Hey guys,

Been a pretty long time since I've been around, just thought I'd spend one of my days off doing more research and getting more input on my family's 79' Bogger. I first posted probably back in April when we bought the truck, but now that it's Winter and the season is over we're doing a fair amount of work/upgrading to the ole girl.

It's a 79' F-150 Ranger XLT with a bone stock 460. Came with a 1411 (complete junk) Edelbrock carb. 31-spline 9'' rear, D44 front, 4'' suspension lift with 35x14.50x15 TSL Boggers. Stock gears, NP203, and that's about it. Oh ya, and as the pictures will scream out... yes it really has a Chevy bed. We've been trying our damnest to find a Ford dentside to replace it with, we're pretty stubborn and don't want a standard bed.

Here's a couple pictures, we went all but the last 2 bogs completely stock. The last 2 we had a mini-spool in the read.
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The last 2 bogs we went to we actually made multiple full pulls. Absolutely addicted now.

So far this winter we've taken the stock 460 out, got a very highly recommended guy around here to build up a 466. Not sure what cam he put in it, but some of the things done are 750cfm double-pump carb, forged pistons, hydraulic lifters, little bit of head work w/ polish, went to a 3500 stall and some other things i'll have to get from him. I'd love to one day be able to do the stuff myself, but as of right now, my knowledge is whatever I do research on and no hands-on experience. We're supposed to be expecting around 450hp out of it, no idea if that'll be accurate but hey... ain't stock!

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...67919028_n.jpg

Here is another engine he's been working on for another guy, supposed to be running in the 1400+ hp range when it's done. I would quite literally crap my pants, but i'd love to give it a shot!
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...98342473_n.jpg

Anyways, we're also looking at getting a whole new suspension lift with enough to run the 35's as well as probably 38x11x15's. Going to more than likely upgrade to 4.11 gears, drop off most of the current street-legal exhaust, were thinking about mini-spooling the front but ya... I got that memo through my findings (HELL NO). At one point we had planned on doing D60 swaps, but I think for now we're going to stick with the axles we have until they break (sounds like us being lighter is definitely going to help).

I was curious to get you guys' input and experience on the things we're changing around. Especially on topics like how much lift you think would work to fit the 38x11's, finding a limited slip for the D44 instead of a mini-spool, etc.

Thanks again, sorry about the long *** wall of text. I'll work on that whole to-the-point thing for the future!

 

DO NOT LOCK THE FRONT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bad things will happen. I broke a axle, ring pinion in half shattered the ring gear and broke my wrist because of a locked front. There is no real need to swap to ton's, that'[s extra weight and loosing ground clearance.

Reconsider the gearing deeper than 4.11's. Id go minimum 4.56-4.88's depending on how the track's you race in are, if there thick nasty mud, gonna wanna go around 4.88's atleast, 5.13's wont be to much. I dont know much about the 203, but i like the 205 personally. I assume C6?

as far as lift if you dont mind hacking the fender's some 38's will fit. hell they will fit stock with fender trim. I dont remember seeing anything bout header's but Maddog make's a good set of fenderwell exit's for the 77-79 with a 385 series in it.

what are you doing for fuel??

77 with 35x16 bogger's no lift no trimming



38x12.5 TSL's no lift trimmed fender's



same truck same TSL's on the front with 38.5x15 bogger's rear with 4" added up front.



really same basic truck. 77 F-150 custom had 351m, now has a 429 in it, 9"/44 on 38's 5.13's mini spool in the rear maddog fenderwell exit's with 3" exhuast and single stage flowmaster's... right now the header's are un capped though.

I had fuel issue's on this pass kept running out, but when i restarted that was in second grabbing third as i came out the other end

 

Why is locking the front bad..? I thought that was only on street driven trucks, and even then, only if you dont have un-lockable hubs.

 

In a straight line mud truck, the locked front will pull differently than the back and if you get sideways and smack a wall, things will break, no question about it.


As for the "1400hp" motor. I think it might be a little lower than that unless its getting one heck of a shot of nitrous. Granted its probably set for alcohol and with the tunnel ram/ dual carb setup it will work, but those old Motorsport CJ heads won't make near what a set of A heads or the next step up with C heads

 

Its a PITA to steer, plus if one side is free spinning in mud, and the other catch's a hard spot guess what's gonna happen??? your going which ever way it hooked to HARD and you wont be able to control it, not to mention youll prolly be breaking shat.

 

Karl,
Those are C heads and thats an aluminum block. The carbs are also split dominators....basically 4 2bbl dominators. I still have very little faith in it making 1400hp. If he really is a reputable builder, he needs to clean up his shop. I would never try to assemble a race engine amongst filth.



The truck looks good. Do not lock your front and if you are serious about racing do not lift it - cut the fenders to fit.

 

what these guys said. if you break something in loose or mud with a front locker, the unbroken axle side will pull that way putting you into whatever is in the way, and like Larry found out, will also break bones in hands and arms. if you are lucky. if you are not lucky, it can get much worse.
i saw a truck flip over and almost kill the driver after he broke an axle u-joint on a locked front diff on a sand dune. it hooked right and rolled over something like 12 times as it went down the dune face.
we had to cut him out of what was left of the cab.

 

His shop is a garage in his back yard, it was something he started doing for fun when he was much younger but now it's all he does now that he's retired. It's amazing to see how much stuff is in that garage, and ya it looks pretty bad but he was recommended by name by friends, bog friends, and even people I've met in passing (usually drag racers, but still). Pretty much everyone in this area that runs Fords goes to either this guy or a shop that's about an hour or so away.

