Who's got the best truck in the country?

Here's some quick math on what mid-pack finishes will get you when you pre-commit. For estimation purposes let's assume 19 events and 30 hooks. This is a typical year on the NTPA/PPL combined circuit.

Show-up Money: $300/event x 19 events= $5,700
Mid-Pack Finish: $575/hook x 30 hooks=$17,250
Year end points fund (Mid-pack): $6,750
Misc Bonus: $1000
Total payout: ~$31,000

Expenses (Real numbers from 2019 season):
Fuel-$4800 (including comp fuel) and 7MPG on hauler
Entry Fees: $0-Included in pre-commit
Membership Fees: $2000
Routine Maintenance (Oil changes, tire sharpening, ether, Water Injection, supplies...etc)-$100/hook=$3000
Food/Bev (at most because most places feed you a few times and hot dogs are cheap): $100/event= $1900
Insurance for the year= $2500
Misc: $800

Net Profit: $16,000

I realize the truck and hauler aren't in this but this is after you pay and depreciate the costs as I noted above. Same thing with tools or ice machines if you choose to assign them to the business and write them off as expenses.

Yes, if you have a major rebuild or blow a charger (or three) you're going to eat a lot of your profit. If you sign up for contingencies you get discounts on those services too. The point is once you get established and depreciate your capitol costs you can show a profit. It's non-existent in the first 6-7 years but slowly builds after that. Throw in some sponsorships and sell some old parts wen you need to upgrade and you can reduce those costs even more.

if you can rebuild you're diesel for the net profit you listed of 16k after a major failure I need to sell my truck and start pulling a diesel the crank and rods in my engines cost more than that
 
if you can rebuild you're diesel for the net profit you listed of 16k after a major failure I need to sell my truck and start pulling a diesel the crank and rods in my engines cost more than that

Billet crank, stroker or not for isb that will hold the power level these things are at are above that number, unless you know someone then they are 12ish. Rods brand depending 3-4K, exc.
 
Billet crank, stroker or not for isb that will hold the power level these things are at are above that number, unless you know someone then they are 12ish. Rods brand depending 3-4K, exc.




Are there many that are running a billet crank, or stroked?
 
Jeff, take it with a grain of salt, like everything you hear. But as the rumor mill always produces, their is a certain amount of chatter around some of these 3” guys particularly Cr. That are running big cube long stroke motors. As others in the next two classes were rumored to have them as well. I had one, but the rods wanted to be seen and it is now scrap. The Chinese ones aren’t said to hold up, as some of these drag racers have unfortunately discovered.
 
if you can rebuild you're diesel for the net profit you listed of 16k after a major failure I need to sell my truck and start pulling a diesel the crank and rods in my engines cost more than that

Yes, if you break the crank or cam and window the block and the engine is complete junk it's obviously going to cost you more than $16k to rebuild it. However, these days the worst failure I had in three years of SSD pulling is blowing all three chargers. The cost to rebuild and even upgrade those three chargers was $11k.

These motors rarely fail like they used to if you build them right. If I recall correctly, a SSD4x4 had 96 hooks on his before he had to rebuild and the bearings looked practically brand new. I saw them in person. So, a rebuild with sleeves, bearings and rings is not going to cost $16k. If you're doing that every 3 years you could have $50k or more saved up.
 
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