I know this is somewhat of a touchy subject for certain pullers but this past weekends pull in kentucky got me thinking.
ALL of their classes were 8500lbs..... This made it much easier for the duallies to pull with tool boxes accessories etc. This also made it possible for me to actually hang a decent amount of weight (700lbs). I was able to also keep all of my tools, lawn chairs, etc. with me for the pull so they didnt walk away mysteriously in the pits.
Some will argue and say 8500 is stupid and too heavy....maybe for a 2nd gen but not so for the new 3rd gens that are born heavy (mine is 7600lbs with an empty cell).

So all you rule makers out there....have a heart for the new breed of 3rd genners, duallies, megacabs that want to compete but arent exactly getting a fair shot at the moment.
The 8000lb designation was given 5 or 6 years back when diesel pickups weighed less..

Times are changing and so should the rules

If anyone agrees or disagrees...please chime in!

 

I think the 8500 lbs class is a little heavy here we havea stock 8000 lbs class,a 8050 lbs mod class and a pro street class I pull me 3500 srw in the mod class with abbout 400 lbs of weight on the front

 

Exactly my point...

Why would you not want to hang more weight? 400 is nothing.

 

I guess 400 is better than nothing but that is with a full tank of fuel, tools in the rear storage area and a heavy brush guard up front

 

More the weight.. the more you break?? Some times... Our 1st gen weighs 62-6400lbs.. Adding 2100?? Ouch... But hey.. at least you guy guys up north have Weight classes.. haha.. run what ya brung down here...

 

I think they should have an 8500# weight class... big 3rd gens get pretty heavy, as you said.

After putting the '05 on a diet, I weighed yesterday right at GVWR (9000#) with me in it, but only a couple gallons each of #2 and water/meth.


X 2 on the goodies "walking away" in the pits... our toyhauler hook-up fell through for the Adrmore Drags this weekend, so we have to run LOADED.

Oh well, won't have to bother with 4HI....

 

I am not so sure I like it bumped to 8500. In my worthless opinion, I think a dualie has an advantage over a single wheel. It may be minimal but its still an advantage with the track of the tires. Add that and the ease to get to 8500 and that makes the advantage greater. I dont like hanging over 500 lbs to my front but thats just me. Now in an open class I think 8500 is fine.

Also I dont think its real fair for the 1st and 2nd genners. But you can always hang 1/2 ton to 1 ton on the front.

There are af ew pulls local in Ohio that have a dualie only class. I would rather see more classes added than lumping everyone into an 8500 or bigger

 

Dan, if you did have the ability to raise up to 8500 it would benefit you because you would be able to hang more weight up front than a dually would.
More weight equals more flexibility. Being able to hang more does not mean you have to. I have ran light before in the past because I figured I had plenty of weight to hold my truck to the ground.
The problem with the 8000 classes for me is that my nose is usually too light and my front end traction suffers.
Its like a kick in the shins when I see LWB 2nd gens hanging 800lbs up front like nothing and us 3rd gen hogs can barely get by with 300 or 400 up front.

 

out here in CA 6yrs ago we decided 8500# was the ticket--for all classes--you hung what you wanted---this year only the mod class will be 8500# --it helps us get more trucks involved, plus we don't have a lot of designated sled pull trucks--most of the guys, me included, use our trucks everyday and to tear it apart and then put it back together isn't an option really---

more classes is what is needed--gonna have to with the 6.7's coming down the road---back east you guys have enuff trucks to do so, but I doubt it changes anytime soon----chris

 

I think 8000 should stay for street diesel but for the bigger classes I wouldnt mind seeing it raised to 8500, think about all the regular cabs Randy aka Redline Ram already has to add around 1k to the front of his reg cab for the 8000 class.

 

Jesse,
But at a certain point I dont think more weight helps a truck that is already weighted down where it needs to be (like Randy's).
But...when you have a truck like say Justin Bowling's who cant hang any weight it becomes a disadvantage for him.

I would jump for joy if I could hang 700 in every street class but for my truck its not a reality.

 

Hang wieght, edit for language if only I could. I have to pull seats, batterys, subs and anything else not welded in just to get to 8k. Wish I could get just a couple more hundred #'s just so I dont have strip it down so much.

 

The class here is 8500 but you cant hang weight... I wish I could hang some so I could compete...

 

you diesel guys got it nice, 700 lbs on the nose, buddies of mine pull gas trucks, 1200 usually what we run on the nose to get 6500, a friend of mine went to a pull and they made him run 8000 street diesel with his gas truck, we have 1200 on the nose and 300 in the bed, i dont think there is anything wrong with running 8500, most of the guys around here would jump big time at the chance to add 500 to the nose if they wanted.

 

Fords are heavy, not many compete cause they got dismantle them to get to 8000 you should see my truck when i pull 8k its a skelton then sunday night have to reasamble it for work, its getting old stripping it and puting it back thats why i wont pull many 8k lbs classes anymore Justins seen my truck when its at 8k even with all striped i am 10-30lbs over