I read that thread where you talked about breaking your wrist, it didn't take long to see how bad of an idea it was, luckily we hadn't done it yet. The "1400hp" motor is something that I have no clue on, that's just what I've been told. I'm very well aware of how easy it is to bull****, but hey it's also nice to dream right?

I absolutely hate you 77, because you have the bed my Dad and I have been scouring all over VA for. Wanna trade? The chevy bed has "FORD" pressed into the tailgate... oh and yes, it's a C-6. We intend on doing a 205 swap at some point, but not sure when. The pits all vary, a couple we were able to make it through bone stock. Others, we got 30-60 feet. That being said, those pits were so bad the mud at the starting line was up past the hubs and even decently modified trucks were going just as far if not a little further. We used just premium pump gas this past year, not sure if we'll still do that or see what things we need to do to go to racing fuel.

I'll have to find more videos of the different pits to give a better idea of what's around, but here's one of a very good friend of mine at one of our pits. As the video shows, he's one of those "f**k it" guys that will destroy everything as long as he has fun doing it.


For the lift, we don't want to trim anything. I had thought about a 9'' lift, but we want something that'll fit decently (9/10 times we won't be doing hill-n-hole so we can get away with a little bit less lift), and something that won't make the 35's look like Prius tires. We're aware that it'll cost more, will more lift really hurt that much?

 

Please dont put a 9" lift on that truck if you plan on racing. The SOB will flip.

4" front is all you need but personally Id just cut the fenders.

If you swap cases look in to a NP208 or BW1356. They will bolt up directly and are more than half the weight of a 205 (1/3 of the weight of your 203). They also have a lower gear ratio in low so you could get away with a little less gear in the axles. Being said i wouldnt go higher than 4.56.


With the right components a 700ci motor can get near or even a touch over 1400hp but at that level things have to be perfect. 2hp+ per ci is almost at the point of defying physics and even harder for the older technology.

 

Yeah, now that I can see it on the larger computer screen instead of my phone, I can tell what they are. Still not sure about the 1400hp either unless that thing is in the high 600-700ci range.

 

I'll have to look at the 208 and such then, I wasn't aware of them. A majority of the trucks around here have 7+ inches of lift and I've only ever seen 2 flip in the 4 years I've been a part of the community now. What do you think is the minimum lift needed for the 38x11's? I talked with my Dad earlier today and under no circumstances are we cutting the fenders. It's a joint project for my family to have fun with, mom even runs.

We've got another 460 block we'll be going closer to "all out" on and putting in another truck, this engine is more geared towards a decent upgrade from stock, as well as something that doesn't scare the ladies away from driving. The videos I posted are a bit misleading I guess, we're not going anywhere near the modified level of that truck, at least not until the other 460 is built.

As for that other motor, the guy said it was something like an 820, but my lack of engine knowledge kinda shrugged the number off.

 

4" will clear 38s but its close. Why 38s? Why not make the truck turn the 35s? Wheel speed is more important than ground clearance in mud racing


820 isn't a cam or spec.

 

We have anywhere from 2 to 4 drivers, and we invite friends that tag along to take a swing if they want as well. The biggest problem we had this year is multiple drivers and the passes being too close together. The 38's were to break it up to give us more time. Although I'd be lieing if I said it didn't end up being competitive to me on some level or another, at this point it isn't a 1st or nothing, all out, serious face, 1 driver ordeal. It's all in good fun to us, but I still want to have a good rig that has the ability to compete when we get there.

 

Plus the larger tires generally take you up another class. If you do go with the 466, look close at cam profile to match the port work on the heads. A 750 carb may end up being too small depending on how much work is done. My solid roller cammed 466 was dynod with a 1050 and an 1150 dominator and I ended up leaving the 1150 on it because it made more power. BBF's like a big carb and can move a bunch of air if it's not choked down with a little carb

As for the 820", last I knew of was the max ci on most production aluminum blocks was in the low 700" range. So unless that's a 1 off custom block, who knows. I told people my little 466 was the stock motor from a 71 lincoln.

Oh, and a word of advise, stay at the "lets go out for fun" stage for as long as you can! Once you go to the competitive side it goes past fun and more like a business which gets VERY EXPENSIVE! Mine for reference:

 

Oh trust me, I know all too well about the price of the competitive side. The guy who built/races the Hitman truck wishes he never sold his old 79' Bronco w/ a 460 and 44's that started him into mud bogging. He could drive it on the street, back in the woods, anywhere and he misses it. I live within 2 1/2 hours from Dennis Anderson's mud park, I've seen tons of billy badasses from the East Coast. Actually see a bunch of the Anderson family at almost every bog we go to.

We're ok with it being another class, that's actually why we thought of running both 35's and 38's. Normally they'll run things like Stock 35, Stock 38, Mod A 35, Mod A 38, etc etc. The last "big" bog here had I think 240 trucks in total, tons of classes, tons of fun. Majority of the bogs though have maybe 5-20 trucks in a class. We usually end up with maybe 2-3 trucks in between us having to swap drivers, etc. Just not a fun time trying to run around and get everything ready.

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Guy who built this truck after died at a bog this year. Think he had a heart attack waiting to wash off after a run and ended up flipping full throttle into the pond. One of those guys that was always there to help even if you've never met. Being 50 feet away from it was rough, it'll definitely keep me from taking anything for granted that's for sure.
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This guy actually ended up flying about 10 feet in the air and 30 feet into the woods after his throttle got stuck.
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