Need help with losing weight and being more wind resistant

[13 Second Ranger]

Removing the engine will save you alot of weight. Those things are heavy

hahahah

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[13 Second Ranger]

For every 100 pounds of weight you can drop, you'll pick up about 1/10 of a second in the 1320.

Go to the track with at most a 1/2 a tank of fuel. As other have stated, pull the rear seat, tailgate, spare tire, jack and associated tools, tow hitch etc. basically Anything that weighs more than 10 pounds and can be removed, pull it out.

Pull the deflector out from behind the grill. Bring an ice chest filled with ice and some water as well as a few towels. Soak the towels in ice water and place them on top of the intercooler as you're working up the staging lines. Pull the towels just before your run. This will drop the intake charge considerably.

You can also use blue painter's tape along the hood seams, over the cowl to the windshield, and around the mirrors with them folded in to reduce drag. People may laugh at you, but I have seen this trick shave off 2/10ths of a second.

I was going to pull the hitch but it's a pain as it's attached to the bumper. I'll have to check out the deflector that you speak of as well. And good idea with the cooling down intercooler.

 

[Ace Holliday]

Be sure to post up your times. A 12 second Ranger is pretty cool!

 

[13 Second Ranger]

I got curious a bit ago if putting the tailgate down on a truck would improve MPG. From what I read it doesn't and actually makes it worse and increases drag. Even having a bed cover according to Consumer Reports resulted in lower MPG than not having one with the tailgate up. Now I don't know if that still applies when trying to drive at high speed drag race style like you are doing but seems it would.

Here are a few sources I ran across. They are not specfic to the Ranger but still interesting:

https://www.hotcars.com/supercharged-f-150-tailgate-up-down/

https://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/26/ford-f-150-tailgate-up-down-mpg-video/

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/08/pickup-truck-tailgates-and-fuel-economy/index.htm

http://xplrcreate.com/2019/08/08/aerodynamics-of-tailgate-closed-vs-open/

Here is a quote from the first article I linked:

I've seen those before.....I wonder how it works with actual performance pulls on the track.

 

[Ronbo]

Try removing your tailgate damper.....

 

[13 Second Ranger]

Try removing your tailgate damper.....

Don't have one....lol...

 

[Ace Holliday]

I've seen those before.....I wonder how it works with actual performance pulls on the track.

Mythbusters did a segment on the tailgate thing. The truck they used was very slightly more fuel efficient with the tailgate up. Better fuel efficiency would indicate less drag.

 

[Ace Holliday]

Try removing your tailgate damper.....

But we all know it adds torque!

 

[Augie81]

I've seen those before.....I wonder how it works with actual performance pulls on the track.

Again I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. Here is the video from the first article I linked where they went to a track in a 2018 F-150 and the results with no cover tailgate up, cover on tailgate up, and tailgate down.



On a side note, wish I could find a place to take my Ranger and test it like that legally. Looks like fun.

 

[Ace Holliday]

Again I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. Here is the video from the first article I linked where they went to a track in a 2018 F-150 and the results with no cover tailgate up, cover on tailgate up, and tailgate down.



On a side note, wish I could find a place to take my Ranger and test it like that legally. Looks like fun.

Find a local or semi-local track. Most have scheduled "Track Days" open to the general public. Many even have "Race Nights" where you run what you brung. I spent a lot of time there back in the day.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I was going to pull the hitch but it's a pain as it's attached to the bumper. I'll have to check out the deflector that you speak of as well. And good idea with the cooling down intercooler.

Look up any video on removing the grill. It's a handful of screws and the deflector plate literally pops out. Should only take about 5-10 min.

 

[Rinn69]

Are you going to lower it ? Almost all the folks on here comment on the loss in MPG's when they "leveled" (lifted the front) their trucks and removed the front air dam. Lower to the ground = more air going over the top and less turbulent air under the truck.... ?‍

 

[Langwilliams]

There's a big time track 45 minutes away from me Norwalk/summit motorsports park. They hold NHRA summer nationals there (well not this year). It's so packed though I don't like going there. There are a hundred 18 second civics an tons of other "sport compacks". Some are fast a few are very fast but most are kids with a fat exhaust on their cars running 16's. I was there for 7 hours one day an got 4 runs in in my 87 notchback 5.0. Dragway 42 is about an hour an a half away..I haven't been there in a few years it used to be very basic as far as services, just a track. I heard it's been updated an upgraded so it might be more crowded now but last time I was there in my 97 cobra I did so many passes I stopped. I was afraid I was gonna break the car with so many runs on drag radials. Probably did 12 passes that night.

almost everyone is nice an helpful at the track. watch a video or two on what to do an expect an do the common courtesies.

 

[aeroshots]

Don't have one....lol...

You shouldn't get one.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

There's a big time track 45 minutes away from me Norwalk/summit motorsports park. They hold NHRA summer nationals there (well not this year). It's so packed though I don't like going there. There are a hundred 18 second civics an tons of other "sport compacks". Some are fast a few are very fast but most are kids with a fat exhaust on their cars running 16's. I was there for 7 hours one day an got 4 runs in in my 87 notchback 5.0. Dragway 42 is about an hour an a half away..I haven't been there in a few years it used to be very basic as far as services, just a track. I heard it's been updated an upgraded so it might be more crowded now but last time I was there in my 97 cobra I did so many passes I stopped. I was afraid I was gonna break the car with so many runs on drag radials. Probably did 12 passes that night.

almost everyone is nice an helpful at the track. watch a video or two on what to do an expect an do the common courtesies.

HI Langely,

Not a drag racer, but a fan of any go fast motorsports. Got involved with a Tecj at Livernoise Engineering who had a 9 second bracket plastic bodied tube frame Corvette. He did much of my SCCA Racetruck builds. He was always battling the car off the line hooking to the right and asked my help with my chassis "expertice". So out to Milan Dragway on a test and tune evening. Having no direct experience I thought this was a waste of his time, but he had confidence in me. So he staged and left at the last yellow and sure enough the car hooked right. We repeated as I watched the rear suspension as I determined it was the rear axle steer causing the car to turn right. Needed to straighten out the rear axle and no, it was not the torque steer either. We pulled the body off the car and I started measuring the rear suspension. I had nothing but a tape measure. Much of the 4 bar links were adjustable but were not an issue....What I found when he built the chassis was that there was a ¾" difference in rear shock attachment, at the top of the shock of the coil over shocks.

A week later we returned to the track after he corrected the coil over shock mismatch and the car launched strait as an arrow. Whew! my reputation as a chassis "expert" was still intact. This guy got a paid ride in a rear engine bracket car...sold the Corvette, bought the rear engine car, and now his breakout time is 5.45....Clearly an "E" ticket ride.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

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