Don't know what I'm doing

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fourspeed

fourspeed

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Racer Dudes,

Last year I started "racing" my Duster. Just going to test-and-tune nights for fun with the guys.

Setup:
340 - dynoed at 458HP
4 speed
Centerforce Dual Friction
Line lock
002/003 SS springs
No pinion snubber
NAPA shocks on front
Monroe shocks on rear (from Mancini for SS springs)
Hoosier DOT drag radials P275-60-15

First time out, best was a 12.94 with a 3.55 gear. Next time, best was 12.77. Borrowed a 3.91 gear and got down to a 12.49.

This year, I went to a 4.30 gear which is a good gear, I think. I'm around 6000RPM through the lights. My 60' time is not good, though. I made a few runs and eventually ticked off an ET that made me smile. On this particular run, I revved to about 3500, then before dumping the clutch, I floored it. My buddy says I smoked the tires for quite a ways - I didn't know they spun that much... I didn't speedshift this run. Anyway, here are my numbers. Not concerned about reaction time yet - just working on my driving.

RT .423
60' 1.748
1/8 7.844
ET 12.269
MPH 111.4

Any advice on bringing the 60' down? By the way, all my runs were in the 1.7 range, even when I didn't spin the tires hard.
 
You need to eliminate the wheel spin. Can you borrow some slicks? Maybe play with the air preasure. How many pounds are you running with now?
 
I really don't have alot of knowledge on DOT drag tires but I have drag raced for alot of years. On my 67 SG Barracuda I ran 16x33 slicks @ 8-9 psi. it would 60' 1.25-1.27. I would like to see what a pair of 26-28x9 slicks would do on your car.
 
Be careful about borrowing a pair of slicks that they are radials and not bias ply, there are still a lot of them floating around and you don't want to mix and match.
 
What's in the rear? Spool,open,Sure grip?Yep,try to get some slicks under it.
 
Put some 90/10 drag shocks on the front…that should help with the weight transfer.
 
Yeah already sounds impressive and fun! I used to race a stick car a lot. The method I used was rev it to 500 rpm under shift rpm floored with a two step rev limiter. The two step was activated when the clutch was in and it was in first. You will have to play with the suspension and try to get it hooked. As you are more successful getting it hooked, it will bog at higher and higher rpms. At that point you will keep raising the launch rpm to keep it from bogging. The reason your car went the fastest with tire spin is that its bogging when it hooks and when it spins it keeps the motor in the meat of the torque band. 4 Speed cars like a little tire spin or clutch slippage. A lot of suspension work needs to be in the front end. Front end travel and rise will get the weight of the car onto the rear wheels. Pics and or videos please! :happy10:

PS. There is a stick specific slick, look at Summitracing.com and Mickey T has a stick slick. Ride height is important get the car as low as possible so that the front end has the most suspension travel in the upward motion. Look at Stock Eliminator cars, most of them are on the rebound bumpers.
 
turbodart68 said:
PS. There is a stick specific slick, look at Summitracing.com and Mickey T has a stick slick. Ride height is important get the car as low as possible so that the front end has the most suspension travel in the upward motion. Look at Stock Eliminator cars, most of them are on the rebound bumpers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the tires - I'll look into those. Front end rise should be easy to accomplish. I have RMS strut rods and UCA's with heim ends. The two things holding me back are the NAPA shocks and the anti-sway bar.

Hopefully we'll take some video next time out.
 
Sounds like fun. Your 60's are not going to be good with a radial. Stick cars hit the tire too hard and the wall on a radial is too stiff. If you call MT, GY, or Hoosier they will all tell you not to run drag radials with stick cars.
A bias ply slick would be a good choice but remember you dont want to get a dead hook or you'll break stuff. Somewhere you need some give because the static pressure of your clutch is high applying the entire weight of the driveline on the tire hit. 833's are stout transmissions no doubt but running a stick is a balance between "some" tire spin, or "some" clutch spin. If you are going to street and strip the car then just get a pair of slicks and beat the daylights out of em' and have fun.
heres a good site too for more info. www.umtrnorth.com
Good luck, cant wait to see some video.:cheers:
 
ironside said:
Sounds like fun. Your 60's are not going to be good with a radial. Stick cars hit the tire too hard and the wall on a radial is too stiff. If you call MT, GY, or Hoosier they will all tell you not to run drag radials with stick cars.
A bias ply slick would be a good choice but remember you dont want to get a dead hook or you'll break stuff. Somewhere you need some give because the static pressure of your clutch is high applying the entire weight of the driveline on the tire hit. 833's are stout transmissions no doubt but running a stick is a balance between "some" tire spin, or "some" clutch spin. If you are going to street and strip the car then just get a pair of slicks and beat the daylights out of em' and have fun.
heres a good site too for more info. www.umtrnorth.com
Good luck, cant wait to see some video.:cheers:
Click to expand...

took the words right outta my mouth...

loose the drag radials and get a set of bias ply's for it...radials and a stick are a no no...radials cant recover from the dump of the clutch and just spin (even some automatic guys have the problem)

my buddy's mustang is the same way, its a stick with dr's...watching his launch vids, you can see where the radials are limiting him...he's gonna switch to bias next season and all things the same i bet will run atleast a couple tenths faster and get his 60ft down

oh and btw, id stay away from MT, maybe try MandH and hoosier...i had two bad sets of sportsmans that wouldnt seal or balance, then a set of et streets that wouldnt balance...also had a friend with a set of et streets that would balance as well...this was all over the course of this summer, seems like MT quality control is going to the sh%&'s

good luck!
 
I would say try doing a couple practice launches on clean pavement and read the marks. I think 16psi may be too high to start with. From what I understand, you run them a little low, but heat the snot our of them to get them to stick. There are much faster cars with sticks running them and they are working. If I had to guess, I'd say the rear is too stiff, the front isnt moving due to weight, shocks, and the swap bar. The best shocks you can afford and losing the sway bar will go a long way to helping. I'd like to see a pic of the car too.
 
You should see an improvement by disconnecting (or better, removing) the sway bar and adding 90/10 or 80/20 from shocks.
 
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