Michigan Truck & Tractor Pullers

I was not able to be at meeting last week so I can’t say much. In November the subject of allowing aftermarket blocks was brought up because someone had purchased a truck with an aftermarket engine. As far as I could tell, everyone at the November meeting thought it was a good idea, in fact it came up that it would be less expensive and safer in many scenarios.I am trying to understand what changed between then and the December meeting. I am being told the argument was being made that we needed to keep it “stock” blocks to keep cost down? Is this what sold the group? If so I have a couple observations; First, this class is well past the “take the truck to the local garage, get a tune up with new plug wires and a good solid hitch” point. I pulled Lil Whitey in that class for many years because I wasn’t at a spot to spend the money to be competative in our current class. To compete in this class you gotta spend some $$!! Or put a lot of blood sweat and tears of your own into the vehicle. Doesn’t hold water in my book. Secondly; the person wanting to not allow the aftermarket block engines, was considering(made some phone calls) about the very truck which started this discussion. Very little, if anything, on that engine would be useful on a block which meets our current rules. So I pose the question,”was this going to be ok until a competitor bought the truck before he could get to it”? Thirdly; this very ruling being continued will only put him at a disadvantage going forward because of the potential some of the other brand stock blocks have in them over the Dodge. Fourthly; I know its early but it appears like we have lost at least 1 competitor with potentially 2 trucks, possibly another competitor with his truck(I am neither of these, I am excited to see the outcome of a GOOD running Stock block Ford vs. a stock block Dodge). Just some comments and queries.I wish I could have made meeting, however, we will play by whatever rules the club has in place.

Heres my take on it: “stock” block = limited cubic inch.
“race” block = more cubic inch for more HP.
Each manufacture has limitations on how far you can push a “stock”
block for big cubes. Thats what it all comes down to. Why not have a cube limit like the V8 tractors? The playing field will never be even,
but this could bring things closer. It is also becoming harder to find “GOOD” rebuildable engines for these trucks. So why not take advantage of the time and possible cost savings of using aftermarket parts? The motorsport world recognizes this and has accepted it in many forms. Cost is a huge factor for everyone. If you say its not than you are kidding yourself. If it cost 10k for a Brand X engine
with a stock block and you could have more cubes and more HP with a race block for the same or near the same cost why not use a race block? If the club is trying to grow any class they must make it easier for people to come into the class. If cost is the deciding factor than a cube limit may be the best solution in my opinion. Use ANY BLOCK with say a 500 inch limit. All major “Big Blocks” out there can be made into a 500 inch engine. With this in mind I know some trucks currently running in this class are over 500cid. So what about these guys? Do they have to build a new engine to meet the rules? Where is the cost savings in that? Its a catch 22. Either competitor A has to “step up to the window” and spend some $ to be competitive in the current class, or competitor B has to start from scratch with a new “smaller” engine to meet the rules. I know competitor A did win a hook this past year with his “smaller” engine. Proof that it is not always about HP!! You have got to put it on the ground.

Quote from Lil Whitey on December 8, 2009, 22:19
I was not able to be at meeting last week so I can’t say much. In November the subject of allowing aftermarket blocks was brought up because someone had purchased a truck with an aftermarket engine. As far as I could tell, everyone at the November meeting thought it was a good idea, in fact it came up that it would be less expensive and safer in many scenarios.I am trying to understand what changed between then and the December meeting. I am being told the argument was being made that we needed to keep it “stock” blocks to keep cost down? Is this what sold the group? If so I have a couple observations; First, this class is well past the “take the truck to the local garage, get a tune up with new plug wires and a good solid hitch” point. I pulled Lil Whitey in that class for many years because I wasn’t at a spot to spend the money to be competative in our current class. To compete in this class you gotta spend some $$!! Or put a lot of blood sweat and tears of your own into the vehicle. Doesn’t hold water in my book. Secondly; the person wanting to not allow the aftermarket block engines, was considering(made some phone calls) about the very truck which started this discussion. Very little, if anything, on that engine would be useful on a block which meets our current rules. So I pose the question,”was this going to be ok until a competitor bought the truck before he could get to it”? Thirdly; this very ruling being continued will only put him at a disadvantage going forward because of the potential some of the other brand stock blocks have in them over the Dodge. Fourthly; I know its early but it appears like we have lost at least 1 competitor with potentially 2 trucks, possibly another competitor with his truck(I am neither of these, I am excited to see the outcome of a GOOD running Stock block Ford vs. a stock block Dodge). Just some comments and queries.I wish I could have made meeting, however, we will play by whatever rules the club has in place.

