Hey guys i was just curious how many sled pull these 73 - 79 trucks. If you have pics off your truck post them up. Tell me what you are running for motor. An what classes you run. How much do you have in your motor or truck. Kind off learning a bit myself. An who better then to learn from the actual guys pulling. I hope I can get some input here it would really help. Thanks a bunch guys in advance. Also who dis the build on your truck an where did you get your motor for it.

 

Boy i hope i get some response here. Anybody out there with some input.

 

my buddy is runnin a f-250, a 5spd. out oa a 2 ton ford, 60's front and rear, with chromo's and spools. A 460 block, built all to hell, with aluminum John Case heads. the motor dyno'd at about 750. Atlas transfer case, with airride front, adn a mean *** set of leafs, with massive ladder bars in the rear. any more questions, just ask.

 

the ones I've seen pull haven't been anything special (just at a county fair) but I thought it was interesting that they had rigged up a bracket on the front that would hold tractor weights in order to be able to be entered in multiple weight classes.

 

where im from... if u dont pull.. ur a pu$$% a buddy of mine has a 79 with a built 400 D60 and HD44 a rebuilt "heavier" C6 few susp stiffeners and he would be set...but too stuborn to change his tires and i myself have my 77 250 that will be makin its runs startin in the '09 pullin season 400 C6 D60 and HD44 traction bars and some other trinkets the weight bars are all over here.....but as for me.. i also got the all Steel Flatbed to help on my rearend weight

 

These trucks can dominate when built properly. The top 3 trucks in the altered stock class are these style Fords. 2 are 79s and one is a 78. All of them have built 460s with dana 60 fronts and dana 80 rears. Actually one of them just put in the front axle out of an 08 F250. One of the trucks has a c6 but the other 2 have 4spds.

 

Scolesy- Why do you need rear end weight? Wouldn't you rather have your weight up front. The sled usually does a pretty good job of putting weight on the rear end.

 

I hang around the local truck pulls here in western PA and although the team I help out with is a Cummins Dodge in the street stock diesel class, I do pay attention to the gas classes too. 3/4 of the trucks in the gas class are Fords, 1/2 of those are 73-79 Fords. Almost all are running 460's. The top 3 trucks right now are supercabs, as the extra wheelbase seems to help keep weight over the front tires (street stock class does not allow front weights). Those top 3 trucks are all running 1-ton axles, narrowed rears (to offset the track width) and aluminum-headed 460's. Most are running Trick Flow A460 heads with 4spds, one is running Edebrock RPM equipment with a C6.

One key to setting up a pulling truck is to get the suspension as stiff as possible. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is to reduce hopping as much as possible. The second reason is that as soon as the rear suspension drops (or the front raises), you loose the effective height of the hitch. When the hitch drops you are no longer using the weight of the sled to pull the back of the truck down, and you will loose traction much sooner.

I just bought a '77 F150 a few weeks ago that will eventually see some pulling time. The dead 351/C6 is getting pulled in favor of a 460/4spd that I have, and the 1/2 ton axles are getting swapped for a 4.10 geared 3/4 ton setup I have. I don't have the cash flow to be competitive, but it should still be fun.

 

I have specs on my truck in my gallery. It's a 72 body on a 78 frame. Around here the Fords pretty well dominate and are outnumbered by chevy's.

 

Sweet good to here. Glad to here theres a few pullers on the forum. Thanks for the replies an pics. Post up pics off your trucks if you have them. Thanks again. At a truck pull near me this guy had what I called a sleeper truck. Just a basic 72 F 100 4wd.with a 400 in it. With 3;55 rears he puts her in granny low an roars down the track. He enters the stock 5800 pound class. Blew everybody away. Beat some other trucks that you wouldnt think he would. I was talking to him an he says he always places in the top 3 in every pull hes been at. So you never know what can happen.

 

I run a 77 highboy in the street stock class here in western PA also. I don't know how to upload pics though. It has a moderately build 1969 460 with a 4spd dana 60 front dana 70 rear. ( I need a dana 80 though... if anyone has one) Gears are 4:10 with lockers front and rear. We have to have unaltered cast heads in our class, maximum .030 over, max. 750 carb, and no hanging weights in front. Its a lot of fun, but it does take $ and time to compete. Don't be afraid to break it.... if you are, just stay at home. If your making any power at all, its going to break at some point. Trust me. You'll find that if the "bug" catches you, your truck will change quickly. My advice to you is just start big (motor, axles, etc.) because you'll end up there anyway, and its cheaper to build it once. I started just building truck to play with because I liked this style, and maybe I'd do a little pulling. Now, three years later, its 95% pulling truck, 5% occasional street cruiser.

There's a lot to learn, and the best way to learn is seat time. Write down your setup and conditions at each pull, with notes of how the truck pulled and what to maybe try next time. Unfortunately there's no real good way to practice this and accurately duplicate all the forces that are happening while your going down the track unless you own a sled. This is why good notes are important. And pay attention to what the top trucks are doing. Good luck!!

OH and no one is just going to TELL you how to win.... so take anything a fellow puller tells you regarding setup, etc. with a grain of salt.

 

Yes, its a great way to show how strong these trucks were. My brother pull his 78 F-250 NP-435 Dana 60/70 3.54 open gears warmed over 400M
Runs strut bars to the rear shock mounts to prevent axle wind up. He usually just feathers it in the 5500 lb class. In the 6500lb class we put about 900lbs of tractor suitcase weights in the front an he can hammer it at about 100 feet, always pulls better in granny low high range. This takes the absolute best clutch money can buy to move the transfer sled off the line and top of the line u-joints. The 400M with its longer stroke actaully allows you to finese it the first 100 feet more than the 460's. Ran into a nasty Chevy in Minnesota with a $10000 dollar 502 big block and beat him by 13 feet in a pulloff. He had to go relieve himself when we showed him we had the original 400M under the hood of the old Ford.
___________
Mike

 

never done it with mine but would be willing (broken parts means an excuse to replace them, right??) but how would a 79 150 w/ 460 np205 np 435 fair???

 

here is a link YouTube - John Ford OX Roast Mantua Ohio Truck Pulls its a 75 frame with a stock 460 4 speed pulled in 3/4 201 ft clutch sliped bad adj. pulled in 1 ton class and got 207ft
but building the motor now

 

Yeh these pulls will surprise you. That 72 Ford I was talking about really fooled me on how it pulled. That guys had the least amount off money spent an went home with the first place check. An just a 400 under the hood. There were several with a lot more then that were beat by him. I just think that 3 55 rear an granny low was a good speed for him going down the track. He enters the light class only. Lots off trucks will bounce lot but he puled smooth. I offered to buy his truck he said no. Those old 4 speeds in those trucks are dam near bullet proof. They were built tough. My main concern would be the clutch. Lots off torque there. What kind off clutches do you guys use in your pulling trucks.