Pulling, were you not talking about that truck winning every pull but one for the entire season.
Well in the years before there was a Renault Truck with a Mack V8 dominating this competition thinking it was impossible to beat.
With the new build Volvo we set a new standard on performance but still all of it has to work together and this is not about an unlimited budged. Know how a bit of luck and in fact more than 2 years of planning and getting all the used parts together. The only thing that was brand new was the engine and they got lucky that they could get it but still you can get these engines as they are on the road for some time and as most teams run a truck workshop so you can bay these semi trucks from insurance companies after they where in a accident and take the semi apart for parts and sell them off to reduce cost and in the process keep the engine. All you need is time and a bit of luck to get the parts you need and that is how most teams build the semi trucks.
What also helps is the infrastructure is there for used parts so between teams there is also lot of trading parts that keep the cost down.
On the Volvo engine all I have done is change the camshaft installed my ECU system and a BW S500SX turbo. Took the mapping from a smaller 13L race engine gave it some more fuel and free up some more boost and set the RPM to 2500. In all less than one hour of making modifications to the ECU maybe being very lucky first time telling the team after there first win looks like this is It hoping the turbo with 70mm intake restrictor keep doing it’s job well as I’m waiting for boost to build up in lower RPM to free up more fuel in a attempt not to damage the turbocharger as they run with a fairly small turbine housing to get that massive low end performance that makes it possible to select a hi gear and get some more speed into the pulling combination using the weight of the sled on the end of the pull but you must be able to produce low end torque to do this as the RPM will drop.
In general the amount of damage on conventional fuel system and turbochargers is a big part of the money while teams are looking for better performance. Going full electronic can reduce cost as engines are randomly available and reliable and the older generation engines with mechanical fuel system are harder to find these days so part are getting more expensive as well.
Looks like for most teams it’s a professional hobby that involves great passion and fun and every team performs on there own level. The teams that had to stop in the past had to do so as there where financial problems with the company for example. I never seen a team stop in the truck pulling sport as they could not keep up with the competition. Other way around is that tractor pulling teams start building a Semi Truck to reduce cost and time as some of these classes like the 4,5Ton Super Sport and Pro Stock go bizarre in things and cost.
Runs of last Saturday. Blow one turbo on the new truck as it turned out one air shutoff valve closed halve way during the run over speeding the turbo.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSqd6-NtkGY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSqd6-NtkGY[/ame]