I don’t want to see this thread get out of hand like some other threads have and I would like to make a few comments on this. First; I can say with a GREAT deal of certainty that the said engine would not have been attempted to slip under the radar of our rules if another person had bought it. There is a great deal of mis-imformation and skewing of the truth on this subject. I have heard enough on this matter from several people and most of it was pure rubbish. Second; There are a couple different opinions on which way this class should go with a few guys leaning one way and a few another, but not all are communicating to one another what the oppinions are. In one direction it makes sense to legalize race blocks, in the other direction it’s an unneccesary exspense. I think the biggest problem lies in the different agendas for the class.
At first I thought, thats fine make the blocks legal, I hate to see anyone leeve the club. I pondered that off and on until the next meeting. I came to the conclusion that we should make sure the change was for the right reason. It came to me that the rule change would be made for the simple reason that someone bought some illegal equipment and we should change things to allow it. As unpopular as it is these days I had go back to the principle of the matter. That’s what my NO vote was based on. Let me ask this, whats next? Tunnel Rams? dual carbs? Alcohol inj.? Rockwells? Drop boxes? Blowers? Pitbulls? This is where the different agendas for the class come in at. If I want to build a full blown Mod. 4×4, I’ll build one and go pull NTPA, If I want to pull a warmed over stock class I’ll build one and find a place to pull it. I won’t expect the local fair to adjust their rules so I can run my NTPA Mod. in the warm street class. Conversely, I won’t expect NTPA to pull the reigns back on the Mod. class so I can compete with my street truck. See what I mean?
I hate to lose pullers because our rules are too tight, but open it up and I’ll guarentee the loss of at least two within the next couple years and I’ll bet less new blood will come in to the class. Sure there are a few other guys in the state that will be able to pull there trucks with us but, the truth is their not coming! We opened the head rule cause we thought it would give us a few more pullers and guess what, no one with al. heads showed up. So maybe we need to look into getting new blood into the sport. This class IS past the tuned up daily driver stage, but are many people willing to invest this much to compete in our club? I fear we’re on the ragged edge now.
Alot of guys chuckle at me when I say ” we just need a weight and hitch height rule”. However, I’m becoming more serious about it. If a “run what ya brung” class is what we need lets do it right! I’ve seen guys get hammered for pointing out rule infractions, if rules are not to be enforced, get rid of them period! I constantly hear wisecracks about so and so complaining about this or that, when they had a legitimate complaint, what the heck is wrong with us! It seems we’re not very accepting of people who are sticklers for the rules, thats just backwards.
Anywho, there is alot of speculation and untruth floating around about this matter and the intentions of the “said” people involved. I hope this does not get in the way of having fun though, cause that’s what it’s all about.

wow, finally a true discussion instead of childish rubbish. i also voted NO but would have went yes if there was a cubic inch limit. i see nothing wrong going to a part that is better constructed and will last longer as long as it has some form of a limit.

Hindsight being 20/20 we should have limited cubes, at least at 500 or so. We probably could have raised the money or all chipped in and bought a pump to check cubes without much trouble. These stock blocks will handle more power than they have a right to if properly prepped, built and tuned, but with our rules in some cases it would make sense to have a race block. Yes, we have a carb limit that will probably keep us under 1200hp or so (l.o.l.) but at that point the longevity of a factory block gets real questionable. I am confident of the ability of a good factory bbf block to live a reasonably long life @850 or so hp as long as the tune is good, maint. is kept up on and rpm kept under 8000 or so. However, I cannot speak for the GM or Mopar factory blocks as I have little expirience with them and It may well be a different story at their camp. The aluminum head rule was a good change, BUT, we have no limitations on them. Jim Bailey, you know first hand what a set of max effort trickflow “A” heads will do compared to a set of out of the box Trickflow streets. Both heads are legal in our club but there is the potential of about 200hp difference. That stuff just gets too tough to limit and tech.
I don’t have the answer but I would like to see 10+ trucks in that class, if it’s a hotter class we need, so be it. I think we need to proceed with caution though and see what the market will bear so to speak.
A big rut I had to get out of a couple years ago was the FACT that hp is not everything. There are a ton of trucks out there that are not very efficient, mine being one of them. The ability to harness a big percentage of the power that you do have is essential to be successful. Even though I can’t do it myself I have seen it proven many times. A 600 horse truck that you can get to stick is better off than an 800 horse tire smoker, or better yet an 800 horse tire smoker who gets pushed on the trailer after blowing out the front and rear diff. and the transfer case.

Also i would like to point out that the best pulling, most consistant gas truck I’ve ever seen. Is running 40 year old Iron heads, a thin main web factory block with 2 bolt mains, and a cast crankshaft. It’s ran its heart out for the last 2 yrs. probably 125 hooks or so. Keep an eye on the valve lash, check the oil filter for potential problems and that’s the only wrench work it needed. Jeff’s truck is not the most powerfull one in the state but it will surely run with them, why? It’s efficient pure and simple! I just wanted to add that because it seems we’re always caught up in engine/ hp dicussions. If we’re not getting the results we want, we may have to look at something other than what that dyno says our hp number is?

Jeff had a legitimate question as to what swayed the vote at the meeting. For one thing there were quite a few different people there than at the first meeting. I think a lack of strong support for the race blocks was another big factor. I also heard a couple well respected tractor pullers make the comment “what, your gonna change the rule for 1 vehicle?”
I think it makes more sense to build 10 trucks to one set of rules than to try and build a set of rules to fit 10 different trucks, no? The trucks that pulled with us last summer all met the rules, any potential new puller would build to those rules, and the 3 or 4 trucks in the state with race blocks aren’t coming anyways. I have yet to hear someone say ” I’d like to pull with you guys but the investment just isn’t big enough”

Enough of my rambling, take care guys!

P.S. Jim Bailey, I think Jeff is gonna be more gracious to you this year at Kent City, He’s gonna let you weigh the same. I thought I heard him say ” he’s gonna need it” I heard rumor that Jeff’s gonna hook up the secondarys on his carb next year. Also I believe Harold Lafond is gonna change his oil and step up to the Napa Gold clutch so he can get 8 years of pulling on it! L.O.L. By the way thanks for coming to Kent City.