
What do you do when a successful road racer like, Boris Said and a chassis engineer, (enter Rob Macgregor) get together to built a truck? That’s the story behind No Limit Engineering’s new BIG 10 Chassis, available for Ford F-1, F-100 through 1956, and Chevy ½ ton 1947 through 1959 pick-ups.
You say that you don’t know who Boris Said is? Well he’s better known as the “road course ringer” to his NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors, with SCCA wins at the 24 hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Sebring, and many NASCAR Truck series wins. He really knows what it takes to drive anything hard and fast. The same goes for Rob Macgregor. A newbie by no means, Rob has been “El Jefe” at No Limit Engineering for over 25 years designing, building, and torturing classic pick-up’s each and every day.
You may not be able to identify Rob from a “police line up”, but you’ve seen his work. Responsible for contributing to multiple F-100 National winners, countless magazine cover vehicles, and the creator behind Good-guys 2005 “truck of the year” dubbed “the princess” Rob has held his own.
How did these two meet? From a referral from a suspension manufacture that is mutual friend with both Boris and Rob. When Boris decided to built a 1956 Ford F-100 for himself, they sat down to hammer out the details of what would be required to make a truck really work, something that is fast enough to take on a sports car, strong enough to dish out an ass whooping, and comfortable highway comfort during long hauls cruises to the track, or a coffee shop run down by the coast.
With a clean sheet of paper, the guys set out to cure some of the common problems owners face when attempting to “modernize” a classic pick up. Trucks are known for ill handing, poor brake performance, and horrible steering woes. To their credit, classic trucks were designed as “tractors with doors” and never meant to out-corner a sports-car.
Right away Rob and Boris both agreed that most after-market chassis “flex” while cornering. The typical 2X4 inch box tubed chassis’s weight transfer creates an enormous amount of load which is too much for the frame rails to handle. Even more the weight balance of the truck has always been a problem, so they addressed that right of the bat. In doing so they didn’t want to add more weight to the chassis creating the need for an expensive power plant to compensate for adding weight.
The answer is what you see in front of you. The first thing you see when looking at the BIG 10 is the size of everything. Engineered in sections, the weight is now properly placed towards the center of the truck, where it’s needed most. In doing so this balances the weight of the vehicle disbursing load over both “axles” rather than having a “light” rear end. The name itself comes from it size of the “center section” of the chassis, a full ten inch tall frame rail is designed from channel, and not box tubing. To cure the “flex” a massive “X-member” is engineered into the center section.
Out back, the theme of re-routing weight to the center of the chassis is easy to spot how the boys intended it do. The axle travels thought the frame rather than under the frame, again, transferring weight back to where it most needed. The same goes for the front section. Utilizing the Wide Ride IFS success from No Limit’s “Pro Tech” chassis, improvements were made in weight transfer during heavy “G” loads while pushing the truck through the paces. All of this has been achieved maintaining the stock wheel base requirements, and engine / transmission mount locations, ensuring that the trucks sheet metal and factory items do not need modifications.
Now I know what you’re thinking; yes it’s big, yes it’s strong, so does it fit under my truck, and how heavy is it? Surprise! Yes has been engineered to fit under both Ford and Chevy applications with out modifications, and will sit lower than any stock chassis. Further, the “channel” design of the frame doesn’t add any more weight than a stock chassis. Even better, the components that are required to build a chassis are computer documented, and manufactured for the home hobbyist to install using hand tools and a drill motor. This is a zero fab chassis!
The brake lines, cab mounts, fuel tank mounts, battery box, and so on have been engineered, fabricated, holes drilled and tapped ready for you to BOLT TOGETHER! No limit’s philosophy is that if you can’t put this chassis, or a classic truck together with nothing more than a 300 piece tool set from the same place where your wife buys you flannel shirts, then we re-engineer it.
“Sure it’s a race car but I want to drive it on the street, on long trips with my wife carrying a couple of lawn chairs”, you might be thinking. We do too! Driving trucks is fun, and the BIG 10’s rear “Rocker” style shock linkage, and “trailing arm” set-up eliminates “road –hop” by design transferring the weight forward. Responsive steering via the rack and pinion set up feels like your every day driver, smooth and positive, not all over the place chaos like that “old straight axle”, or “clip-job” done thirty years ago. It’s your choice to run either “Coil-Over” shocks or “Shockwave” adjustable air springs for additional cost.
Take a look at the pictures, and see it for yourself. If your still have questions, give us a call Monday thru Friday at (909) 386-7637, email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.