Competition disapointing evening ....

[JHardwick]

..... went to the county fair last night for the truck pulls to do a little PR work (another story), anyway, it was my first truck pull since I started racing dirt tracks 10 years or so ago.



After the super stocks, mod, open etc etc the local boys line up to show their brawn a little. I only saw 1 other '03 in the infield area and I am sure he was getting egged on as much as I was to hook to the sled. I was sure that with all of the wheel hop I have experienced in this truck I would drop a drive shaft before the 100' mark, so I just told all the Ford boys that I didn't want to show them up.



A Ford won with 310' (friend of mine, yes he was all over me)... ..... followed by a Chevy @ 302" or something, no pull offs in the stock division. The closest Dodge was a 2 or 3 year old dually (only dually to pull) @ 290 something.



They split the stock trucks up by weight, which basically split diesel and gassers down the middle except for a couple of heavy gassers.



Of the 15 or so diesels, close to 10 were Dodge/Cummins. While the noise and black smoke of the Cummins was impressive, ALL of the Dodges wheel hopped and broke except for the dually and maybe 1 or 2 others that pedaled it through the hop without breakage. All but 1 of these Dodges were 2nd generation trucks, with 1 1st generation truck in the group.



I like my truck, but that wheel hop is hard on stuff and the '03 seems worse than my '99 was. The guy who won has a Ford dually service truck that I had to pull around the parking lot last winter, and I thought I would lose a shaft in the snow even, due to wheel hop. It's way worse in the mud.



Has anybody experienced this and found a bolt on fix? The rear is pretty easy to fix, but the '03 feels like it's in the front from the drivers seat.



sorry so long ... .

-Jeff

 

[Big MAK]

Sounds like the surface at the event was very poorly prepared. I. e. too hard packed. But then I'm no expert...



I'll put this in the competition forum and those guys will have some good info.

 

[JHardwick]

I didn't know there was a competition forum, lol ... ... ... my bad for not looking any farther than the 3rd generation and links stuff

 

[JHardwick]

nobody has been bold enough to hook an '03 yet?

 

[jtisdale]

I have seen two of them pull, both 3500's and neither one skipped a beat or bounced a bit.

I am by far no expert, but I think track conditions and driving style have a lot to do with it, as does tire size and tread pattern.

 

[HOSS]

I just made my first pulls this weekend in Lynden Washington. It was a tractor pull that decided to invite trucks. There were about 20 trucks 16 were 4x4 and I placed 2nd

We used a 30,000 lb sled and I was the first 4x4 to pull, since they had not done trucks before and we were all new they did not know how to set the sled.

My first pull was an EASY full pull

Adjust sled and pull #2 same thing the sled almost hit my truck at the end of the track!!!!

Pull #3 the guy that runs the sled walks to my truck and say's "you aint gonna get no full pull this time boy!!!"

I start down the track and he was right!!! I ran 210' on a 225' track no hop just a nice smooth pull. The only ones I saw hop were VERY light, a little toyota and a half ton short box gasser.

I think your track conditions were the main problem. IMHO



By the way this pulling stuff is a blast!!!!!!!:--)

 

[BHaner]

Lynden Pull

I think the high percentage of clay in the track made it a much smother ride. If all tracks were like that... I don't think anyone would have any damage.



PS HOSS:

I know... I suck

 

[MMeier]

Boy??:-laf :-laf

 

[JHardwick]

I think you have that a little backwards BHaner. After racing a winged sprinter on dirt for many years, we always looked for a good clay content for better bite. A more sandy surface would be a lot easier on parts.



Anyway, my point was that the Dodges seemed worse than the other trucks, and my '03 seemes worse than my '99 ... ... ... regardless of track prep, it was the same for all makes!



I'm gonna hook it to a K-Worth with double sleeper and brakes dragging, then video tape the suspension at work ... ... . Mr. Pontius and his Ford have won for the last 3 years and I plan on putting a stop to that, lol.



-Jeff

 

[BHaner]

ok... so what would make all the trucks that pulled on that track have a nice smooth ride (except the really light Toyota). . no hopping. One of the guys that built the track said that they hauled in lots of clay for the event. This was my first pull... I just figured it was the packed clay mixture that made it work so well.



Anywho... it was really fun! If all the tracks were like that I would have no problem doing this more. However every time I see a tape of some truck bouncing down the track... it makes my pocket book hurt.

 

[JHardwick]

It appears that we have an open pull Labor Day wekend ... ... . $10 a foot as a side bet. Thats $3,000. 00 to the guy that full pulls against the guy that doesn't leave the hole!



Got any clutch ideas? I know the stock clutch is gonna melt, lol.



-Jeff