durallymax
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Well Ive finally had some time to write this up. First time I was almost done and my computer went haywire and I lost it all.
I was going to write it last night but the website was having some problems.
The purpose of this write up is for the pulling rookie who wants to make a few hooks, or the street stock guy who plans on pulling a lot, but doesn’t quite have the full blown truck. The majority of this is just how to pull and what to do to the driveline of your truck. None of it is power related as that is a different topic. There are many other things to do for pulling, but these are the basics.
So here it is, its lengthy but I tried to space it out. Enjoy.
Part 3.
Getting er’ down the track.
NOTE: Every single persons technique and way of reading the track is different, this is merely a broad overview of techniques and you can pick and choose which suits you best and modify it from there.
1. While sitting there with the chain tight you will be nervous and the butterflies will be going like crazy. Make sure your truck is in 4LO, T/H engaged and range selector in “3”. Now your ready to go down the track. A checklist also helps since when your nervous its hard to remember. It doesn’t matter how many times you pull, you can guarantee that every time you will be nervous.
2. Before you let your foot off that brake, pick your line. Basically what YOU think is the best straight line down the track. Try to pick a line that looks consistent with moisture and is smooth with no ruts. You should also be looking ahead of time watching other pullers and where they go and see whats working and whats not.
3. Now that you’ve picked your lines, things get different.
4. As for how to come out of the whole there are many techniques. These include:
Just rolling into it from a standstill which works good on dry sandy tracks so that you don’t spin out right away. This in turn helps you get more speed at the end of the track. However it may be necessary to either manually shift the truck or raise the shift points, because if you feather it out a lot, your truck will shift soon and not be able to really get the RPMs up and it also might downshift when you really get on it.
Hammering it from the get go. Not really sure when to use this as I don’t see the benefit. But I can see it working on a slightly sticky track.
Building boost then rolling into it. This is my prefferd technique. I build to different boost levels depending on the track conditions and then roll into it. I do this by feel, never really watching the gauges or having a mathematical procedure. Just whatever feels right. Which I should add isn’t always right. To build boost, stand on the brake then ramp up the RPMs and let off the brake, it’s as easy as that.
5. Now keep the truck straight and pointed at your destination point. Obviously you want to keep it between the lines and keep it pinned. Letting off basically costs you the pull and maybe the rear half of your truck.
6. If you start hopping at any time, just stop. Your not going o do anything but break stuff.
7. You can stop before the 100’ mark and rehook if you come out of the hole bad. You are given this opportunity only once. You do not have to stop before 100’ you just have to be off the throttle before the front of the sled surpasses 100’ at the officials discretion. If you want to make it loud and clear you can stick your hands up too.
8. They will give you the option to simply back up and rehook or come back at the end of the class.
9. Once you pass the first flagman start looking at the flagman at the end of the track if there is one. He will wave the red flag when he feels you are no longer progressing forward. When he does this push your shifter lever forward and slightly up. This will glide it into neutral quickly without worry about hitting reverse. The reason for doing this is to prevent turbo barking and also to prevent the truck from snuffing out with the converter locked which can make it interesting to get started again sometimes.
10. Now back up and unhook from the sled and peacefully drive away.
NOTE: If you pull first you are the test puller. You are usually given the option to turn your pull down or to keep it. You have to make this decision before driving away from the sled. Simply give an official a thumbs up or thumbs down. If you turn it down you will come back at the end of the class. In some cases the sled operator will want you to come back a rehook simply because he doesn’t think he set the sled right. This does not get rid of your right to turn your new hook down. And he will have you immediately rehook to test the settings. Once he has it dialed in you can now turn your hook down if you wish. Then you will have to rehook at the end of the class.
That’s about all I can think of. Any additions, corrections or tips are welcome.
Thanks.
I was going to write it last night but the website was having some problems.
The purpose of this write up is for the pulling rookie who wants to make a few hooks, or the street stock guy who plans on pulling a lot, but doesn’t quite have the full blown truck. The majority of this is just how to pull and what to do to the driveline of your truck. None of it is power related as that is a different topic. There are many other things to do for pulling, but these are the basics.
So here it is, its lengthy but I tried to space it out. Enjoy.
Part 3.
Getting er’ down the track.
NOTE: Every single persons technique and way of reading the track is different, this is merely a broad overview of techniques and you can pick and choose which suits you best and modify it from there.
1. While sitting there with the chain tight you will be nervous and the butterflies will be going like crazy. Make sure your truck is in 4LO, T/H engaged and range selector in “3”. Now your ready to go down the track. A checklist also helps since when your nervous its hard to remember. It doesn’t matter how many times you pull, you can guarantee that every time you will be nervous.
2. Before you let your foot off that brake, pick your line. Basically what YOU think is the best straight line down the track. Try to pick a line that looks consistent with moisture and is smooth with no ruts. You should also be looking ahead of time watching other pullers and where they go and see whats working and whats not.
3. Now that you’ve picked your lines, things get different.
4. As for how to come out of the whole there are many techniques. These include:
Just rolling into it from a standstill which works good on dry sandy tracks so that you don’t spin out right away. This in turn helps you get more speed at the end of the track. However it may be necessary to either manually shift the truck or raise the shift points, because if you feather it out a lot, your truck will shift soon and not be able to really get the RPMs up and it also might downshift when you really get on it.
Hammering it from the get go. Not really sure when to use this as I don’t see the benefit. But I can see it working on a slightly sticky track.
Building boost then rolling into it. This is my prefferd technique. I build to different boost levels depending on the track conditions and then roll into it. I do this by feel, never really watching the gauges or having a mathematical procedure. Just whatever feels right. Which I should add isn’t always right. To build boost, stand on the brake then ramp up the RPMs and let off the brake, it’s as easy as that.
5. Now keep the truck straight and pointed at your destination point. Obviously you want to keep it between the lines and keep it pinned. Letting off basically costs you the pull and maybe the rear half of your truck.
6. If you start hopping at any time, just stop. Your not going o do anything but break stuff.
7. You can stop before the 100’ mark and rehook if you come out of the hole bad. You are given this opportunity only once. You do not have to stop before 100’ you just have to be off the throttle before the front of the sled surpasses 100’ at the officials discretion. If you want to make it loud and clear you can stick your hands up too.
8. They will give you the option to simply back up and rehook or come back at the end of the class.
9. Once you pass the first flagman start looking at the flagman at the end of the track if there is one. He will wave the red flag when he feels you are no longer progressing forward. When he does this push your shifter lever forward and slightly up. This will glide it into neutral quickly without worry about hitting reverse. The reason for doing this is to prevent turbo barking and also to prevent the truck from snuffing out with the converter locked which can make it interesting to get started again sometimes.
10. Now back up and unhook from the sled and peacefully drive away.
NOTE: If you pull first you are the test puller. You are usually given the option to turn your pull down or to keep it. You have to make this decision before driving away from the sled. Simply give an official a thumbs up or thumbs down. If you turn it down you will come back at the end of the class. In some cases the sled operator will want you to come back a rehook simply because he doesn’t think he set the sled right. This does not get rid of your right to turn your new hook down. And he will have you immediately rehook to test the settings. Once he has it dialed in you can now turn your hook down if you wish. Then you will have to rehook at the end of the class.
That’s about all I can think of. Any additions, corrections or tips are welcome.
Thanks.
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