Hello everyone just have some questions about sled pulling. I am wanting to give it a try it looks like a ton of fun but i am worried about BAD THINGS happening (fill in the blank) haha and that is my question what is the probability of blowing the truck up or ruining the clutch and problems occuring. While at RRE I asked alot of questions about pulling shuch as what gear and tune to start out in. The general concensus was 4lo 2nd gear (zf6). I also have been doing some research on traction bars and pulling hitches that i am going to try and get built before i go. (Are these needed ) my last concern is my wheels and tires i have found that 20" wheels are not the norm while pulling along with 35" tires (what do have have to risk?) Snapping a wheel, blading my tires? I just need to know if tjere is something i am missing and need to know before i do this to prevent failures and i know the fte guys can help? ( on top of all of this i am sure there is no way possible i will win with only 284 hp but i still would like to try it) Thank you in advance.....


JOSH BYERLY

 

Nobody???????????? Some one has to have an opinion at least lol

 

I was hell bent on trying it with my truck. I went to a place not far from me called Buck Motorsports to see the sled pulling. I witness, burned up clutches, multiple snapped U-joints, a twisted drive shaft, broken ball joint, on motor puked oil all over the track and finally on hitch completely ripped off the truck. Not the hook, but the hitch from the frame. That was just one night.

I decided that it wasn't for me! LOL

Not trying to scare you but my truck is a daily driver and it scared the hell out of me to think if something like that happened to my truck while doing it.

 

You're going to have to slip the clutch a lot for sled pulling. Also, over sized wheels and tires mean less torque when starting off (will need to slip the clutch even more).

I'd suggest you find a heavy trailer to borrow and an empty field or parking lot to do a few practice take offs in. That should give you a better idea if you want to try it.

 

WHolly crap mike i have been to a few tractor/truck pulls and have never seen anything like all of that....... that does kinda scare me to be honest...... i have been hell bent on hooking one time but i am afraid it could cost me a truck or a lot of money either way haha
......i have until friday evening to decide if i want to go through with this or not

 

So your saying my biggest worry will be my clutch more than likely ? And the trailer thing is a great idea but i do not know of anyone that has a trailer with any size to it to practice with so this is going to be a shot in the dark (what are clutches running now days) hahahaha

 

Your sig says you'd like some bigger sticks, but you can't afford them yet. It begs the question: How much damage can you afford to repair? My uncle used to go Jeeping all the time (no macho stuff), until he got tired of spending money on all the repairs.

 

i grew up breaking trucks in the woods . if your gonna push the limits of your truck you will eventually break stuff and these motors have alot of breaking power!

 

Very very true and the damage i can afford would be taken out of the sticks and turbo fund which isnt very big at the moment its becoming archery season and inventory isnt cheap haha i do fully understand what your saying if you cant afford it dont do it makes perfect sense. I just want to try it and try to make it out without blowing the truck up

 

I have been seriously considering building a pulling truck. Walk through the pits and look at some of the trucks you will start to see some similarities. Most guys run a street/highway tire, big lug tires just grab too much and break stuff, the street tires can spin easier. Most guys run ladder bars or even block their suspension. With a stock truck you will get some crazy axle wrap and you will squat the springs. Remember you want to run your hitch as high as is legally allowed to try to lift the front of the sled but this in turn will make the sled pull your back end down.

I don't think one sled pull will take out your clutch (even if you ride it pretty hard) unless it is already on its way out. You make take some life off the clutch but if it is in good shape the worst you will do is burn some life off it. The most probable thing you would break (if anything does break) would be a U-joint or your 4wd locking hub. Usually the most common thing I see let go is a U-joint either from too much wheel hop (axle wrap) or the tires bite the track too well. Sure there are tons of things that can break but with the hp you have I wouldn't think you would break much.

I don't have the ***** to pull my truck, but it is killing me to see what it could do.

 

Well you made me feel better about doing this that is for sure untill you said that you wouldnt do it haha.....but i do understand what your saying about the little power i do have i just hope that if i go through with this it doeant cost me a ton of money at the end

 

I'm not going to talk you into it or talk you out of it, that is your decision. There is a possibility that you could break something major but there is also the possibility that you will be just fine. 1 of 3 things happens in every sled pull:
1. You run out of power
2. You run out of traction
3. You break something

There is a pull here every labor day where they have a bone stock 2wd and 4wd class. It is meant for anyone to bring their daily driver and pull. Last year nobody broke anything, the year before there was 1 or 2 break-downs. Seems to be the most times when things break they are running big power or just not set up right.

 

I will just say this to help you decide. I have a buddy with a 4x4 ext cab longbed 24v cummins with 5in turbo back 6637 and 33in kelly safari tires. He has a southbend dd between the repairs from how hot he got the old clutch and the new clutch right at like 2,300 he said. He has hooked and i will say first hook we blew a exaust manifold gasket. Next hook almost blew a u joint before he even got moving started jumping he backed off and didint re hook. Then the last hook he will probably ever do blew a boot off he said he is done now stopping while his luck is still decent on breakage. Best pull giving it all she had was 201ft which was terrible and cost the exaust gasket LOL. I will say hook at your own risk it finds the weak links in the truck and may create some at the same time. Also he always hooks in 4x4lo 2nd a good gear we found. As for a test hook find a decent size tractor or someting that isnt to hard to tow or roll. Then have somebody ride the tractor and ride the brakes a little to load you and go for it and see what the clutch does good luck.

 

Boy ! Maybe its just me but I don't think I would risk my daily driver to that kind of punishment!! I would have a truck just for that ! Least if it busts ya ain't gonna be wearing out the shoe leather!! Good luck!!

Smokie

 

I also can't punish my beloved SD like this either, although the curiosity of what would happen works on me. I have seen a lot of street truck carnage at the track, but around here the pulls are dominated by Dodges, so there aren't a lot of Fords pulling. I have seen 2 Chevys twist their drive shafts off, broken u-joints, broken steering (Chevys), and broken axle shafts. You stand a good chance of burning your clutch enough to make it jumpy. Just not worth it to me. When I head out on a trip with a heavy load, I don't want to worry about what has been cracked or stressed to the point that it could let go & leave me on the side of the road.