2wd and leaf springs for the track

KCTurbos · Jan 13, 2016

So we are building a 2wd track truck and want to stay in the super street class so no 4-link for us right now. We are keeping it street friendly for right now because we still want to drive the truck.

We are trying to set up the rear and and wanted to get some advice. We are planning on trutrac, slicks and traction bars right now but I was not sure about what to do about the leaf spring pack. I have heard rumors of taking leafs out to help soften it up a bit.

Anyone ever mess with the leaf packs to help improve traction?

Truck is all torn apart and we are going to be shortening the frame this week... then start working on traction bars and messing with the leaf spring packs.

Big Thanks to Cory and Chris down at Diesel More... they are doing all the work for us.

sootie · Jan 13, 2016

weight transfer is an issue on these trucks. the more leafs you can remove, the better.

Six_Sloww · Jan 13, 2016

Main leaf, bottom leaf and caltrac's

KCTurbos · Jan 13, 2016

Six_Sloww said:
Main leaf, bottom leaf and caltrac's

Thanks...

Why caltrac's VS something like PMF?

Six_Sloww · Jan 13, 2016

Caltrac's you can adjust preload and promote weight transfer.

Traction bars just prevent axle wrap

FaSSt9602 · Jan 13, 2016

Caltracs are not ordinary traction bars. Like Six Sloww said, they have A LOT more adjustability to them.

Although I imagine a trip down south to Trevor @PMF would yield a pretty sweet custom set-up...

Halestorm55 · Jan 13, 2016

Would going to the 08+ leafs benefit anything with the extra 6" in the spring in front of the axle. I haven't been able to do a boosted launch since I did the conversion on mine.

Dieselmore · Jan 13, 2016

Thanks charlie for the shout out. I can't wait to have all three trucks running.

Cutting-Edge Diesel · Jan 14, 2016

You can run a mono leaf set up with added coilovers to make up the loss in spring and to add more adjustability. But more adjustability also means more time needs to be spent on set up. That set up can make it worse if not set up correctly.

jngreen · Jan 14, 2016

Do whatever this guy did... https://youtu.be/VlroTXcWRrc

Talk to Furo Racecraft and ask the what they did to "rework" the leaf springs on Ben Gollon's truck. Then you too could do wheelies.

Six_Sloww · Jan 14, 2016

Holy hell... I'd just send my truck and a blank check to that guy!

KCTurbos · Jan 14, 2016

Cutting-Edge Diesel said:
You can run a mono leaf set up with added coilovers to make up the loss in spring and to add more adjustability. But more adjustability also means more time needs to be spent on set up. That set up can make it worse if not set up correctly.

Thanks Matt. I am looking into the mono leaf setup. They are surprisingly cheap but I don't see any for our specific application... maybe I can get something custom made.

jngreen said:
Do whatever this guy did... https://youtu.be/VlroTXcWRrc

Talk to Furo Racecraft and ask the what they did to "rework" the leaf springs on Ben Gollon's truck. Then you too could do wheelies.

Ya. A lot of people reference that truck. Pretty cool especially being that it was built almost 10 years ago. I was reading a few threads and I think Shawn Ellerton was the last guy to work on it but then it disappeared. I cant really find any good pics or description of what they did to re work the springs.

Cutting-Edge Diesel · Jan 14, 2016

KCTurbos said:
Thanks Matt. I am looking into the mono leaf setup. They are surprisingly cheap but I don't see any for our specific application... maybe I can get something custom made.

Ya. A lot of people reference that truck. Pretty cool especially being that it was built almost 10 years ago. I was reading a few threads and I think Shawn Ellerton was the last guy to work on it but then it disappeared. I cant really find any good pics or description of what they did to re work the springs.

I would start with taking leafs out of the factory pack.

Ben wracked that truck in 2010. Shawn bought the cab to make his shorty truck out of his crew cab. I bought the motor and trans out of it.

KCTurbos · Jan 14, 2016

Cutting-Edge Diesel said:
I would start with taking leafs out of the factory pack.

Ben wracked that truck in 2010. Shawn bought the cab to make his shorty truck out of his crew cab. I bought the motor and trans out of it.

Wow... thanks for the info. You see to have the back story on everything.

Is that the motor that ended up in derranged?

Do you by chance know which springs they took out of the pack?

Cutting-Edge Diesel · Jan 14, 2016

KCTurbos said:
Wow... thanks for the info. You see to have the back story on everything.

Is that the motor that ended up in derranged?

Do you by chance know which springs they took out of the pack?

I've been around a while lol.

It was in there at one time. We kept it as a spare and lost a piston in the original motor so we threw in bens motor. we have replaced the crank and block since then but still using the rods and Pistons. The trans is in my sleeper truck.

I'm not sure what they did with the rear springs on his truck. Just saying that's where I would start.

KCTurbos · Jan 14, 2016

Cutting-Edge Diesel said:
I've been around a while lol.

It was in there at one time. We kept it as a spare and lost a piston in the original motor so we threw in bens motor. we have replaced the crank and block since then but still using the rods and Pistons. The trans is in my sleeper truck.

I'm not sure what they did with the rear springs on his truck. Just saying that's where I would start.

Thanks.

Calvert got right back to me and we are talking about the split mono leaf design... but he said we would have to shave some weight and get down into the 5000lbs range. I am not sure we are going to be able to do that.

What does derranged weigh?

Cutting-Edge Diesel · Jan 14, 2016

Deranged weighs 4650ish

KCTurbos · Jan 14, 2016

Anybody know how light you can make a reg short bed truck... with typical weight savings and still using the complete body?

jngreen · Jan 14, 2016

Six_Sloww said:
Holy hell... I'd just send my truck and a blank check to that guy!

I'm not sure that I would. Google Furo Racecraft, he doesn't have the best reputation but seems to know how to get 2wd pickups to hook. He apparently works with the farm truck somehow.

Six_Sloww · Jan 14, 2016

I'm not sure, but if deranged weighs 4650 it doesn't look good. Maybe with a gutted bed and fiberglass front clip.

I think whitey weighed 6000lbs and that was a 4x4 longbed with a fiberglass front clip.. Better get the hole saw out