Competition Your thoughts on the Schied Diesel Extravaganza 2002

[mopars1]

Your thoughts on the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza 2002

I had a lot of fun and saw some of my old friends and got to make some new ones. The days seemed to go on forever and I am a little tired. Glad I didn't head for home Saturday night! The pulls were awsome but the track was pretty sticky and there were some trucks breaking the weak links. I am looking forward to next year already.



One question maybe Sled Puller can answer.



I was down at the end of the stands past the 300' mark when Dave Mitchell pulled and all of a sudden there was a bang and some pieces of metal came flying at my head and I had to duck fast! A lot more pieces went into the stands. My guess was the clutch let go. There was a lot of pieces left on the track. From my vantage point it looked like aluminum from the bell housing. Gene, did you see this and did you talk to the Mitchell's and find out what happened? I was just curious. It was a stroke of luck that nothing came in contact with anybody. That would have been a unfortunate accident if any of those parts hit someone.



Anyway, It was a good time and I applaud all who tried their best to pull the sled out the back door!



I also thank the Scheid people for putting this on!



David

 

[Cousin Billy]

TEEERIFIC WEEKEND

This was my first time at the Scheid Event, but it sure won't be the last. I also saw some old friends and met a lot of new ones.

We saw some great pulls and I finally got on a dyno too .

I must admit, watching the tractors got a little slow at times, but it was a VERY well organized event .

There were a lot of blue shirts (Scheid People) everywhere, bustin' their butts to make the event a good time for everyone there.

The only bad part of it all was the traffic on 41 during the daytime, lots of it. Sure were'nt any mosquitoes though because nearly everybody leaving that "Had Smoke", made Smoke.

Ya just gotta love it. Oo. !!!

Thanks to the Scheid Organization, the Terra Haute Action Track, the vendors , the competitors and countless others for one hell of a fine time. It takes more effort than most of us can imagine to put on an event like this, and to have it go smoothly is even harder.



See ya'll next year, hopefully sooner

 

[Rob Thomas]

Hey guys,



I just got back from the Scheids 2002 event, this definatly made up for me not attending the Nationals, this event was AWESOME!!!



As stated in the other tread, the big boys cleaned up, as expected, however I would like to name a couple of 3rd place guys, that are so far "unknown" to most of us. In the Friday's 8000# dual rear wheels class a freind of mine, Dave Bratt placed 3rd with a pull just over 300', just behind Larry Crawford.



In Saturday night's 8000# open class, another freind of mine, Daryl Poole placed 3rd ONLY behind Dave Mitchell and Dave Gresh, I thought that was very respectable from a daily drivin' truck, great job guys! Both Dave and Daryl are members of the TDR but don't post much, if at all, but I'm sure we will hear their name's more often.



Also said in the other thread, the carnage was very popular on Friday night, several trucks broke when the sled operator dropped the hammer at end of the track, the name of the sled was "Iron Man", and for good reason. Most were fixed by Saturday, where the track was much better, and alot less breakage. I did get good video (" I" think its good) both days of the pulls, unfortunatly, I have no way of posting it on here, onnacounta', I'm not very puter freindy, and I'm dial-up connected. As soon as a can get someone who is able to do this, ya'll will see it, that is if you want to.



Jim Fuller broke on Friday night, (pinion, clean off), he couldnt get it fixed over the weekend, so he pulled the remainder of the broke pinion out of the diff, sealed it up, and drove home in front wheel drive, all 1800 miles worth. Good luck to Jim on his way home, I hope everything works out on the loooooooong drive.



I met many, many, people. It's nice to put face's with names, everybody was great, I had a absolut great time!! Thanks Scheid's, for one hellava show!!! And a great pull by everyone involved!! I can't wait for the next one! (hopefully I'll have a clutch by then)



Later, Rob



BTW, Mean Gene also broke on Friday, hence the lack 'o distance.



__________________

 

[Jff24Gordn]

Mitchel shattered his clutch. There were pieces of bell housing and springs on the track. Those springs were pretty tore up. One was half unwound. Think how much pressure it took to take a 4000# spring and unwind it hard enough to make it stay unwound. Much less half of the pressure plate that was laying there.



Mean Gene is shopping for a better suplier of spider gears.



It was a fun time. yes the days semmed to go on a long time. The drags were fun. Looks like I need a new clutch. But I like my trophy.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Gee whiz... .



