halerazor

i'm wanting to set my truck up for sled pulling and hopefully have it ready to pull in street class in spring. does anyone make a pulling suspension or just use a lift kit or airbags? what tires are best street or mud tires?

BigBlue

I would think mud terrains would be better cause they would dig in and help pull ya.

Got Smoke?

Sometimes mud terrains do better than all-terrains on a track, but sometimes they grab to much and cause wheel hop and breakage!

The best all around tire for sled pulling that I've seen at the pulls I attend is the BFG All Terrain. That being said......I think BFG's are HIGHLY over priced....so I would recommend a nice semi-aggressive all terrain.

Crimedog

Hands down the best suspension idea I've come across is a solid one. You can really carry the sled, you shouldn't bounce if you use ladder bars. Now, I know you're thinking "I don't want to drive around in my truck with a welded suspension! The wife will never approve!"

Here is where a slick idea comes in. Take a piece of 2"x4" steel tubing and cut it so that it is about an inch or longer than the span between the top of the axle and the frame. Weld two tabs on the axle end and round it out so it fits nicely over the tube. then you can use a U bolt to run around the axle and through the tabs. Cap off the top end and weld a couple of nuts on the underside of the cap (probably do this before welding the cap on) Then drill those holes out in the frame and place two bolts through. It'll take all of 5 minutes to put them in after you weigh up. You should be all right in Street Legal class with this setup. This will give you all the benefits of a solid suspension, but versatitlity of a street truck.

For tires, I've got a failry aggressive set of off brand all terrains. They give me enough bite on clay, haven't had a chance to get them on real dirt in a pull, loose dirt they suck, but any tire will just dig in loose dirt/mud. Remember, most pulls don't allow cut tires and there is a 35" limit also.

SHARPMACHINE

crimedog,


That is an interesting idea... let's see what others think as I am hopping to do a couple of pulls next year as well..

Ryan

Your suspension needs to be "adjustable". A lot of places say no air bags, and no solid suspension in the street class. The removeable blocks with a good set of ladder bars is a good option, if you can run the blocks you install them if it is against the rules at a particular pull you leave them out.

I agree with Mark on the tires at most of the pulls I go to the BFG AT's seem to be the tire of choice, and seem to do fairly well.

CumminsLBC

I live over in lancaster, oh by enterprise engine, which we all know are big into cummins diesels. Diesel truck pulling is really big around the area. All of there customers trucks that i have seen at pulls and such seem to run cut mud terrains, such as parnelli jones dirt gripz, boggers, and goodyear wrangler mt/r's and some run ground hawgs which are big in the gasoline pulling classes. Also, alot of ppl run courser m/t's which are basically just bfg mud terrains but generic. As for suspension a real nice set of ladder bars and no lift in the back because it pulls the axle too far away from the chassis. This then creates alot of bounce off the line and such. If you have ever seen enterprises two famous trucks, the white dodge and the black dodge, they both have enterprises ladder bars and completely welded rearends/suspensions with no springs or shocks and 2.5 ton rockwell axles and pit bull pulling tires.

halerazor

almost all of the pulls require at least 2in of travel in the suspension so that rules out the solid suspension but is a great idea. there is a place here in town that will make me any springs i want. i was thinking of having them make me the stiffest springs they can and then use an air ride susp.along with the springs for the street.

Crimedog

What about getting some of those hydraulic bump stops? I saw them in a 4 wheel off road issue. You can find get them so they compress (very stiffly) about an inch or two and then bottom out. So you won't have a jarring effect of hard bumpstops, and it will keep you legal. Once the weight compresses the stops 2", you have a solid suspension. I'll see if I can dig up some more info in the moring.

sewman

I bungeed a 4x4 block on top of the springs & it hits the bump stops.Stopped wheel hop.
I pull w/35"BFG A-T but it seems like the mud tires do better.
Bob