Like the fueling system, the nitrous delivery is designed by TTS to eliminate any chance of restriction during wide-open engine operation. Large 1/8-inch Edelbrock nitrous solenoids are used to deliver laughing gas supplied from the tank mounted behind the rear axle. Extra-big -4 AN hoses increase the nitrous delivery over the standard size (-3) used for gas engines. This allowed Steve to precisely tune the nitrous delivery using just the jets as the primary restrictors so the capacity of the solenoids and nitrous lines will not hamper performance. The first shot is delivered just after the turbo, before the intercooler, and a second shot is injected into the manifold just before air is split to the cylinder banks. A third shot is fed into the Volant air intake to help dial in the truck at the track.
Even the impressive Allison 1000 transmission needs help when the stock engine output is more than doubled. To make sure the Chevy's power makes it to the dragstrip, a Trans Go shift kit was installed along with a billet Triple Plate torque converter from SunCoast. In addition to the sturdy race parts, special programming from TTS was uploaded into the transmission and engine computers. Behind the transmission, a driveshaft loop was added for safety in case of failure. Stock axles (14-bolt rear and IFS front) are currently being used at both ends of the truck along with the stock, NV261 manual transfer case.
Frank used his drag-car knowledge to build a custom racing suspension around the rear axle. To prevent wheelhop during launches, a set of CalTracs bars was attached to the front spring hanger. The original leaf springs were taken off the truck, and just two leaves were re-arched before they were put back on; the front suspension remains stock.
Sticky M&H 30x14.0-16LT Racemaster street slicks are used to keep the Chevy glued to the strip during hard, full-spool launches. All four 8-lug American Racing aluminum wheels are powered during four-wheel-drive launches, but that may soon change.
Frank started his project truck with the lofty goal of building the fastest truck in the Western Hemisphere, and with just about 1,500 miles on the odometer, it's already making more than 700 hp and running 11.30s in the quarter-mile at 120 mph. That's good, but to achieve his goal of partial global domination, Frank has a lot more modifications planned for the future. The engine will get a full internal makeover in the near future, thanks to TTS billet connecting rods, a new camshaft, and fully ported TTS heads. Frank says he also may tub the rear wheelwells to install superwide drag slicks and convert the truck to 2WD and remove some parts to conserve weight. In other words, keep an eye out for updates to this awesome buildup in future issues of Diesel Power.