I’ve been doing a bit of searching on the forums and really just looking for opinions or what people have experienced when going to the track.
Obviously as the title says I have an eight speed 5.7 4 x 4 1500 and I getting the bug to maybe take it to the drag racing track as it sits stock and then later on as I modify it.
Question I have is how are you guys running the truck at the track? Obviously with the eight speed it has 4wd low and 4wd lock. Obviously I wouldn’t run it in low but I’m also not sure if I should run it in lock. Also are you guys going pretty high on the stall or are you launching from Idle with the four-wheel-drive’s.
Launch off dead idle,otherwise torque management kicks in and pulls power on you + you'll get a slightly higher "flash" rpm from your torque convertor. Most guys on street tires only go to about 3/4 throttle on launch,then mash the pedal about 30 ft out of the hole to keep wheel spin to a mininium . My little 4x4 is almost 2/10's quicker in 2wd mode then it is in 4X4 Auto, "but" i'm running drag radials,so you'll have to experiment a bit if you're running street tires.Your truck might like 4X4 Auto to get out of the hole. If you're good with the shift buttons,launch in 3rd gear and manually shift it after it makes the first couple of gear changes.Odds are you won't be able to manually shift it fast enough for the first couple of gears,i have paddle shifters in my truck,and even with the paddle shifters I can't make the first shift fast enough to keep the tranny out of limp mode. Try to run it up till the tach reads between 5700 and 5800 to make your shifts,there's a good chance your tach is slightly slow and somewhere around 5800 rpm on the tach should put you very close to an actual 6,000 rpm shift. Don't worry if you hear a squeal from under the hood at your shift points,it's only the fan belt. Join Nadodge on facebook,that's where a lot of the guys drag racing the trucks hang out,not very many of the hardcore guys hang out here or on any of the forums anymore,they seem to have moved to facebook these days. The best advice is just go,and try a few different launch techinques and shift points to see what your truck likes,it takes a fair bit of practice to find out what your truck likes.Hunt up Gary Trail he holds the street tire record right at the moment and can give you a few pointers on getting the truck out of the hole on street tires. If you're leaving everything on the truck,like tailgate etc.,leave it up,you'll mph faster with the tailgate up then you will with it down. Most guys pull the spare tire out,but in your case the extra weight might work in your favour to keep wheel spin down,that's one you'll have to experiment with. Once you move up to drag radials or slicks,you can take the tailgate and spare etc. off.Depending on how much work you want to put in,you can also pull some weight from the interior pretty easily,alot of guys pull the passenger seats and console out,me i'm lazy,the farthest I've ever gone is to pull the pass seat/take tonnue cover and tailgate off,and leave the spare tire at home,but if your ambitious there's guys like Matt and Kyle who've stripped door panels/speakers ,and in Matts case headliner etc.,that's way to much work for me though. I run mine with-out the front swaybar at the track,it helps free up the front end so it'll rise a little faster and help with weight transfer .Don't listen to the advice given above,as all it'll do is cause your truck to go into torque management mode and pull power at the line,the fastest NA guys all launch off idle