I thought I remembered seeing all kinds of safety equipment in the rules that was required on the "Big Boy's Toys" that would prevent the crowds from having to duck to avoid being hit with shrapnel??



I've seen bellhousings explode and flywheels come right through cowls... . The safety stuff really is necessary... . but it can be a pain in the behind.



No flames intended... . just curious.



Matt

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I sure hope no one got hurt when the clutch exploded. It's too bad that those pullers had to find out the hard way--I wasn't crazy after all to worry about clutches blowing with our diesels.





I think Jim Fuller did well to place "up there" near the undriveable pulling monsters with his automatic daily driver from 1800 miles away.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Joe... . "undriveable"??!! Those are harsh words from a guy with a single HX-55 on his truck! Talk about undriveable! (kidding!)



... . all in good fun!



Matt

 

[HVAC]

AAAAArrrrr AAAArrrrrr AAAArrrr

Head butts and high fives to Larry Crawford for another awesome finish.

 

[mopars1]

Joe, I have no idea what the flywheel is made of in Dave's truck and cannot take away from what he has accomplished in his pulling career, and I don't know anything about the South Bend setup either. I do know that JVD Engineering and Machine out of Fairmont, IN makes a flywheel out of billet steel that is machined to the final product. I do think that an upgraded bell housing or more is needed to contain these spinning grenades. Heck, I have to run a trans and bell housing shield on my lowly 10 second drag car or I don't go down the track. There was no Flame at all towards the owner of this very fine pulling truck, I was just surprised as this was the first time I have seen this happen especially from a truck of this stature in the pulling arena.

 

[JFitzgerald]

This was my first Scheid's event and also won't be the last. Met some folks who aren't TDR members. We were only able to be there for Friday, but had a good time. I showed up early in the morning and got on the dyno without a wait. Got a few good "show" deals on parts while there too. Was good to see several first gen trucks there too.



I liked how the trucks without tailgates would have a bed full of dirt after pulling. More weight is good, right?

 

[Briar Hopper]

I don't remember seeing any cast iron in the last 'popular pulling clutch" I installed, but the Donnelly/ Sachs clutch in my truck has plenty of cast iron in it, so I guess I better not drag race with it anymore.

A clutch went out on Mitchell's White Machine? So what? It was bound to happen sooner or later. Research & development, Enterprise Engine is constantly pushing the envelope. We all benefit from that..... Anyone else with ANY aftermarket clutch running at Dave's horsepower level? With THAT many pulls on it?

Undriveable? That's been said before. The White Machine is licensed for street use, and it sees street time when necessary.

 

[Cousin Billy]

Musta hit a Briar nerve

Hey Briar,



Did somebody hit a sensative nerve Briar?





Tell em what you think my friend, tell emOo.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

I know some of you will want to attack me on this issue, but folks, this is in no way, shape, or form, meant to be a bash, so please try to refrain from doing so. If we want the sport to continue we must work together. I am only trying to educate you as to what can happen if the proper parts are not used in the proper application. I was very explicit on this matter some time ago and it was not directed at ANYONE.



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The exploded pressure plate that you see here is an example of what can happen when the wrong parts are used. The pressure plate is to be used in a mid-size Ford truck. It is not designed for RPM or excessive torque. You can, however, with this pressure plate, change the cast iron casting to a steel casting. These pictures indicate that this was not done. Steel will not explode, but when slipped or heated up it will warp and create hot spots, which then takes away from the street ability of the clutch. That is why cast iron is much nicer when used with high torque disk materials. Instead of warping and heat checking, the cast iron pressure plate casting will wear smoothly by grooving the surface.



What I have heard time and time again is that these Dodge diesels do not create enough RPM to cause explosion. And I have had people tell me that even if they do explode at 3500 RPMs that it would not be destructive. Go figure! Try going out to your bench grinder that spins at about 3500 RPMs and hit the stone with a hammer while it’s spinning. All I can say is, DUCK!! Steps HAVE to be taken to protect ourselves when it comes to a sport as competitive as sled pulling. When you combine torque with slipping temperature you can create these kinds of problems. It does not take mega RPMs to cause explosive reactions.



PLEASE, for all who want to enjoy the sport of sled pulling, you must take the time to equip your truck with the necessary parts to protect yourself and others from a serious injury. Demand that your parts are SFI approved or the equivalent. Wrap everything that you can with protective blankets and use cages where possible. This is a great sport to watch and it offers a lot to the events that we come to. But, the philosophy of “run what you brung”, needs to be addressed. If you think that this cannot happen to you and could only happen to Dave because his truck is so awesome, you are wrong.



