Drawbar Hitches

BullfrogJohnson

BullfrogJohnson

Black Smoke Junkie
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
250
I am moving up to the 3.0 class and I am wanting to redo my hitch to meet the open hitch rules.

I would like to see some pics of a good draw bar setup and eveyones ideas on the best way to set them up. My truck is a ccsb.
 
I have never claimed to be an artist, but here are a couple designs i have drawn up that have been proven to be very effective, yet very simple.

Hitchdesign1.jpg

Hitchdesign3d.jpg
 
Bragg I ain't doubting you can build that with metal and a welder, but you drew that on a computer?!?! :eek: :eek: :eek: LOL LOL LOL LOL
 
Yr stop position plays a major part in this too and were to place it depending on trac .. Tad could explain more they learned a few things about hitches from a guy that placed sensors on his truck to tell were the most load is put down

Good explanation Bragg
 
Here is mine
 

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I like that design jimdmax, but my consern with a setup like that is I would be afraid it would put too much stress on the center of the rear end and either twist the axle tubes and the center section apart from each other, or even if the tubes are fully welded to the center section, it would actually twist the tubes around like twisting a plastic straw. Now if it were an all one piece casted 2 ton rearend like a rockwell it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Not trying to flame your design or anything, it's just my opinion.
 
If you have the angle of the hitch correct then there would be almost no pressure on that lower supporting bar while going down the track. The hitch basically becomes an extension of the chain on the sled.
 
That is very true, but in order to have the same angle as the chain the draw bar would have to be fairly short. Most orginizations have a hieght limit on any and all components of the hitch. If you were to have the draw bar right behind the cab and the same angle at the chain, the mounting point for the draw bar would be above the cab. If the draw bar just comes to the front of the rear axle it would probably be just above the bed rails. In order for there not to be any load on the lower support the draw bar would have to be at the same angle as the chain. Going down the track there may not be much load on the lower support when the draw bar is at a different angle from the chain, but at the starting line and the far end when the pan drops there is alot of pressure. Thus why most breaks happen at the start and end of the run.
 
What kind of distance increase does somone see going to this style of hitch versus a reese style ?
 
I guess time will tell, Like Bubba said there is not that much pressure on the adjustment link. One other member of our club(dmaxlover) has almost the same set up and he went the year without snapping any axles were last year it broke them with the reese. It sure made a big change from the reese style putting more of weight up front there is a lot less bounce and hopps.
 
A hitch like this seems to be a little more consistant on what tracks it can work at. There is some advantage, but I don't think there is that big a of a difference. I have seen some draw bar setups that will completely kill the way the chassis works going down the track, then I have seen some who have changed thier setups and it be a nite and day difference. It all depends on how you design it and how well it works with the rest of the chassis. Theres alot more to it than just throwing a few pieces of metal under the bed. Even the bracing of the hitch can play a big part in how the truck will do on the track. I have seen a beefed up reece style hitch out pull a draw bar truck many times. Again, its all in setup.
 
mr smith said:
What kind of distance increase does someone see going to this style of hitch versus a reese style ?
Click to expand...

I changed it to a drawbar half way through the season and i would say it helped but hard to say how much tho. Most of the time i was within 15' of of the 800+ trucks with my 600 h.p. sometimes even closer.
 
I have had many a very knowledgeable puller tell me that the only thing that matter is hitch height, and distance from the rear axle. Alot of those assumptions depend on a completely rigid system(IE no flex, part of the reason folks see gains from drawbars, and etc, is it takes out the frame flex). There are some setups where a drawbar works really well. One thing on the drawbar is they can actually lift up on the front of the truck.
 
So is it better to have the hitch directly in front of the axle or right behind the rear of the cab?
 
I've seen it work both way, but I have seen both ways make it worse if a person switched from one or the other. Most that I see now are just forward of the pinion. Back in the day there was a guy that pulled a Ford 2wd gasser with a hole cut out of the back of the cab and the hitch was tied in right behind the tranny inside the cab. He would lay him are on it like a lounge chair going down the track lol. Not the brightest setup as far safety, but it did work very well.
 
it sounds like this may only aid in keeping axles/ diffs from breaking. it takes the pressure off the rear tires and moves it forward, possibly lessening rear tire traction? i have also been told by a 4x4 mod puller who usually won soley because of chassis setup that "a hitch point is a hitch point is a hitch point" and since i know how many chassis/engines he went through to finally get a winning combo, i trust his experience
 
With a good setup, a drawbar hitch doesn't really decrease the load on the rear tires, but it distributes the load through out the chassis more and causes less stress on the drive train. There are alot of people out there that do not believe chassis and hitch design makes a difference. But I beg to differ on that. Not trying to be a cheerleader or a smart ass, but we have made and redesigned many chassis and hitches in our own trucks and customer trucks. Just the slightest change can make a world of differences. If it were possible to take one pulling truck, a welder truck, and all the materials you would need to the track, make multiple passes with different chassis and hitch setups on each pass with the track conditions being consistant, you would see quite a bit of differences in how the truck would act with each setup.
 
zstroken said:
I have had many a very knowledgeable puller tell me that the only thing that matter is hitch height, and distance from the rear axle. Alot of those assumptions depend on a completely rigid system(IE no flex, part of the reason folks see gains from drawbars, and etc, is it takes out the frame flex). There are some setups where a drawbar works really well. One thing on the drawbar is they can actually lift up on the front of the truck.
Click to expand...

Bingo!! Hitch height and hook point distance from rear end are the big ones. Not enough angle and you lift on the front, too much angle and you unload the rear end. Being in front or behind rear axle does not matter as much as the hook point to the rear axle.
 
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