02-'05 Rams?

They may be outside of our length specs at stock rideheight. Are you all stock suspension still?

[BigMikeIndy]

I'm currently doing a V8 swap, which will be followed with a repaint. Turning it into a canyon carver would be a fun change in direction. Just a note... we're sorely lacking in rear suspension options for the Blazers. A 4 link would be killer.

Sharp Blazer. I grew up a mini truck as a daily and off roader for fun. Now my daily is 4x4 and my fun truck will be a mini. I feel your pain on the blazer rear link systems. Ive been in the truck stuff since 96 and there never has been a simple solution for them.

[chevymike]

They may be outside of our length specs at stock rideheight. Are you all stock suspension still?

Front yes (running 2" drop spindles), Rear no, running 3" lowered Bell Tech leaf springs. I am currently running shock extenders, so I can use stock length shocks but would be happy to remove them.

[BigMikeIndy]

Here's some of the goodies I had been waiting on for it.

The front G-Body TruTurn sytem from ridetech. (tie rod adjuster and heims not pictured)


The HQ Coilovers (I like to call them the secret sauce)


9" Ford Housing narrowed 3" from stock S10 specifications. Big bearing, 31 spline, .250 tube wall just for kicks.

[BigMikeIndy]

Front yes (running 2" drop spindles), Rear no, running 3" lowered Bell Tech leaf springs. I am currently running shock extenders, so I can use stock length shocks but would be happy to remove them.

Go ahead and get me a measurment with the extenders and without. Im assuming its eye/eye mounting?

[SSLance]

Hey Big Mike, I run the same rear end housing...before you order axles...make sure you spec the A20 tapered bearing setup, not a radial bearing setup. Trust me on this.

Love the project, can't wait to see how it evolves...

[BigMikeIndy]

Hey Big Mike, I run the same rear end housing...before you order axles...make sure you spec the A20 tapered bearing setup, not a radial bearing setup. Trust me on this.

Love the project, can't wait to see how it evolves...

Lance you are one of the few running the thicker wall front MuscleBar correct? Which wall are you currently running?

[SSLance]

I believe I was the first to get a 0.250" wall musclebar last fall, but I have a 0.375" wall centerpiece in production right now.

Hope to get it and get it installed soon.

[BigMikeIndy]

Im building a narrowed G Body musclebar in .375 for this one. Are we building the .375 for you or someone else ?