So I'm making my 59 f100 a weekend cruiser and race truck. Here at home we have a few places to drag race friends and others for fun and its all legal anyway, is there any support bars or anything I should weld onto the frame to keep it from flexing or anything? Its got a 390 with a massive cam under the hood. Stock heads pretty close to fully ported, edelbrock rpm aluminum intake, headers into true duals.

 

Serving suggestions:

--traction bars

--driveshaft hoop(s)

Auto or stick?

If stick:

--scattershield

What do you have for brakes?

 

I agree to hoops for the driveshaft, and traction bars. Its stick so what's a scatter shield?

 

Oh also ginna do discs and hydro boost. Disc/drum

 

A scatter shield or an approved bellhousing will keep the clutch pieces or flywheel from flying everywhere when it explodes

 

There was a guy who hung out here named Tom who had a fridge drag truck, he may have some suggestions.
I'll see if I can find a link for him.

Superduty; Tom is also a left coaster. Goes by the handle "tomget" here is a link to his pro-street 58
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=34189

 

Thanks guys! Why do drag trucks have those bars from the cab into the bed?

 

Bars like these?

http://www.dragtrucks.com/photo/hott...8/miller01.jpg

Part of a roll cage.

I'm not sure what your truck weighs, or what HP your motor is running. But let's pretend it weighs 3500lbs with you in it ready to run. And let's pretend your motor makes 400 horse. And let's pretend you can find traction and shift it: That should be good for a 12 second quarter at about 110 mph.

ET-MPH-HP Calculator

This list is old--2009, so things have gotten tighter in the mean time, but it will give you a good idea:

NHRA - Rules & Regulations, Class & Time Brackets - Hot Rod

You probably are not going to run NHRA events, but that does not mean the safety requirements are not good ideas. Crashes or failures can be fatal no matter where they occur.

 

So that is a interior rollbar that exits into the bed as well? Cuz I was going to have one made by autopower down the street from me for my interior so I can put shoulder belts or racing harness in. Interesting stuff.

 

I think you are looking at a 5 point bar, with bars out the back. Discussion and specs here, along with the comment that most just go for the cage due to the limits of the "bar".

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...legal_roll_bar

This will make your eyes glaze over, but it's the whole thing, I think:

http://www.nhra.com/UserFiles/file/G...egulations.pdf

They talk about pickups at 20.25, about halfway through.

Autopower looks like they do fine work, but they note "Not NHRA" approved on a lot of stuff.

You probably don't need NHRA approved stuff, but you've got to ask yourself why the NHRA goes through all this business about roll cages/bars and sets the specs the way they do.

Anyway, spend your money carefully on that item and make sure what you get isn't just going to pin you in the wreck and add another charge to the undertaker's bill.......