S550 The Albuquerque Stripper - Mustang Nosegrind 720 Kickflip Champion Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[JDee]

I have the PP2 kit for 15-17, it uses the GT350 throttle body with an open air intake, and it has a tune from FP. It added zero reduction in lap times and introduced a whole new level of problems due to the "no lift shift" feature. Full throttle power shifts can have pretty frightening results when the rear end breaks loose at 100 mph. Basically, unless you are the fastest clutch man alive (unlikely given my advanced age) and like doing dragger style power shifts (I don't) the damn thing stutters like mad on upshifts. The closest tuner to me refuses to try to tune it, they said that throttle body is a problem child and will only take it on if I put the stock TB back on, which I am leaning towards doing. I heard that the GT350 throttle body is digital or something like that which supposedly causes problems for tuners, no idea if that's true or not.
I regret totally putting the thing on, complete waste of time and money, zero decrease in lap times and potentially not good for the motor. I've learned to live with it and minimize the issues over time, but it's still junk AFAIAC, even the local Ford dealer doesn't want to touch it in terms of reverting to stock TB and tune.

 

[Fabman]

They refuse to work with California, despite me offering to sign something or show my race license. I understand the CARB stuff. They also refuse SCT on the 18+ over drivability concerns, but will do 15-17 no problem. If I wanted to switch to HP Tuners RTD, I'd have to ship the device out of state, and go through all these silly hoops, and regardless of how good they may be, that's to much of a hurdle for me, plus the time difference makes things like remote tuning and support more of a challenge. By no means am I trying to bad mouth them, I just perceive too much effort for too little reward, and they don't want legal threats if I turn out to be weenie who rats on people because I did some donuts at a cars and coffee.

Why not call Shaun at AED...?

 

[PaddyPrix]

The closest tuner to me refuses to try to tune it, they said that throttle body is a problem child and will only take it on if I put the stock TB back on, which I am leaning towards doing. I heard that the GT350 throttle body is digital or something like that which supposedly causes problems for tuners, no idea if that's true or not.
I regret totally putting the thing on, complete waste of time and money, zero decrease in lap times and potentially not good for the motor. I've learned to live with it and minimize the issues over time, but it's still junk AFAIAC, even the local Ford dealer doesn't want to touch it in terms of reverting to stock TB and tune.

The 15-17 GT350 TB is analog and as I doubt the GT350 changed anything with its demise around the corner, I'll assume (I know, I know) that all GT350 TB are analog. The Bullitt and Mach 1 TB being mated to the Gen 3 Coyote makes their TB digital, and if somebody 18+ like me hadn't been paying attention to that detail and mistakenly ordered a GT350 TB it'd require some sort of $400 adapter, instead of just getting the right one which would just plug and play, without having to do any sort of harness re-pinning.

(Une bol de flocons de maïs, enlarged to show detail. Not compensated, so with that being the case, f*** them.)

Given that the Bullitt/Mach1 digital versions only came about a few years ago, and the GT350 version being available for longer, and even in much higher volume given the PP2/PP3 versions, I find it somewhat curious that your tuner is jumping on that as a potential excuse without any real definitive evidence, the analog to digital in theory should be night and day. Regardless, sorry to hear that, it's a shitty feeling that I'm sure we've all felt and can sympathize with. I would think that you'd benefit from a GT350 intake which would open things up some and really make that start moving some air, especially up top. I know the Gen1 Coyote intake has 2.8" runners and 569ci intake volume, compared to the Gen 3's 3.875" and 665ci, which is darn near to the GT350 which I'm seeing as 4.125" and 671ci.

Also interesting, is that from what I'm seeing Bullitt and Mach1's tune to, I wonder if they mushed the numbers a touch on the 18+ on purpose to give the special models a little more for selling points. Other than my longtubes and e85, I'm at 470rwhp, and just about where an otherwise stock tuned Bullitt and Mach1 are, and with the two intakes being of almost the same volume and just off by 1/4" runner length, perhaps I should just treat them as equivalent and work on my driver mod instead.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Also just completing the s550 intake manifold nerding discussion :

Per Motortrend, (readabililty/reformatting mine)

2015-'17 (FR3E),
2018-up (JR3E), and
GT350 (GR3E) long-runner intake manifolds.

Ford engineers took the lessons they learned from the GT350 manifold and applied it to the 2018, which included lowered runners for a low-profile hood, up tilted throttle body for fitment, reduced bell mouth opening cross-sectional area for better torque, and reduced overall volume to fit the smaller 5-liter displacement. The runner is wider than taller, which is where you'd prefer to have its area—to follow the wall instead of being up and above the wall.

