I am going to try to get around to trying this out this summer. Hopefully I'll have time to mess around with it.
Pulling Pucks
- Thread starter AdaMax
- Start date
I am going to try to get around to trying this out this summer. Hopefully I'll have time to mess around with it.
i was thinking about it this last year but chickened out. i dont think it would lift the truck up in the front at all. if it does, then there wouldnt be any weight on the front tires. or i am over thinking things as usuall
I tried to upload adamax's pics, and it isn't working for me. Maybe I can email them to somebody esle and they can try and get it to work. They are jpeg files 1024x768, not sure why it isn't working for me
At that point you are relying on gravity and the weight of the wheel/hub/control arms to keep the tire contacted with the ground. You definitely want a shock there to control the movement but I would "THINK" you would still want a device that puts positive downward pressure on the tire to ensure it stays glued to the track. Even when you back the bolts off on the torsion bars they are still applying a downward push, just not near as much as when they are cranked.
A shock will help control the tire bouncing up off the track, but gravity would be the only thing holding it to the track giving up lots of traction. I think a well tuned coilover setup with the proper valving and spring rate would be the ideal, but not sure it's worth enough extra to justify the price/work.
The biggest concern (regardless of any type of suspension) is making sure the suspension doesn't "top" out as the wheels drop (much like "bottoming" out as the tire gets pushed up but in the opposite direction). Meaning the suspension hits a limit as the tire drops. If that happens you unload that tire completely if the front end comes up once it hits the stop and bad things happen.
I see what you are saying, but i think at that point gravity, chassis set up, and shocks are the only thing holding the front down. I would think if the suspension was still pushing the tires down the front end would just keep raising on up with the down force on the hitch. If i can find a test n tune between the Eaton indoor and TS i might give it a try.
I can send them to you and maybe you can figure out how to upload them. So far 2 out of 2 of us who have tried have failed lol
You are correct, any lift on the front end (especially with the unloading from the weight on hitch and torque from rear axle hooking), will raise the front end, but 200lbs of lift on a 4000lb front end won't due much (fraction of a fraction of an inch).
My physics is a little rusty but if my thinking is correct, the torsion bars excert a force trying to lift the front end of the truck. At a specific torsion bar setting, as the front is lifted “externally” the force exerted by the bars lessens (they unspring).
When stationary and unhooked from the sled, the majority of the weight is on the front wheels. In order to keep the suspension from riding on the stops, the torsion bars provide a force to keep the front end up. If the total unsprung weight supported by the front wheels is 4000lbs, the torsion bars are exterting 4000lbs of upward force at ride height. When no force is exerted downward on the front suspension (due to straps or blocks) is when you end up completely unloading the front suspension and bad things happen while pulling (as many have found out the hard way).
Yes with the torsion bar bolts backed out (and even removed) there is still force being applied (just nowhere near the 4000+lbs) it takes to lift the front end to ride height. With the suspension lifted (from hooking), there still is most likely a couple hundred pounds still exerted on the front tires. It's not enough to lift the front end (much more than the sled already has), but it’s enough to help keep the tires planted.
If you’ve ever removed torsion bar keys, even with the bolts backed all the way out, there is still some preload on them from the bars (which is why you need the torsion bar unloading tool to load the bars and remove the adjuster nut) and that's even with the suspension topped out. As long as the suspension does not top out when the front end lifts, the torsion bars exert a downward force (even with bolts completely removed). Most likely applying a couple of hundred pounds vs. 4000+ needed for stationary ride height.
Again, it would be interesting to see what happens with the torsion bars removed (ie. no external force other than gravity being applied), but I don’t THINK it will work well. A tuned coilover would be ideal, but again, cost vs. benefit.
Again this is not a tested theory, so if you want to test it, that would be cool to see what happens in the "Real World". What often looks good/bad on paper may not be in practice. If you do, please let us know how it goes.
