Front to rear gear ratios for pulling competition.

Rustin

Rustin

Let the Beatings Begin!
Do the rules for any of the clubs, allow you to run a different gear ratio on the front compared to the rear?

For example: If I decided to run 4:10 on the rear and maybe 3:73 on the front, or the other way?

I was just wondering if it made sense to run at a faster speed on the front drive axel, compared to the rear.
 
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I don't know why any rules would prevent you from doing a split gear ratio?

If a split ratio is used the front is faster than the rear. I know there are pullers using 4.56 front and 4.88 rears.
 
not to derail the thread, but why do pullers run different gear sets? i have heard of this before. I am assuming its so the front "digs" harder and helps to pull weight forward?
 
Nootch said:
not to derail the thread, but why do pullers run different gear sets? i have heard of this before. I am assuming its so the front "digs" harder and helps to pull weight forward?
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This is why I started the thread. I have no clue, and I might want to get into the sport. It seems perfectly clear to run different gears.
 
Rear tires bite way harder and It's tougher to keep the higher desired wheel speed. Front end doesn't bite as hard allowing more wheel speed.

phone
 
We've tried it. Truck always hopped on the big end. But not saying the gear was the whole problem. Run the same ratio now with pretty good results.
 
I wouldn't be using different ratios front to rear UNLESS i was playing with different tire heights.

Unless you're on ice, having different ratios is going to bite you, and EVEN on ice it'll bite you
 
Now we are getting somewhere! Thank you for bringing in some physics and experience into the picture.
 
Supershafts said:
I wouldn't be using different ratios front to rear UNLESS i was playing with different tire heights.

Unless you're on ice, having different ratios is going to bite you, and EVEN on ice it'll bite you
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I am not sure what you mean, I ran a faster gear and a larger tire on the same axle and never had an issue.
 
When the weight comes on, the truck is going into bind and you might as well hit the brakes running 2 different ratios front to back and using the same tire diameter.

If you have say 44 tire at the rear and 35 tire at the front , you would want a 4.90 at the rear and 3.90 at the front
 
Supershafts said:
When the weight comes on, the truck is going into bind and you might as well hit the brakes running 2 different ratios front to back and using the same tire diameter.

If you have say 44 tire at the rear and 35 tire at the front , you would want a 4.90 at the rear and 3.90 at the front
Click to expand...

This is false seeing as wheel speed is always faster than ground speed on a properly set up truck.

phone
 
Supershafts said:
When the weight comes on, the truck is going into bind and you might as well hit the brakes running 2 different ratios front to back and using the same tire diameter.

If you have say 44 tire at the rear and 35 tire at the front , you would want a 4.90 at the rear and 3.90 at the front
Click to expand...

ClamDigger4 said:
This is false seeing as wheel speed is always faster than ground speed on a properly set up truck.

phone
Click to expand...


Never saw a bind, or any hop. Again I ran a faster gear in the front as well as a larger tire in the front, so my front was definitely faster.

On pavement I might be concerned, but the slip we see on dirt isn't an issue.
 
I have also run different ratios front and rear with the same size tire. Like someone stated your always spinning the tires pulling so no binding problems.
 
Ive always heard of some of the old time gas guys doing this. But I never have.
Are you guys still running staggered gears?
 
Supershafts said:
I wouldn't be using different ratios front to rear UNLESS i was playing with different tire heights.

Unless you're on ice, having different ratios is going to bite you, and EVEN on ice it'll bite you
Click to expand...

Supershafts said:
When the weight comes on, the truck is going into bind and you might as well hit the brakes running 2 different ratios front to back and using the same tire diameter.

If you have say 44 tire at the rear and 35 tire at the front , you would want a 4.90 at the rear and 3.90 at the front
Click to expand...
This is completely incorrect. Even in the OEM stock gears the front is always faster then the rear. If it wasn't then when in 4wd the rear would try to push the front binding the tcase. With the front being faster it pulls the rear along. in pulling we run a faster gear in the front sometimes. Since the back is doing 75% of the work you over drive the front to get more traction from the front end. If the front and rear are close to the same then you only get the same speed out of the front as the rear. By over driving it you are essentially getting more cleat on the ground per foot traveled which would be a greater pulling force to help the rear keep the truck moving. I ran a 36" tire on the front and a 35" on the back will do the same thing. You can safely over drive the front 7%. Some do more but much more then that gets sketchy
 
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thank you for that post Disturbed. Makes a lot of sense. as well as the tracking comment JoeySlushr made.
 
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