Has anyone ever needed to "break in" their drag radials?

[flyfish]

So, I got some new tiers before a big money race this weekend (same tires I have been running for many years, Hoosier drag radials 275/60/15's), set them at the normal pressure (18#'s)....first pass the car spun big time, had a 1.501 60' 6.65 @ 103mph. Temps were hot and humid, but all my friends were having zero traction issues, so the track was good. The car should have been in the low 1.4x's, even in the heat. I normally do short burnouts, so I thought maybe they need a little more burnout than normal to get them usable. Second time run, 1.499 6.64 @ 103.1, still spinning hard. Rd 1, went red (first competition red light in a few years ) and the car did 1.494 60' 6.62 @ 103.6

Needless to say, I didn't buy back because I could not trust the car. So, my question is, has anyone else had a similar issue with new tires? If so, how did you remedy it? Me personally, I have never had new tires not stick before...so I'm kinda at a loss. The old tires that I took off the week prior (also Hoosier drag radials 275/60/15's) were still cutting 1.39 60' times when they started showing belts!

 

[dart_68]

So, I got some new tiers before a big money race this weekend (same tires I have been running for many years, Hoosier drag radials 275/60/15's), set them at the normal pressure (18#'s)....first pass the car spun big time, had a 1.501 60' 6.65 @ 103mph. Temps were hot and humid, but all my friends were having zero traction issues, so the track was good. The car should have been in the low 1.4x's, even in the heat. I normally do short burnouts, so I thought maybe they need a little more burnout than normal to get them usable. Second time run, 1.499 6.64 @ 103.1, still spinning hard. Rd 1, went red (first competition red light in a few years ) and the car did 1.494 60' 6.62 @ 103.6

Needless to say, I didn't buy back because I could not trust the car. So, my question is, has anyone else had a similar issue with new tires? If so, how did you remedy it? Me personally, I have never had new tires not stick before...so I'm kinda at a loss. The old tires that I took off the week prior (also Hoosier drag radials 275/60/15's) were still cutting 1.39 60' times when they started showing belts!

The obvious first question would be did you make any other changes, intentional or not, to the car? Second question might be is the tire compound the correct type for what you need?

 

[33IMP]

I have heard that the first burnout on a brand new slick/drag radial should be, shall we say, slightly excessive?
After that, the drag radials need only a couple seconds of burnout.
I do not know if that is true.
I see lots of burnout on the you tube vids of no-prep and street races. Probably to get some rubber down to race on.

 

[flyfish]

The obvious first question would be did you make any other changes, intentional or not, to the car? Second question might be is the tire compound the correct type for what you need?

No changes, and this is the exact same tire that I just took off the car.

 

[flyfish]

I have heard that the first burnout on a brand new slick/drag radial should be, shall we say, slightly excessive?
After that, the drag radials need only a couple seconds of burnout.
I do not know if that is true.
I see lots of burnout on the you tube vids of no-prep and street races. Probably to get some rubber down to race on.

This is what I was thinking too...I didn't go full on John Force burnout yet...maybe that is what it needs.

 

[413]

Don’t do long burnouts, it overheats the tire and shortens the life. This is why some tire’s don’t wok with lots of tread left, and other still work with cords showing. Also age makes them go bad. Have you ever seen guys that race every week have bald tires that still work, but old ones are spinning even with tread left.

New tires sometimes will work better after a few runs and the surface is roughed up.

 

[dartindanno]

From Hoosier website....
2. What is the proper burn out procedure for Hoosier drag tires?
ANSWER: With Hoosier's "high traction" compounds, we have found the following burn out procedure to work for most cars. We recommend rolling through the water box to wet the tires. Start the burn out. Once the tires start to "haze", start to slow the burn out down and proceed to the start line. The goal of the burn out is to clean all debris off the tires and heat just the surface of the tread. Again this procedure will work for most cars, but fine tuning the procedure for your car may be needed.

 

[flyfish]

From Hoosier website....
2. What is the proper burn out procedure for Hoosier drag tires?
ANSWER: With Hoosier's "high traction" compounds, we have found the following burn out procedure to work for most cars. We recommend rolling through the water box to wet the tires. Start the burn out. Once the tires start to "haze", start to slow the burn out down and proceed to the start line. The goal of the burn out is to clean all debris off the tires and heat just the surface of the tread. Again this procedure will work for most cars, but fine tuning the procedure for your car may be needed.

Yup, this is what I have been doing for 12+ years on these tires, and it works well....except for this set, they just spun, no wheelie, no hooky, no smiley. :-(

 

[dartindanno]

Hmmm, I've always used Mickey's and follow the same light hazing burnout. 9/10 times they hook solid. Maybe those Hoosiers just need a few more passes on them? Good luck!

 

[Hemioutlaw]

Maybe,
As happens in this day and age with quality control you just got "that" set of tires.

You said it was Hot but sounds like you've been racing long enough to know about Heat/Suns effect on tire sidewalls which is why some racers cover the sidewalls to shade.

 

[justinp61]

I've never had much luck with light burnouts with M/T radials.

 

[B3422w5]

This is what I was thinking too...I didn't go full on John Force burnout yet...maybe that is what it needs.

i run the same tire.
Generally let it see more smoke with very first pass on them, then normal..” just see smoke and get out” routine.
My guess is( despite what others had happen) is the track was probably not great. It was 90 degrees + up here last weekend. 131 is usually very good. Guy i race with( Duster with R5P7 deal) had consistency issues past weekend at the hit, and he normally doesn't.
Once a radial spins, you are done, it wont recover.
All you can do is dial it for what you have, and tighten it up at the big end, if it seems to stick.... easier said than done.
You racing in Terre Haute this weekend?

 

[flyfish]

i run the same tire.
.......................
You racing in Terre Haute this weekend?

I thought about that one, good payout....the tree at that track is weird, hard to get used to. It staggers the amber bulbs, which is great to prevent cheaters, but is sucks for those of us that use the amber blubs as a cadence to launch the car. I'm either doing the Bernie Mann 10k race, or going to Muncie for some regular ET bracket stuff. I was at Lucas Oil Raceway this last weekend.

 

[flyfish]

Update: The John Force style burn out was successful… Even though it’s 96° out here it still laid down a 1.45 60’…I’m good with that. Now short burnouts are working again… thank goodness because I was about to have to contact Hoosier and see what I could do about these stupid tires that don’t work, lol.

 

[RustyRatRod]

No changes, and this is the exact same tire that I just took off the car.

Are you ONE HUNDRED percent sure? I ask because there are normally several different compounds and each has a different marking.......I know you know all this as much as you race.....just trying to help. Make dang SURE every single number and marking is the same cept of course for the DOT serial number.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Update: The John Force style burn out was successful… Even though it’s 96° out here it still laid down a 1.45 60’…I’m good with that. Now short burnouts are working again… thank goodness because I was about to have to contact Hoosier and see what I could do about these stupid tires that don’t work, lol.

Ok cool. John Force it is! lol