"The GT350 CMCV manifold was tuned for high rpm and needed to rev to 8,250 rpm. The runner length for a 2015-'17 manifold was designed for a 7,000rpm peak, so the runners are effectively shorter and larger in diameter. That whole program came together very fast and the manifold was effective. Also going from an 80mm to 87mm throttle body was a big help." Born notes that the 87mm throttle body wasn't needed on the 2018 GT manifold to hit its numbers.

So now I'm wrestling with buying (or 3d printing) the 87-to-80mm adapter plate, using the 87mm Bullitt TB, and big boxed Steeda intake. Do you think that the 10% larger TB (although, it goes through a reductive adapter), and much larger CAI are going to increase power another 20-25hp? I'm leaning towards no, especially with the two parts costing ~$750, plus whatever an additional tune file/tuner time is worth.

 

[bnight]

Also just completing the s550 intake manifold nerding discussion :

Per Motortrend, (readabililty/reformatting mine)



View attachment 73177



So now I'm wrestling with buying (or 3d printing) the 87-to-80mm adapter plate, using the 87mm Bullitt TB, and big boxed Steeda intake. Do you think that the 10% larger TB (although, it goes through a reductive adapter), and much larger CAI are going to increase power another 20-25hp? I'm leaning towards no, especially with the two parts costing ~$750, plus whatever an additional tune file/tuner time is worth.

For the 2015-2017 cars there is a point in changing the Intake Manifold to ether GT350 or 2018+ mostly because both make power up to 7500 RPM the GT350 one is making more power up top so from racing perspective it should be better. However for a 2018+ car like yours changing intake is a moot point and the Bullitt/Mach 1 cars have GT350 intake just because clearly Ford have a lot of this made and is making the car looks more special with that open CAI. However for racing car is better to go with a Closed CAI because engine bay has a lot of heat in it especially if you are not running hood vents and that way your open CAI is sucking in hot air. A lot of GT350 track owners are boxing the CAI and in fact the GT4 cars are running closed stock CAI (though they are down on power to 450 bhp anyway). Steeda is selling a great closed CAI for 2018+ cars and it's race tested and proved to be working better than there open CAI. Based on your mods I think you are overall maxed out or very closed to be maxed out on the N/A route considering you have Long tube headers and CAI and I assume a good catback. Power wise your other options besides improving airflow and heat is to go with Stage 3 Cams which if you find a good tuner will yank that 20-40 hp you are looking for. But this might open up a big can of worms with since motor is out I might as well.

 

[JDee]

That PP2 kit that I have came with what is supposed to be the GT350 open top intake. It sits right under my left side hood vents and I learned real quick how much rain can get in there and how those GT350 air filters don't like being wet. Lexan top made and installed in short order. The presence or absence of the lexan top made zero difference in performance, but it keeps the filter dry. I kind of chuckle when I read reviews and guys are saying they could feel the increase in HP in their butt. Bullhist. That whole PP2 thing was a great big nothing burger in terms of increased performance, the lap times don't lie.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Steeda is selling a great closed CAI for 2018+ cars and it's race tested and proved to be working better than there open CAI. Based on your mods I think you are overall maxed out or very closed to be maxed out on the N/A route considering you have Long tube headers and CAI and I assume a good catback. Power wise your other options besides improving airflow and heat is to go with Stage 3 Cams which if you find a good tuner will yank that 20-40 hp you are looking for. But this might open up a big can of worms with since motor is out I might as well.

Aaaaaawkward


Motul bottles for size reference. And yeah, that is about the same conclusion that I've come to. However, since cams are going to be a few thousand dollars since we have to buy 4 of them, I'm debating whether I just get this weighing as low as I can and just get better tires, shifting from TT to ST changes my competition from similarly heavy cars but super powerful to smaller factory race coupes like Porsche GT3 Cups and Audi RS, so how much power do I really need? Won't lie though, 500rwhp would have sounded damn cool to brag about on the internet

 

[bnight]

Aaaaaawkward
View attachment 73205View attachment 73206

Motul bottles for size reference. And yeah, that is about the same conclusion that I've come to. However, since cams are going to be a few thousand dollars since we have to buy 4 of them, I'm debating whether I just get this weighing as low as I can and just get better tires, shifting from TT to ST changes my competition from similarly heavy cars but super powerful to smaller factory race coupes like Porsche GT3 Cups and Audi RS, so how much power do I really need? Won't lie though, 500rwhp would have sounded damn cool to brag about on the internet

500 rwhp shouldn't be a problem with 2018+ motor with a good tuner. I think AmericanMuscle had a video about it. Ether way put that Stripper on a diet weight reduction is better than HP to be fair but it will be mighty hard to get it down to Porsche GT3 Cup level weight wise not impossible but I doubt you can get it done in a few weeks time.

