Desert Rides - A Day in The Dirt With McNeil Racing

A Day in The Dirt With McNeil Racing
by Ryan Plowman

Late Friday night I received a phone call from Erik at Flatwheel Productions to shoot Veteran desert racer and builder Perry McNeil testing an older Class 8 with a newly installed McNeil Racing suspension package. Along with the Class 8, a McNeil built Class 7 Open and Perry’s Class 7s trucks were tested.

We pulled in to “Test Central” at Plaster City, and the owner of the Class 8 and a co-pilot were doing a warm up run along the pole line road. The truck was very nice looking, but the rear was setup very soft out of the box. With the 7 open and 7s still on the trailer, the guys in the 8 truck said they would do a quick loop and then turn it over to Perry for shock tuning and the shakedown. We got a few photos in and away they roared.

When the truck was delivered to McNeil Racing, it was 77” wide with 15” of wheel travel front / rear. McNeil installed his 1 ton kingpin beams and radius arms along with a new full floater rear end. Now the truck was 93” wide with 26” of travel in the front and 33” in the rear, and to compliment the suspension he also fitted the custom fiberglass body. This truck had quite a history, including being on its lid in several races beforehand.

Things would finally work out for the truck with the McNeil rebuild…right?

Ten minutes past, then 15…no dust…(quiet, eerie). Just then, we see the co-driver running back along a ridgeline….bad sign! We jumped in the trucks and drove out. He was out of breath and soaked in sweat; The co-pilot said that they had put the truck on its lid and they needed help getting it on all fours. The Driver / Co-Driver, both veteran ½ 1600 racers, had been strapped in, race suits and helmets on, and were unharmed A 2wd Super Duty and the 7s Ranger were strapped nose to tail. Just as the Class 8 rolled back on all fours, there was a loud “Bang!” The tow strap broke and shot through the rear window of the Super Duty! Fortunately, the seat was vacant. Maybe things hadn’t changed?

Perry turned the engine over with the ignition off to clear the carb and cycle the pistons, and then with the flip of a switch, it was running again. No suspension damage, just a few wrinkles in the bumper from impact, but the new skin was toast. New paint scheme maybe? From then on out, it was an incredible day in the desert! All the trucks ran flawlessly, and Perry put on a show for the cameras, pushing the envelope on the ground and in the air!

Perry’s first run on the pole line road was at about 75+- mph, and even after a partial tuning of the rear by passes, the rear end was kicking up due to lack of compression. The front end and 37” BFG’s were soaking up everything like butter! The truck has a 3” King coil-over and a 3’’ 3 tube bypass on all 4 corners. Shock temperatures were checked after the run, and were 124* on the coil-over and 165* on the rear bypasses. The rebound was closed off all the way and the nitrogen pressure was increased to 250 lbs in the rear to give more control; no adjustments were needed in the front.

As you can see in the FlatWheel video, the truck handled much better in the 2nd half and Perry is charging at approximately 90 MPH! Now we had an idea of what the Class 8 with McNeil built suspension is capable of! The plan is to re-valve the coil-over so the shocks run at similar temps while providing additional “adjustability” in the bypass shock; then test the truck once again, however this time they‘ll leave the skin at home! With these shock adjustments and some fine tuning of the engine at McNeil Racing Inc., the truck should become a solid contender over the same terrain at speeds well over 100 MPH with greater stability.

Enjoy the photos and video of the 3 trucks, and look out for more testing coverage in the future from DesertRides.com, with videos from Flatwheel Productions. A Big thanks goes out to Erik and Paul @ Flatwheel and McNeil Racing, Inc. for the hospitality and generosity shown throughout the day!

MCNEIL RACING INC / PERRY MCNEIL
A little more info

Perry McNeil Sr. has been racing on dirt for over four decades! He has compiled an impressive record including over 100 victories in the desert since 1990 alone. His career includes Championships in dirt track stock car racing, victories in Short Course desert racing in the Mickey Thompson Series, and a huge list of Desert Races / Wins and Podium finishes. At McNeil Racing, he designs and produces Off-Road fiberglass for Trucks and SUV’s, as well as builds Pre-Runners and Race Trucks from the frame up.

McNeil Racing is an innovative leader in Off-road Fiberglass design and production for Pre-Runners and Race Trucks, including a full line of Ford, Chevy Toyota and Jeep products. They are well known for the following Fiberglass design innovations:

⋅ Explorer Kits
⋅“Conversion Kits” that upgrade older vehicles to 2006 body styles
⋅“Sport-Trac” conversion kit for Rangers and Explorers
⋅ 1 piece front clips

Be sure to look for the new 86” wide 2 piece front clips that will include their exclusive “quarter panel” extension that flows the extreme width back to the midpoint of the working front door for both midsize and full-size trucks! In addition to the Fiberglass products, McNeil Racing is a full service Fabricator for Pre-Runner / Race Trucks, and has a complete product line including:

⋅Beams, Radius arms from mild to race
⋅Long Travel 4x4 Pre-Runners and Race Trucks
⋅Steering systems
⋅Link kits
⋅A-Arm to I beam conversions
⋅Full and Semi-Floater rear ends
⋅Front and rear bumpers.
⋅Body & Paint.

Check out McNeil Racing Inc., or call Perry Jr. for any of your Off-Road / Racing needs @ 619.463.1361.