me along with a few other guys (Dazed&Confused) from here have been thinking about this, we need to use this thread to discuss it, i know a guy back in central ohio that pulls a 2004 regular cab long bed 2wd dodge, he does great too, im thinking of setting my truck up the same with a few minor tweaks, my truck only weighs 5300 with me in it, i figure if i can hang about 1100 in my bed just behind the rear axle for the nice leverage effect, run some very skinny small properly rated tires on the front (215-85-16) and a big set of wide singles in the rear or even a set of tight duals so they are REAL wide, down here its probably gonna be Boggers, most places up north a BF Goodrich A/T would probably do. of course traction bars, bump stops, and a few other goodies, like a t-case if possible (208 aluminum for 2.65:1 gear reduction and weight, it will hold up fine for a while since i will only be making 250 horsepower at the max, id even use a 271 from a dodge for the 2.72 low range....) if you didnt want to use a t-case you could always gear the rear axle WAY down 5.13, 5.38, wouldnt be any good for driving on the street though, probably run a set of 90/10 drag shocks in the front to help transfer all the weight as quickly as possible to the rear, 30 inch hitch height......all that should make it fair to run against the 4wd trucks.....or just get a full tube chassis from a old 2wd blower truck and drop a built 12 valve into so you can run with the mod trucks.....



So what do you think guys???? questions, comments, concerns.....

 

Not sure how much an issue money will be, but something along the lines of an Atlas or STAK will be pretty much indestructible, not to mention give you more gearing choices in the case. Steep rear end gears are going to be much weaker.
You might check here www.advanceadapters.com and see if they offer any strength upgrades for the 271. JB conversions may also have some heavy duty parts for it. I know both have HD stuff for the 231. I'd even run a 231HD before I'd consider a 208. I've turned a 208 into shrapnel in a stock 4x4 more than once.
JB

 

an atlas or a stack cant handle the torque, ive seen many blow contrary to how people rave about them......the cheapest way to go i believe is just a 4:1 kit for the 205......easier than screwing with anything else....a friend of mine has did a little messing with the 208 and found a few nice things out with them and they run them behind 850/900 horsepower pulling trucks and they last about 10-15 runs before blowing.....after doing some talking with a few guys and some other people, i am going to run 31x11.50x16 Super Swamper LTB's in a dually set up, 2600 pounds over the rear axle and block the suspension at a 31 inch hitch height and go from there, they changed a couple rules and made the 2wd's competitive in the class.....if i get everything like iwant, the front tires WILL be off the ground the whole pull.......now i got to look at steering brakes HAHAHAHAHAHA