 

[biggsy]

How is the Steeda unit working out?

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Weight reduction is always good as bnight mentioned. The old rule of thumb is every 100 lbs. lost is 1 full second gained on a 2 mile road course.

 

[PaddyPrix]

How is the Steeda unit working out?

It's not, sadly. So somewhat bummed about my change of heart for the Mani/TB, I tossed on the Steeda CAI, and had to do a little finagling and shaving so that I could get the snaps to clamp on. It's a huge 121mm mouth, and went to load up. Started up, turned over a few times, and then sputters out and dies. Did this a bunch of times, and as I'm trying to not piss neighbors off and after a long week, trailer in the front and truck loaded, start thinking about what in the hell I could have missed, disconnected, forgotten, etc. Pulled out the laptop, diagnosed it, and after connecting/disconnecting everything, checking fuses, pulling voltages and whatnot, found out that it's the MAF. Obviously now, it makes sense, with that thing being so f'n huge and what, like 50% larger, the MAF is seeing very little air come through, assumes that it's in the stock housing and seeing no air, and kills the engine for safety reasons. So, I went back to the ol' tried and true, and things started up just fine.

Not speaking negatively about Steeda because it's hip and cool, but it has some things that irk me, and just wanted to point out for other perspective buyers/people. First, it is f'n huuuge, and I wonder on some N/A road racer, is it perhaps too much? Taking that MAF issue deeper, I know it'll take a tune, and they'll have to adjust the voltages and airflow at various speeds, and with it being able to potentially pass a bunch of air, the now smaller MAF element in relation to the tunnel seems smaller, which makes me wonder if it'll become somewhat less accurate as it's potentially sampling a smaller percentage of the airflow, whereas before, it looks like it's almost dead center on the stock unit. The other concern is that it's really just the bend to the TB, and the upper half of the airbox to that elbow, with you retaining the stock lower box and the snorkel that comes out between the headlight and center grille. If the upper portion is a huge 121mm neck, and then potentially the ability for that to draw in air through the filter becomes my limiting factor... although, I can get it up there on some courses, so perhaps it's much about nothing.

In the end though, I'm like $450 into the intake, and probably another $175 into the tune, so is potentially 15-20hp worth $625? I don't know. The tuner I had been talking to off and on for a month completely ditched me, which is ... exactly what I guessed what would happen, I'm not going to force somebody to take my money who doesn't want it, and it's not like I've got so much that I can even afford to do so, perhaps I got lucky a second time. It'd also be hard for the dyno to see that as sure, a fan is pushing air, but I'm stationary, and that fan isn't pushing 100mph or anything close to it. Not nagging, I also don't like how I guess they use some sort of hole saw to drill things, either the rubber bungs are too small, the holes are oblong, or a combination of the two, but I don't feel very air tight, and a slight touch will let them pop back in. I've got some of that white tape you wrap around copper pipes and home plumbing, so here's hoping that helps it make a better seal.

Weight reduction is always good as bnight mentioned. The old rule of thumb is every 100 lbs. lost is 1 full second gained on a 2 mile road course.

I must talk in my sleep, because you guys are inside this noggin o' mine. I was thinking about changing to a lighter metal for my exhaust and likely saving 40-50 pounds. The only downside I could think of is that something thin-walled would be even louder, and perhaps amplify it even louder, blackflagging me at Laguna from all the way down here in Mexico. That'd be fun for regional races, but I'd have to go back to big ol' heavy stuff for nats, and then figure out how to stuff in some resonators, mufflers, and reroute it through the front grille, and around the doors.

500 rwhp shouldn't be a problem with 2018+ motor with a good tuner. I think AmericanMuscle had a video about it. Ether way put that Stripper on a diet weight reduction is better than HP to be fair but it will be mighty hard to get it down to Porsche GT3 Cup level weight wise not impossible but I doubt you can get it done in a few weeks time.

