I am looking at a 1990 mighty max (reg cab) that I can pick up for free. I work with the person and see the truck everyday. I'm helping him put a clutch in his other car and as payment, he will give me the tuck. So I guess its really not technically free but pretty close.
I am concerned about a hit it's taken in the back. The rear bumper is badly pushed in almost past the edge of the bed. I've driven it and it tracks straight but the front wheels are scrubbing badly. It looks like the caster is messed up. I'm wondering if the frame on this truck is 'tweeked'. I'm going to have some mechanics take a look to see how bad it is. I don't know if the mis-alignment is from the accident or if its something else but I've not seen a mis-alignment this bad before. If the frame is damged, I think I might puchase it anyways and hope a frame place can fix it.
I have to take the bed off anyways so I'm wondering if there is any strengthening to be done for preperation of a 300-350hp 4g63. I'd like to reinforce the frame a bit to reduce flex under torsion but I don't know if anyone has done this before. Does anyone have pics of their frame work? Is boxing in the frame worth it?
reinforced frames are different from street drive to track cars, in racing if you get hit in the ass, you are doing something wrong!
but on the street, there is alot more to think about , first and formost is safety. You can build the driver/passenger area as strong as you like, but there are crush zones outside of that, the vehicle should fold up like an accordian up to but not including passenger area
the major question about reinforcing a street car is , ' are you putting in structure that can transfer impact into the passenger cab?'
how much twist can the 4G63 put into the frame? that should be absorbed by the motor mounts.
and isnt a little flex good? yes, its part of the suspension, there aint a dragster on the track that dont twist, its designed in
Understood. I'm aware of having to keep the areas that are designed to yield on a impact the way they are but it does seem like putting in a motor that is 4x more powerful than the stock unit would perhaps be hard on the frame or at least flex it more that I'll like. It'd be fairly easy to fab some cross members or just box in the rail since I have to take it off anyways. But it may not even need it. I will know more info on the condition of the frame once I get the box off.
