Not much out there that will out pull an MV? Ever been to a pull with 4x4 turbo diesel pickups. They easily out pull an MV.
A few of us went to a pull last year and all had 5-tons. Every diesel pickup out pulled the 5-tons except for one that broke and another didn't make it more than a few feet. No, I didn't pull the 813.
The automatic and TC give up well before the engine loses. Real sled (300 foot clay track) and all but one of the pickups were diesels and that gas truck was right from the show room floor (literally) and it almost did a full pull.
The sled we pulled was at max weight of 60,000lbs, and he dropped the pan at 75 ft.... vs 200 ft normal. Since it was an exhibition pull, and we hadn't pulled the 5-tons before, we had no idea how they would do. So the sled operator and myself agreed to take it on the cautious side and overload things. I made 2 runs... 1st in high range-drive. The 2nd in Low-range drive. In both runs the truck shifted up to 3rd, then back to 2nd... but never down shifted to 1st again. In both hi and lo range, the torque converter let go and ran out of rpm before the motor ran out of power.
My 2 cents.... manually shift it up and down to keep the rpm up, while maintaining the fasted ground speed. When it comes to pulls, momentum is life. Also, if the truck starts to hop? Get out of it. Things will break VERY quick!!
btw.. Does anyone still have the link to the videos of our pull on youtube? I can't seem to find the posts or link anymore!