I'm not accusing them of anything, but if somebody has a financial or vested interest in something, numbers can be manipulated or misrepresented with ease. I'm no expert, but I'd like to see that dyno sheet, because I find that hard to believe. Ale and I have very similar setups on our 18's, and we're both 20-30 rwhp below that number. I'm going to guess they're reporting the older calculation style, STD, where SAE is a corrected number with a smoothing factor that filters out some of the noise and outliers, and takes into account things like the temperature, air density/elevation, etc, so that you could take one car to Denver and get a similar reading to New Orleans. Granted, each dyno has its own quirks and whatnot, I mean, just look at this guy



TALK ABOUT QUIRKS!

That was perfectly legal until the other day, I mean, fit the rules precisely to a T, but heh, c'mon man. That's an awful lot of torque for something that makes so little horsepower.
(For those of you who don't run NASA, we go by Average Horsepower. Find your peak HP, and its RPM, then add so many RPM points above it (+250, +500...) , and below it, and average the points out. So by having a car with "so little" hp, they get to run in a wimpier class.)

 

[PaddyPrix]

Did have some fun adventures this past weekend though. Snapped the ol' splitter, broke the bumper, repaired the bumper, built a new splitter, and it felt surprisingly strong.

Went out on 12+ HC Yokohama A052's, broke out the brand new Goodyear Eagle RS DOT Slicks for the last Saturday session where I just put around and did straight line accel/stops with very little work on the shoulders (couldn't find any burn-in guidance from them, so just took it easy) and put them up for the night. Brought them out the end of Sunday and while I got answers, now I've got even more questions, and perhaps some answers.

So, perhaps I talk about them for a second. I had wanted them to be a slightly cheaper R7, hoping a more value option for Super Touring. I got a lesser performing A7. If we assume that I'm an okay driver, on an okay car, back to back 1:47.3 show that I can at least be consistent. There was no traffic, end of the day, clean, warm track, no heavy wind, low-mid 70s temperature, which is about as good as it'll get. They started falling off on the 4th lap, and I decided to pit early in the 5th.



Is a 1:47.3 fast at Auto Club Speedway? Yeah, I guess, 3rd fastest time on the day, with the prototypes not running transponders, but then these are also not all race cars, with the low 1:50's being powerful street cars on 3R's and some with cages, stripped interiors, etc.



Where it gets hard is that for competition, it gets tricky. In NASA, unless you're distinctly called out by manu/model, you have a mod weight of 0, where non-DOT Slicks are a -0.5 penalty, and varying combos of street/track tires are +1.0 (RE-71, Cup2), and +1.6 (Toyo RR/NT01). The 0 category also includes the A7, R7, and 3R which are known quantities with very solid performances. Last year the 3R won just about everything because they did it by treadwear, where the "200" on the 3R gave it a bonus allowing others to run more power or weight. Last year at pretty much this same exact time of year, on the same car, similar mods, and let's say a year less of driver experience A7's did a mid 1:46, which makes these 3/4 a second slower, giving it the benefit of a doubt, fine, half a second. Every second counts, and so in a Time Attack/Trial setup, winning is winning, I'd go with an A7, so A7 wins there. For super touring, I could have run it longer, but I lost confidence in 4 hard laps, and yeah, I could have smoothened up my driving, but that'd also cost me a bunch of extra time playing tire heat management on this. The part that really hurt was the day before in a very similar fashion, I had 12+ Heat Cycles on my Yoko A052's which I think we could all agree is on the decline, and ran a 1:47.1 ... and, on the 6th lap in that session. As it stands right now in NASA, the A052 is a +1.0 tire, which means I get more allowances to run more power/less weight, and so if I can perform on a dying tire better than a brand new one, I'd go even faster if I could shed more of that weight or add some power, in theory, anyhow. Plus, the A052 is about the same price, so A052 wins there. So let's say you're looking for a cheap HPDE tire that gives pretty good performance, well, why wouldn't you use a NT01 or Toyo RR? I'm not sure how many heat cycles this new tire will go, but I strongly doubt 20-24 as I've had on NT01/RR in the past on this. Is it faster? Yes, no doubt. Is it as consistent? I doubt it. The NT/RR will also cost about 30% less, so for a value conscious driver, the Goodyear Eagle RS loses again.

However, these are just my feelings, I'm not ready to kill the whole tire just because of what could have been one lousy 10 minute tracking, and after these 2 sessions, I know what it's not. I'll still keep running these for HPDE's, but it's a weird tire that is a solid B+ -- like me, a jack of some trades, master of none.

