ok, ready to designate my 05 as a street class puller. except for whats in my sig i know i need different tires, head studs, mp8, ladder bars, and maybe water/meth and 50-75hp injectors. Planning on dropping the tailgate, spare tire and other unneeded weight in order to drop weights onto the front. My fiance's dad pulls a mini rod and after watching the diesel trucks im hooked. I have a set of the heavy air lift air bags for the rear. will they be enough or should i block the rear also. probably going to run truxxus or mickey mtz's. with this would a 4th gear low lock launch be to much? O, and what about my cp3?????

 

Not an expert, but....

Block the rear to start. Air bag are no good for a real puller. If you dont need head studs now, you wont need them pulling. Keep as much weight as you can in the rear of the truck. The rear axle does most of the work and in a street type puller there is no need to add front weights. Add wieght to the middle or rear of the truck if you can. Make a reciever hitch for pullng that puts it as high as the rules will allow.

Dont know your clutch setup, but it will not last long doing 4th gear lauches if it is anything close to stock. I doubt you could pull 4th anyway.....

 

Wrong.
While pulling then tension of the chain/weight of sled will give your rear end all it needs. Weights in the bed or in the middle are almost useless.
Front hanging weights work that's why any serious puller you see has them out front on his pickup truck. The exception is some weight classes do not allow front hanging weight.

Air bags will get you by for now. In the future blocks will be what you want.

4th low or 2nd high will be the gear you want to run starting out.

 

I have pulled with the tailgate on or off I dont think it makes that much difference. I dont think you need head studs and if you build traction bars build something strong because ones that are not beefed up will bend or break I see it all the time. I run a leveling kit like you do and with my truck its hard to keep the front end down without hanging weight on it even running low tire pressure up front and high in the rear. from what I hear you better be careful pulling that G56

 

No, you are wrong, sir. Total vehicle weight has much more to do with how the stock trucks pull. Nose wieghts are only required when you get up into big HP trucks. If I have watched one, I have watched 5000 of these mildly modded trucks run down the track. What you also seem to miss in your experience with "serious pullers" is that they usually also hang 1000lb+ in the center of the truck when possible.

 

I have to hang nose weights when I pull so my front end doesn't come up and it still raises up while pulling.
I guess that makes mine a serious puller.

Do you hang weight on your puller?



Most diesel pullers never hang weight mid truck or in cab...(unless rules prevent ballast hanging out front).

I am sorry dude but you don't have a clue.

Class weight is always met by any somewhat serious puller....that's a non-isssue. Our class weight is typically 8000lbs.

 

build you a weight bracket and hang as much weight out front as you can. It has consistantly picked me up 10ft from hanging weight to throwing it in the bed. Putting it in the bed helps but not near as much as out front these are 4wd drive trucks not 2wd the more weight you can get out front the better. You also ahve more than enough power to pull 4th low 2nd high never works out for me and is way hard on that G56 but never get to many loose tracks around here.

 

good info so far, didnt mean to start a weight hanging war but i also agree with adding weight out front. my point about dropping the tailgate and spare tire is to free up another 100lbs that can be hung on the front.

 

yes move any weight possible out front, on modified 4wd trucks when there set to pull in the pits you can pick the rear up by hand. guess they seem to think out front is the place to have it too.

 

I hang 500-1500lb over the rear axle, and 200-600 on the nose....but mine is a tractor.

I never said that nose weights were not needed on some trucks. What I originally said is in a mostly stock truck they are not and that total vehicle weight has more to do with how they pull. The only case where you might gain something is a short bed dually, but there are not many of those around pulling. Cantilevel effect on the long trucks keeps the nose down at legal hitch height....you already have a 1000lb power plant up front. Adding weight to the front of bed will increase the leverage over the rear axle and still help keep it biting hard front and rear. If you want then go ahead and hang the weights out front. Just because you are hanging weights off the nose does not mean they are helping anything.

If you have never seen bed mounted weight racks then you have never been around a purpose built puller. Next time you are in the pits stick your head under the tarp on the promod 4x4's. You need to make sure and explain to them that all that weight they have in the center of the truck is a waste of time and they should hang it all up front.

 

The original poster is asking about where to hang weight on his 05 Dodge.
Not a promod puller or tractor.

I have given him sound advice as what has worked for me and works for many others that pull their street pick-ups.

We can argue weight placement forever between classes, tractors, 2wd vs. 4wd but when it's all said and done the original posters truck weighs over 7000lbs and will be pulling in a class this is typically governed at 8000lbs.

With all this said the advice for him to add weight up front is good sound advice and it works.

By your own admission you pull tractors and that's great but I pull trucks and have looked in around and under plenty of other pulling trucks over the years that reside in the class I compete with.
Rarely have I seen weights placed in any other place other than up front.

I guess all of us diesel pick-up pullers are wrong though and your right.

 

+1 I have seen a 4x4 gas puller do the same thing several years back.
He picked up the rear of his 4x4 gas puller with his hand and move it over a couple of inches to get a proper hitch reading for the tech.

 

Have you ever watched a 100% stock or pick-up just any truck with out blocks in the rear pull a sled? What happens The trucks rear suspension is bottomed out by 75-100 ft mark. trust us when we say you WILL have plenty of weight on the rear..

 

you guys have already stated it for me but the only trucks I have ever seen with weights in the center of the truck are the 2wd class trucks because they want to get as much weight OFF of the front end as possible and by having the weights in the middle they can get max weight and control how badly their front end lifts. Not something you want to do in a 4wd class.
Every 4wd truck I have worked on or been around had the bed cut out and just outer skins for bedsides. Most are so light in the rear they will not move in 2wd.

The sled will give you all the weight you will ever want on the rear. It is not hard to make a set of blocks that bolt on in place of your bump stops for ease of removal. Do yourself and your driveline a favor and invest in trac bars for the rear.

 

Since adding weight to the middle of the truck is the best place maybe I should look into building a weight rack for the roof of my truck?