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Predator Carbs?

OrangeCrushK10

OrangeCrushK10

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Anybody have any experience with these? I've heard that they work really well at severe angles and are pretty good carbs.

I'm thinking that I'm going to go this route when I re build the engine part of my truck.
 
iirc Mudjunkie 82 runs a pair on his blown BB... maybe he'll chime in or PM him maybe...
 
I have been looking at these too. From what I understand, they run damn near as good as fuel injection off road because there is no fuel bowl like a regular carb, and I guess that the performance is top notch. I have heard that they are difficult to keep tuned, and that you have to run GOOD fuel filters/air filters w/ them because they don't like to be dirty at all. If I find a used one in good shape w/ the idle circuit someday I will probably try one out for giggles.
 
Are ther vacuum line ports on them? How does the distributor work if there isn't?
 
just run only mechanical advance. I am not sure about vacuum lines, but I know they are hard to make idle.

I have a friend with a drag car that has one on it. It likes to idle at about 1800 RPM.

I've never heard of one on a 4 wheel drive. Maybe they make a more street/4x4 friendly version now.
 
divorced said:
Are ther vacuum line ports on them? How does the distributor work if there isn't?
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I would imagine that there is at least one vacuum takeoff on it. If there aren't, the vacuum connection going into the distributor is for the vacuum advance and is not really all that useful anyway (and it is actually bad for performance).
 
I ran one of these on a car 10 or so years ago so I'm a little foggy on details. They are not hard to tune close, but they are impossible to dial in particular traits. They have a pre determined "curve" and they have 3 "cams" that came with it to tailor this curve, as opposed to a holley with infinite adjustment. Once that is close there is really only one adjustment that covers all throttle possitions but idle, so you can't just lean out the top end for example, with out grinding on the "cam". They are very simple, just a handfull of parts. just a spring that controls how fast the doors open.

Mine idled and ran very well, drive ability was great, but I could not get rid of a problem that made it fall on its face above 4500 or so on a 7000 motor combination, I went back to a holley. I don't know about angles, but I do know monster trucks run them for a reason.....
 
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You could get yours to idle? I recall there being a street version and a race version. I'm not sure which one my friend has but it idles really high!
 
I ran one on my old K10 with a 454 for about 5 years. It is a good carb and it will just about run upside down but it does have a few oddities to deal with, you can expect -

* difficulty tuning
* hard to find any parts (typicaly Jegs/Summit only)
* hard to find anyone with knowledge about it
* no vacuum ports
* EXTREMELY vulnerable to dirty fuel (it will shut down without warning)
* ZERO fuel economy (I went from about 12 mpg to about 4 mpg by only swapping the carb)

All that said, it ran incredible - unbelievable throttle response, mine never coughed or sputtered while wheeling and it breathes so much better that it actually made the motor sound nastier (almost like a cam change). Mine was the race version without the idle circuit and I never had a problem. You will need a bell crank (from Predator), for you accelerator cable, to mount it correctly.

If you chose the Predator get all of the literature you can off of the internet and from the manufacturer, typically NO ONE close to you will be familiar with them so you will be on your own for tuning, diagnosis and/or rebuilding issues. Also, I heard someone say about a year ago that they were unable to contact the company for parts so be sure they are still in business before you buy an obsolete carb.

In the end, I went back to a Holley because it worked better for my application. What is your intended use of the truck with the carb? Daily driver that wheels, wheeling only, racing?
 
WantedaDodge said:
You could get yours to idle? I recall there being a street version and a race version. I'm not sure which one my friend has but it idles really high!
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you realize your buddy probably has a LUMPY cam in his drag car and thats why it won't idle right?
 
yea, I do know that, but he had a holley on at one time and it idled at 1100 RPM. Thats a lot better then 1800
I've never known anyone that ran one that got them to idle, but everyone I knew had a fairly built motor.

Maybe on something more stock they idle better.
 
It takes a combination of venturi door spring tension, bell crank adjustment and idle mixture tuning but it can be done. I had mine idling around 800 in gear with no problem.


For the record it was on a 10:1 454 with a moderately lumpy cam (540 lift, 226 @ .050 duration w/108 CL). ;)
 
BTW, these are very tall carbs so be sure you've got the room for it with the air cleaner on. They have a square pattern base so if you're using a spread bore intake you'll need an adapter plate that will also increase overall height by at least 1".
 
I'm looking to put a BB in the truck, either a 427 Tall Deck or 454. With everything that's been going on it looks like the truck will go from a DD to about 80% off road and a back-up DD in emergencies.

I'm sick of normal carbs because of their inability to work at severe angles, as I learned with my ford and toy friends who showed me up wit thier F.I. trucks. But F.I. is way too expensive and I'd kinda like something a little different anyways.

I think I will go with a Predator carb. They sound like the right choice for my particular job.

Now, I've been looking at it seems like I could buy one now and use it on my 350, get used to it and stuff, then when I eventually get my BB I could just swap it over. They don't seem to be like normal carbs where you would need a different size carb for the BB, these carbs look like they automatically adapt to whatever situation you put them in.

Also, the Predator site works fine. It didn't say anything about them being out of bussiness.
 
nvrenuf said:
BTW, these are very tall carbs so be sure you've got the room for it with the air cleaner on. They have a square pattern base so if you're using a spread bore intake you'll need an adapter plate that will also increase overall height by at least 1".
Click to expand...

The intake & manifold book I have has a chapter on Predator carbs and it says that they work best with a 1"-2" spacer uner them. Also they do look like they need a lot of room, and since I need a new hood anyways I was looking at one of those fake-o cowl induction hoods.

Normally I don't condone the poser look of fake cowl induction on hoods, but they just look so badass on our trucks! :D
 
nvrenuf said:
It takes a combination of venturi door spring tension, bell crank adjustment and idle mixture tuning but it can be done. I had mine idling around 800 in gear with no problem.


For the record it was on a 10:1 454 with a moderately lumpy cam (540 lift, 226 @ .050 duration w/108 CL). ;)
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Wow! That must have took some time. Yours must have had an idle circuit? I think my buddy Bob's was just a race carb.

He had it on a 406 w/ a 255 @ .050 solid cam. 12.5:1 CR
 
Yeah, I beat my head on the carb for a while before I got it where I wanted it. Mine was also the race version without the idle circuit. I tried to help a friend tune one that had the idle circuit once but I could never get it to make any difference. :dunno:
 
I think a buddy has a couple predators sitting on his shelf. I might try one one my Challenger this year.
 
OrangeCrushK10 said:
I think I will go with a Predator carb. They sound like the right choice for my particular job.
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Just be sure the operating range is mostly lower rpm stuff. When comparing the Predator to a race Holley carb I found the Predator to be lazy from about 4k up. It's a variable venturi design so it takes vacuum demand from the motor to make the carb increase cfm. Basically, it's always playing "catch up" with the motor where a regular carb has a volume of fuel available to dump based on pedal position.
 
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