 

[bnight]

I'm not accusing them of anything, but if somebody has a financial or vested interest in something, numbers can be manipulated or misrepresented with ease. I'm no expert, but I'd like to see that dyno sheet, because I find that hard to believe. Ale and I have very similar setups on our 18's, and we're both 20-30 rwhp below that number. I'm going to guess they're reporting the older calculation style, STD, where SAE is a corrected number with a smoothing factor that filters out some of the noise and outliers, and takes into account things like the temperature, air density/elevation, etc, so that you could take one car to Denver and get a similar reading to New Orleans. Granted, each dyno has its own quirks and whatnot, I mean, just look at this guy



TALK ABOUT QUIRKS!

That was perfectly legal until the other day, I mean, fit the rules precisely to a T, but heh, c'mon man. That's an awful lot of torque for something that makes so little horsepower.
(For those of you who don't run NASA, we go by Average Horsepower. Find your peak HP, and its RPM, then add so many RPM points above it (+250, +500...) , and below it, and average the points out. So by having a car with "so little" hp, they get to run in a wimpier class.)

Firstly I think Steeda sell the CAI with a Tune and an adapter for OEM style TB's and with that in mind I don't think this or any aftermarket CAI work's without a Tune I suggest you get a hold to PalmBeachDyno and get a tune for that baby. They have some experience with Track Cars as they tune Billy Johnson's Mustangs and are very good based on videos though maybe expensive out of state who knows. Regarding numbers 500 rwhp should be easy achievable with a tuned car as OEM tune had some power locked out not to mention is not ideal for the race track because of things like pulling timing or rev hang etc.

Second your tires tests are killing me by the data looks like Yoko A052 are the best but my local dealer upped the price on them like 50% and now they are more expensive than AR-1's. So don't know what to do with tires. And I need some for my new wheels.

 

[Ewheels]

500 rwhp should be easy achievable with a tuned car

I'm sorry, but this comes off quite rude in my book.
Patrick is telling you he and others have done intake, headers, tune, E85 and still can't get to 500whp and have the data to back it up and then you double down and claim it's easy.

Do you have 500whp? Are you actively trying to achieve it? Sounds like you're making claims based off American Muscle's potentially biased video without putting in the work yourself and without data to back it up.

 

[biggsy]

Damn. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case with the steeda unit. I was thinking about moving to a sealed system but it looks like I’ll just make my own for my JLT. I think this is the first time where I’ve seen someone make sense of the design and engine not turning on or working as it should. There were several posts on M6G that some would experience the car cut off after coming to a stop. At least that is what I have experienced with my 18+ JLT (120 MAF) and 18 ported manifold on my 17GT. I increased the idle RPMs and it cut down the occurrences of that. I know some suggested it was the MAF sensor location. I don’t have much knowledge about this stuff but what you said made sense.
Next question I have is in hindsight after putting the time and money in, do you think cams and CJ manifold should’ve been the way to go?

 

[bnight]

I'm sorry, but this comes off quite rude in my book.
Patrick is telling you he and others have done intake, headers, tune, E85 and still can't get to 500whp and have the data to back it up and then you double down and claim it's easy.

Do you have 500whp? Are you actively trying to achieve it? Sounds like you're making claims based off American Muscle's potentially biased video without putting in the work yourself and without data to back it up.

I have a Gen 2 and it can't make more than 460-480 rwhp. But based on info around the net it's just a matter of finding a good tune. Never done it myself and didn't wanted to sound rude to be fair. Just wanted to help Patrick out and point him to guys that know what they are doing. Ether way there are a lot of treads both here and in the other forum that are backing that up in fact just Steeda CAI on a friends car made +40 rwhp with the right tune on a 2017 GT same as mine.

 

[PaddyPrix]

For what it's worth, I'm actually not able to use PBD for a couple of reasons. First, I have an SCT BDX (x4) as my device, as suggested by my first tuner. They ditched me over some sillyness, and on very short notice, I called up Jon Lund and had a tune for my simple e85'd, Longtubed Coyote which has done me well for the last 2ish years at about 470rwhp. As much as I'd love to continue working with them, for various reasons, they don't do anything with SCT. For different reasons, PBD also does not work on SCT for the 18+ Mustangs, but perfectly happy to use them with 15-17 and earlier models. To work with PBD, I'd have to get an HP Tuners device, and a tune, and pay an additional fee to use e85, which would work out to about $1000 or so.

