How consistant is a weight transfer sled?

BluegrassDiesel

BluegrassDiesel

UK2K!
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Apr 9, 2007
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How consistant do you guys think pullin' sleds are? I have watched and participated in my fair share of pulls. Depending on the sled and how its made, I sometimes wonder how consistant some sleds are. Just judging from videos a lot of times it appears that the pan may drop sooner on some trucks than on others, or that the weightbox will travel differently for some pullers than it will for others. Also do you think there is ever "rigged" sled pulls where the sled driver might favor one puller over the other?
 
I've heard "tales" of that happening in Kentucky. Most videos of our pulls revealed that speed is a factor when it comes to the pan drop. When I was pulling tractors I whitnessed a 3 MPH 2 cylinder walk it out the gate, well he wasnt going fast enough for the pan to drop hard. It just lazily leveled out. Next hook in the same class was a big inch 16 MPH moline. Sled dropped like a ton of bricks resulting in a 280's something pass. Kinda makes me wonder now.
 
well first off in my opinion i wouldnt think that a sled driver would need to make changes to sway the outcome. but i know one of our regular sleds has something like 342 gear ratios to choose from so it could be a slight change but out there its a seperation of inches or less so i cant imagine that they could be that prescise.. i dont know. I know the integrity of our sled operators would never do something like that.. Imho
 
I've saw It Josh. And I don't know what sled your talking about, I'm sure it is the same one. We usually try to keep and eye on the box vs. track location.

One thing I can't understand...At some of our pulls, I notice a couple of leave the line and it seems as if the pan leaves the ground for a second or too. I thought it was from them leaving so hard, but the couple of trucks I "run" with leave equally as hard, and the pan stays on the ground. Same hitch height, minimum 48" from the rear axle...I don't under stand how. But I do think those split seconds they leave the ground give those trucks a huge advantage!
 
For sure the sled operator can control the outcome... Some sleds are better than others though. Not saying it happens all the time, but it has happened before, and it will happen again.
 
yep it can happen. stupid sled operator hit a button and blew the spider gears in my tcase... :)
 
Driving style deffinatly produced different results when it comes to how the sled works. I have see trucks in the gasser class than can roll out to more than 100 feet and part throttle with the pan, light and in full contact with the ground, punch it...the pan lifts for a split second and slowly eases back down. Has nothing to do with the sled or the operator for the advantage here but that split second the pan lifts, it rides up untop of that dirt that was once infront of the pan making a huge difference.

Now up here in Ontario 2 years ago we where pulling with the biggest boat ancor ever!!! nothing was changed on the sled from the light pro-stocks before our diesel class...they where able to leave the line without problems. I hook up, take off my normal way and move the sled 6". Tried again, same outcome. Next truck comes up, makes budges it a few more inches. Turns out the idiot on the sled was holding the brakes on us because I assume he hated trucks and wanted to make us look bad. Turns out in the end, we got full payout for the 4 trucks and we looked like a bunch of idiots with nice shiny trucks and no power and no one in the stands even knew anything that was going on. Told the organization to get there act together and never went back.

In my mind, yeah....the sled operator can deffinatly change the outcome of the class how ever he wants it to but how much it really happens...who knows!!!

Ryan
 
I've seen it many times too. A local fair pull put on by a certain diesel shop paid the sled operator to let him out pull everyone else by 30ft. Finally after a few years of this bs they change the sled company and now his dmax pulls mid pack.
 
The worst sleds are the ones with the little wheel that measures the distances. On rough tracks I've seen the wheel actually bounce off the ground and spin. The sleds that have the drop pan, the pan drop is triggered by the weight box. When it reaches a certain spot each time it drops. This is adjustable, but the operator must get out of the cab and move the switch. The only thing the operator can do is hold the brakes, which will light up the brake lights, or pull the kill switch.
 
Track speed from what I've seen seems to make the most difference on when the pan drops and length of the pull. Sled operator error (lost in space) has been known to be a factor.
 
I have seen it with a local sled too. He openly does not like truck pullers cause we lie and cheat about what we have done to them. A stock commonrail with a smarty on a stock clutch beat 4 or 5 500+ horse trucks. cause as soon as he seen the smoke he would ride the breaks and we knew this cause the breaks would be smoking when he got done.
 
Yes it can and does happen... I've seen the sled operators that are used at alot of bigger pulls screw guys over....
 
Ive seen and heard some loser criers INSIST they got screwed over, but its bunk from the big name sleds.

Things I have seen at any given pull.:

Hook to the wrong hitch on the truck.
Kill cable too loose.
Kill cable too tight.
Sled not ready- sled fault.
Sled not ready pullers fault
Sled not ready flaggers fault
Puller insist the sled is chained to the ground-,Puller realize he is in OVERDRIVE, instead of normal gear.
Automatic pullers, lock up or shift close to pan drop, instant bog- blame on sled operator, wrong.

Any one of the above could be listed by the misinformed as a sled operator out to get them, and they would be incorrect.

99.9% of the time the pullers who insist the sled Op was out to get them just dont want to admit they made mistakes and lost a pull.
 
Just a point to consider...

There is a lot of video footage shot of the pulls these days...but often the camera guy zooms in a bit too far - obviously because the truck is of prime interest. I think there's something to be learned by zooming out enough to watch BOTH.
 
mech2161 said:
So are you saying my situation was my fault or was it the .1%?
Click to expand...


Which situation of yours out of the 100s are you talking about?LOL

Any pull you and I have both been at, I know for a fact the sled operators were not out to get you.
 
I never said they were out to get me did I? I'm talking about Stoneboro. Maybe you were. LOL
 
mech2161 said:
I never said they were out to get me did I? I'm talking about Stoneboro. Maybe you were. LOL
Click to expand...

The thread is about crooked sled ops, not perceived junk sleds.
And No I would not ever be out to get you as you get yourself just fine with no help!!! LOL
 
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