I did not write this to start a war, or to promote myself, or to bash other vendors, so please do not read it as such. If you have something to offer that can help with keeping the sport for the future, then bring it to the table.



When people compromise their product for monetary reasons, this is just wrong. Safety should be the primary issue. When there is shrapnel flying into the crowd, shame on somebody. I don’t care if it is bell housing parts, input shaft, or clutch; nothing that is spinning should have the ability, if broken, to reach the crowd.



A Vendor that is building parts to take your trucks to these kind of levels should not find out its level at the track at the exspence of me, my wife or my childs life!!!!



My pulling clutch is now NOT for sale untill someone comes up with some sort of blanket. A scatter sheild only protects the driver not the crowd.



Peter

 

[mopars1]

Nice post Peter. I like you stepping up to the plate. As I mentioned in my earlier post I don't know a thing about your product or anyone elses with the exception of one. I do not sled pull and I do not drag race with my truck. I have a stock clutch and have never bought an aftermarket clutch from anyone.



My intention with the start of this thread was to get some attendies of this event to respond with their thoughts and observations. I just mentioned that I was a little surprised about the destruction on the next to last pull. I have NO idea whose clutch Dave uses. I just have to assume it is of his own design.



PLEASE no one start a clutch war on my asking a small question about if it was indeed a part of the clutch I saw flying in my direction. I certainly did not expect any posting like above about clutches. If any bashing starts I will delete this whole thread.



This is pointed to no one, it is just a general nudge to anyone wanting to start a clutch war like has gone on in the past about another type of transmission. I don't want to have anything to do with that sort of thing.



Please think long and hard about what you post here and I would like more comments on what you thought about the time you spent at the Diesel Extravaganza 2002.



Thanks,



David

 

[Doc Tinker]

Because the drift of this thread is more about competition activities, especially track safety, and less about the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza as a whole, I'm moving it into the Competition Forum. If you want to start a new thread to discuss all aspects of the event feel free to do so.



Doc

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Briar, I agree. I wouldn't use the Sachs or any other clutch with cast iron for competition events. That includes the reengineered Sachs that I helped to design. I'd also try to find a steel billet flywheel, rather than using the factory cast wheel. SFI and NHRA have good guidance based on long experience.

 

[Briar Hopper]

I have to agree with Peter here, and thank him for his excellent post... . we really do need a safety blanket/ scattershield developed for our trucks, it obviously reached that level long ago, and we've all been mighty, mighty lucky.

No intentions of starting a "clutch war" or any trouble here, just wanted to clarify a few points, brought out by Joe in his original post, especially the mention of cast iron. Joe, as you know, diesel performance is still in it's infancy, though at times it doesn't feel that way to many of us ... . so getting specialty parts like gauges or even blankets/scattershields made, can be nearly impossible. It seems we have to fight to get anything. But I'm sure there will be a way made, soon.

And this got off topic, a little? I'd like to thank Dan Scheid and crew for another immense fun time, their hard work, friendliness, and excellent service is much appreciated !

 

[Mojo293]

Hey Briar, I heard you had to use drugs to pass my work truck HP. Sounds like your truck did great. Did I miss it, why hasn't anyone said anything about the spanking Scheid's truck put on everyone at the pull. It was obvious they were MAJOR HP above everybody. Great event and I"m glad their truck ran well Friday, I heard they burned a piston though, tough luck guys but you did make one hell of a pass. :--)

 

[csevers]

DIESEL FUN

This event was awsome as I expected, I met more good people and old friends I will plan on next year already, It was well run THANKS TO THE SCHIED people for the set up and the hard work. As far as the pulling goes I wish I could play with them In stead of watch but maybe some time in the future, also thanks to the big players that make the fantastic show on the sled pull even if some parts were broken.



later diesel kings

 

[J@NWC]

Great post Peter It's one thing to take your safety in your own hands as a driver in an event, but to take the spectators safety without them knowing all the consequence's when or if somthing goes wrong is a whole nother ball game!

Most professional motor sports require certain safety equipment that's just the way it is you have it,or you get to don't compete!

If Diesel power is really just in it's infancy how far are the parts going to fly when it matures!

Just an opinion not trying to start "war"

Jason