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Class 7 and 8 front clips


Formerly "Cracka Racing"
We are going to start building our class 8 pretty soon and we're leaning toward the
73-87 chevy. How does the rules that say "Body must maintain the original shape, size, configuration, and appearance" apply to using on of the update kits for the front? Or the "Manufacturers specified year chassis and body combination must be retained"? The Rangers in Class 7 have the new fronts on their i-beam trucks, so does that mean we'll be ok?


Well-Known Member
as long as the motor and transmission match the body type you are fine with any year.


Well-Known Member
I don’t even thing the motor has to match the year and I know trannys are open. Curt Leduc's 8 truck has beams and a push rod engine and its on a new body and know nobody cares. Plus most of us 8 guys don’t want any one to start caring. It keeps it simple this way.

All 8 trucks must have uncut, unbent frames, in nearly there original locations. Know one wants you raise the rear end and build it on a rake increasing rear up travel while it looks to sit level. Engine and tires must be within 2" of original location and you must run a carb and stock grill. Most every thing else is open including track width, but do your self a favor and don’t build it wider than 87" sidewall to sidewall.

For BITD you can notch the frame over the rear axel to increase up travel but this will get you DQed at the first SCORE race you win.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.



Well-Known Member
what about channaling the body, lowering it from the stock position. I know in the rule book it says it must remain in the stock location , but i have seen a few trucks that haave lowered bodies. So is it one of those dont ask dont tell type things also?


Well-Known Member
Its all good tell some one thinks that some infraction of the rule is why they lost. The body should be in the original location when measured to the frame is all I know. But most likely if you need to measure a bone stock truck sitting next to the race truck to see the difference, it fine in my book.

God knows people in glass house shouldn’t throw stones



Well-Known Member
i get it, as to we are also in the process of biulding a class 8 chevy. Good to know ill keep all this in mind when it comes to mocking up body and roll cage.


Well-Known Member
By "channeling" you mean cutting out the floor pan for the frame rails so that the body will sit lower, RIGHT??

We did this w/ a 7open. It was not that effective, but I think if we had originally thought it out better (and did it right) it would have probably given us significant improvement in the way it rode.
If I were you, I’d take look the Best In The Desert Rules for Class 8000 http://www.bitd.com/RULEBOOK_CT_2004.doc and the SCORE Rule Book. The reality is that the Class 8 rules as printed have very little resemblance to what is being accepted as class legal. Nobody is enforcing the rules as written nor are the willing to update the rules to accommodate the state of the class currently. It leaves people like you guessing as to what is legal and what is not. Don’t make the assumption that because trucks with certain characteristics have been racing without penalty, that those characteristics are class legal. SCORE in particular will not challenge the legality of a particular truck until someone complains or protests. Interestingly, last year’s SCORE Class 8 Championship truck and winner of several races including the Baja 1000, was extremely illegal because of frame modifications. When another competitor finally complained, the truck was required to be corrected before competing this year.


Active Member
As the one who complained about the frame being notched for the tie rods to pass
thru, I know there are many other 8 trucks that are also not within the rules, for
example the rules require the use of a stock front grill. Now that has nothing to do
with performance and is something I would never protest but I think it sucks that we
can not get the rulebook changed to represent the present state of the class to make
the trucks that are following the spirit of the rules but not the letter of the rules
legal. We drafted up a revision to the class 8 rules to address these issues and
submitted to Savage but he did not follow up.

Basically, for class 8 (7 open woudl be the same), we wanted to remove ambiguity
and remove restricting that most are not presently following (relating to glass cabs,
etc.) and then enforce the rules that make the class what it is: motor in stock location
unmodified frame rails (except the front bevel cut for the bumper/skid plate), etc.
I also wanted to open the class to turbodiesels and 4wd. And I wanted to clarify
that you can hand a new body on an old chassis (I-beams legal under a 97-up body).