Since I live in California, there are some legal restrictions about emissions controlled vehicles, which I understand, but as a full-time race car don't technically don't apply to me, but I understand that people say things and they can get in some hot water. I've offered to sign something, pictures of race licenses, etc, but no dice. I could sneak my mom some money and have her ship it cross country, but I don't believe that PBD, or really anybody is better than Lund -- or so much better to make it worth the effort. From everything I've seen and read, the 18+/Gen3 dials up the complexity a few notches because it has both PI and DI, whereas the previous generations are only the PI which has been done forever. Toss in IMRC, CMCV, TiVCT, and you've got moving parts galore. When I was looking at full time engine management solutions, thinking that I couldn't get much more performance out of the stock system, no matter who I called, they all refused to work with the Gen3 Coyote, and this was as of... maybe 2 months ago. MoTeC wanted me to go to Gen2 heads and Gen2 cams, which are convenient as that will bypass the Direct Injection, pretty much the same for AEM. Not looking to go to something like MegaSquirt, and at that point, I'd be losing power and have go work even harder to make it back up to get me to where I am now, which is still among the weakest in my class. The entrepreneur in me wants to turn that challenge and problem into a business, maybe, but that day isn't today. Maybe I'll give it a shot during our summer break.

Second your tires tests are killing me by the data looks like Yoko A052 are the best but my local dealer upped the price on them like 50% and now they are more expensive than AR-1's. So don't know what to do with tires. And I need some for my new wheels.

Having run both, I can confidently say that the A052 are faster than the AR-1. How much I guess depends more on you, your setup, the track, conditions, etc... hell, the A052 were technically faster than the brand new Goodyear Eagle RS. So as amazing as the A052 are... are they 50% more expensive faster? That's a lot of money for maybe a second or two.

 

[bnight]

Having run both, I can confidently say that the A052 are faster than the AR-1. How much I guess depends more on you, your setup, the track, conditions, etc... hell, the A052 were technically faster than the brand new Goodyear Eagle RS. So as amazing as the A052 are... are they 50% more expensive faster? That's a lot of money for maybe a second or two.

Thanks for the very detailed explanation on the whole tuning a 2018+ car problem. I hope you will find solution but sounds like it's time to put the pony on a diet and I'm not sure how much you can shave off of it considering you are running without interior. Ether way I'm sure you will find a way to close that gap. Here A052 in 295/35/19 are same price as AR-1 in 305/30 if the A052 are faster maybe I will get that also 295 will be easier to tug under the front of the car and will help out better with gearing for my local track because i run 3.55 rear. So I might get that instead of AR-1. Thanks for helping out.

 

[PaddyPrix]

So last weekend out, I broke my splitter after about a year, and then went a touch too fast into a cone, and broke the bumper. Did some nice zip-tie work and then made a quick birch bumper which was much stronger than the crap I was using before. Anyhow, been waiting and sitting on this one for a while so decided it was the right time to break it out.

Wrapping the cavernous bumper is a pain until you realize that the pros also use inlays and underlays, and oh what a difference it is to use quality material. The vVivid I had used previously was the most high tack think I've ever used and very unforgiving should you make any mistake, and this 3m 2080 is just so much more pliable and consistent. Not sure if I can finish the car, but might as well give it a shot, perhaps the hood too. Figure this is the time I go from eyesore to earache.

So I went to re-use the the birch board, took off the air fence, and slid it in to find like no room. Where before I had a 6ish inch gap between, I've got maybe an inch or two to the far edge. It's also so much deeper, which might cause me issues when I load it into the trailer, whereas the old one just cleared the U-Haul lip. Anyhow, felt nice to clean up, it won't last long, but you only live once.

 

[5.2 liters of democracy]

So I went to re-use the the birch board, took off the air fence, and slid it in to find like no room. Where before I had a 6ish inch gap between, I've got maybe an inch or two to the far edge. It's also so much deeper, which might cause me issues when I load it into the trailer, whereas the old one just cleared the U-Haul lip. Anyhow, felt nice to clean up, it won't last long, but you only live once.

I know if my case with the R splitter, I can't clear the U-Haul lip. I have to back on and add some 2x8s (I actually bought 2x12s but had to cut them down since the U-Haul ramp is a little over 16 inches per side) where the rear wheels will sit. I also have to add a small length of those cut up 2x12s on the ramp area where the straps lie to make sure my mufflers clear the lip. I have to lie those down again to unload it. The other important step is to curse at yourself for spending trailer money on useless things like food, water, significant others, etc. as you have to climb over the center console because the U-Haul wheel arch only goes down on one side. Here's an example of my wood layout, patent pending of course: