pulling street semi trucks

CTD03

CTD03

One Hot 03
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
1,115
Just wondering if any one else Is doing this. We have trucks called the pa posse. And they are tuff running street legal semis.


Intro...
 
Got one here! I'm no where near the posse. Just have an old small cam 350 Cummins. My dad pulls a 88 KW W900 with a Cat 3406B which is tough around here but no competition for the Posse.

Most of the Posse guys are running big KTA 1150 Cummins all spiced up. Except for Jerry Ray, and supposedly he is running a Cat of some sort. I wouldn't be surprised if the Posse guys are making 2,000+ horse. They're big time pullers!
 
We have a few that run around together here. Nothing incredible but to put on a good show week in and week out
 
I am building a mack v-8 to run in the posse. There is a couple other guys running v-8 macks. Jerry ray's truck is a C-16 cat. To be competive in that class you need to be around 1800-2000 hp.
 
thanks guys. Really would be fun to get into the street semi pulling. I see trucks all the time for good prices just not sure what to look into for the right semi. plus I am not sure of all the DOT rules. I have class B but I don't drive for anyone. I just have them..
 
CTD03 said:
thanks guys. Really would be fun to get into the street semi pulling. I see trucks all the time for good prices just not sure what to look into for the right semi. plus I am not sure of all the DOT rules. I have class B but I don't drive for anyone. I just have them..
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With a class b you can drive a semi truck just no trailer. (Unless its under 10k gvw , which would look pretty funny)

There are some semis that pull in my area and are a blast to watch. Some of them are definitely not stock trucks. Here are a few videos of them the past few years.

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PoeEGIFQShA"]HOT SEMI TRUCKS AT THE 2013 WILMINGTON, OH JUNE 14TH PULL - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_622S_VS8WY"]ALTERED SEMI TRUCKS AT THE 2012 SPRING WILMINGTON, OH PULL mpg - YouTube[/ame]
 
The PA posse trucks have went away from the street legal part of the class and now you have to qualify to run with them now, it seems a lot of them are now running weighted slipper clutches, that alone takes most of the street driveability out of them.
 
CTD03 said:
thanks guys. Really would be fun to get into the street semi pulling. I see trucks all the time for good prices just not sure what to look into for the right semi. plus I am not sure of all the DOT rules. I have class B but I don't drive for anyone. I just have them..
Click to expand...

All depends on what you are looking to do. Are you looking to compete with the Posse or just have a streetable truck to go to the truck pulls and screw around with. My fathers truck started from a bone stock 350 Cat, 6 years ago. He just tinkers with it every spring and brings it out. But the trucks he is competing against here are true over the road trucks. Not may of them are dedicated pullers. Either way it is a blast! We've met a bunch of great guys with gorgeous truck and have a ton of fun doing it.

On the other hand if your looking to compete with the Hairhoger's be ready to spend some money!

The PA posse trucks have went away from the street legal part of the class and now you have to qualify to run with them now, it seems a lot of them are now running weighted slipper clutches, that alone takes most of the street driveability out of them.
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Last I knew Jerry Hairhoger drove his KTA to the pulls. Maybe things have changed and he now hauls it.
 
He could still be using a lipe with a stupid amount of plate load, the mechanical trucks don't seem to make the low end grunt that the electronic engines make, it could be that the electronics require more clutch than what a lipe can supply.
 
The PA Posse class with the FPP put on a good show for the "street appearing semi" but it is awesome to watch the Pro Stock Semi class with OSTPA and the Super Stock Semi classes with Lucas Oil and the NTPA.
 
To the OP. I don't believe there is a bad engine out there to pull with. Yes I know some are better than the others, but for the most part they will all make respectable power and allow you to have fun at the local pulls. I think a Big Cam Cummins, a 3406 B or C Cat, or a Mack would do you good. I don't know much about the Macks, but all the big pullers use the E9 V8s. I did see a 6 cylinder Mack make 770 hp this spring, so I wouldn't cancel them out. The Big Cam Cummins motors, I have been told will make north of 600 hp.

But, only because I am partial, I would try to find something with a Cat 3406B with a 4MG serial number. My dad has a 4MG and I believe that is the best mechanical Cat motor out there. This spring at Antrim Diesel's Dyno Day a 4MG made 750 with 100% over nozzles and a charger. If I can get the coin, a 4MG will be going into my KW.

There is also a lot to be said about different chassis set ups, too. But most all of them hook up decent.
 
Even on the best day, you will be hard pressed to get an old mechanical engine to run with some of the electronic engines that are being used on the road. I'd say you are still looking at pulling against some 800-1000hp trucks that still get used everyday.

From what I see when I go pulling, the Peterbilt air ride seems to have a lot of trouble with hopping, traditional spring rides do well and if a walking beam is going to be used it needs to have good bushings in it cause once it starts to hop/chatter it is hard to get them to stop. The best air ride I have seen seems to be a neway, it's simple and the airbag is the only spring so it's less likely to hop because it doesn't have a leaf in there trying to give as well.

I like my KW 8 bag, it plants and hooks hard and I have never had it hop to be noticeable. Knock on wood.

I like the old B/C models, but they are limited on fueling for really big HP, unless you can find some custom barrels and plungers, I believe that the rules prohibits the use of a p-pump on a cat, and the cyclone pumps are not allowed. The big cam on the other hand can get the fuel, but the engine doesn't hold up for long.
 
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I agree with you on the electrical part. I mechanical motor will always struggle keeping up with the electronic motors. But if he wants a cheap easy motor to tune, I'd say either a big cam or a 3406B.
 
this is a fantastic post. love to see the talk about semi pulling.

I guess I will have to start looking again.. thanks for all the options you guys have talked about
 
SmokinCAT said:
From what I see when I go pulling, the Peterbilt air ride seems to have a lot of trouble with hopping, traditional spring rides do well and if a walking beam is going to be used it needs to have good bushings in it cause once it starts to hop/chatter it is hard to get them to stop. The best air ride I have seen seems to be a neway, it's simple and the airbag is the only spring so it's less likely to hop because it doesn't have a leaf in there trying to give as well.

I like my KW 8 bag, it plants and hooks hard and I have never had it hop to be noticeable. Knock on wood.
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Maybe i don't know the difference between a walking beam suspension and a traditional spring ride, but my dads 88 KW has a Hendrixson spring ride in it and it does nothing but hook to the track extremely well. In my opinion second only to a solid rear axle and air bags on the front axle, like the Big Rigs use.

I believe the KW 8 bag is a decent hooking suspension. I believe thats what Jerry Hairhoger has run in his KW for years. Now I think the posse is required to have a solid mounted rear axle.

Peterbit air ride does suck. Stay away from it if you can help it. I know many guys that have to have Peterbilts but don't realize that the Peterbilt air ride is the worst for pulling.

Good luck man. If you need any help I'm sure SmokinCAT or I can help you out, and maybe many others.
 
We kicked around the idea of pulling ours sometime. Freightliner classic with 525hp n-14 and 13 spd eaton. Any idea what gear to use?
 
Really depends on what ratio rears you have, you have to pick a high enough gear that you get some wheel speed with your limited rpm, but not so high that the engine never fully revs out.
 
Just mess around in a parking lot, trying different gears out. Find one that you can leave from a stop without slipping to clutch to much. Try to leave with a decent amount of RPM to keep it alive and feather the skinny pedal until about 100 ft and it should hook up nicely by then.
 
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