this might sound silly but what are you 2wd guys using and would it make my launches any smoother? sometimes when i launch there is a little bucking, not exactly wheel hop, it is hard to explain. if i could get it to launch smoothly the drivline might last longer and it might even take off quicker?

perhaps some bushings up front that are firmer would calm things down a little. anyone think this would help smooth the launch?

 

I know exactly what you are saying!

Take a look at this video. Sorry no sound. This was my 13.9 pass vs a lightning. Look at what my truck is doing for the first 100 feet. It looks like I'm racing over speed bumps. Everyone was laughing because you can see me flying all over the cab in the video.

BigTex 1st run

 

Just wondering, when you run in the 4x4 mode do you ever notice if anything seems not to be quite right? The 3-5 times ive raced my Z71 in both auto ,and 4-high ive noticed smoke coming from the back of the truck? Not the pipes, but under the truck itself? When I run it in just 2 wheel drive it doesnt do this? Would you think that the transfer case is leaking ,or is it somthing else?
Also refering to your question what aftermarket company makes the bushing's your talking about? Which ones can be replaced? Have you checked your bearings? I doubt that the bearings would cause your problem, but you can always check e'm if you feel the need. Also do you accelerat whyle holding the brake before you launch?

 

holy smokes, thats a great example, that cant be good for the driveline. now the question is how do we stop it? does anyone sell bushings for the a arms or what ever they are called, i bet some caltracs and bushings would help. do the caltracs work on our trucks? does anyone sell firmer bushings?

a real posi would help i bet, maybe an air locker in the front would help. there are things that can be done, just don't want to have to try them all to find out wich ones work. seems to me the jumping is more likly coming from the front suspension loading and unloading, what do you think?

 

damn, that's crazy looking reminds me of the wheel hop i had in my 2wd silverado; my truck really isnt modded (yet); when i do my auto4wd launches after stalling it up a bit i get nothing like any of you guys are talking about. no smoke and no bouncing at all. and mine has a 3" body lift with 33"'s, i do have 10" wide rims, dont know if that helps it hold better or not.

 

Bullseye Parish8. Front suspension. Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done with our torsion bars. Luckily, at the time I had cranked up my torsion bars to level out the truck and give it another 1-2" of lift in the front. It looked better, but the ride was horrible. It had a lifting effect when going over bumps and was very stiff. When I launched, the front end really kicked up, causing all that bounce.

Since then, I brought back down the torsion bars to stock height or maybe a little less. The ride is so much better. I haven't had that bucking problem since I've done that. If you have your front end lifted like that, take it back down. If not, lower it 1/2 to 1 turn on each side and see if it feels any better. Jack the front end up to take the load off before turning the bolts.

I dont think we really need any caltracs unless you want to run in 2wd. Those devices will stabilize the rear end and cut down rear wheel hop. I've never once had that problem. If you think you get too much play out of your rear leafs, you can pick up some U bolts and make a bracket to clamp the bottom leaf to the upper leafs. That will stiffen the rear a little, but will also cut back the back and forth motion.

 

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" /> that was nasty big tex

 

my truck is stock height, i could drop it a hair. i really think the front a arm bushings would help a ton but i can't find any. i can't really see the caltracs helping much either.

 

could you lower the front of a 2wd truck with the torsion bars? didn't know if both versions of the truck have the same front and rear suspension

 

2wd trucks dont use tbars....
the tahoes ands burbans do i believe.