Racing slick growth

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Outsider

Outsider

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I have a '66 Dart that has been a race car all its life. It has been HEAVILY abused, but it is probably one of the best performance optioned '66 Dart GTs built. It is also VERY solid, and from 5 feet it looks great. Anywho, The K-frame was cracked in half in two places, the steering box was split, the cowl has cracks running out from the bottom of both pillars, the shocks have been yanked out of the body a couple times, and the lower control arm was bent. Since I am in the process if replacing all the broken parts, and welding up the damage, I turned my attention to the stretched wheel openings. They were starting to blister through the old welds. I hated to start stripping paint, but when I began sanding, I found a different quarter panel has been pieced in there...actually it was done pretty well, but the damage was done in the original paint scheme a long time ago, and it was stick welded in and then the welds were beat down so that the valley could be mudded.
Long story short...I'm replacing the entire quarter and I'm NOT going to stretch the openings. This means the 30 x 10.5 x 15 Goodyear slicks won't be used again. How do you guys measure for slick growth at speed? Things were tight before, but I liked the fit. I'd like to get the tallest tire I can in there.
Any ideas? The car is mini tubbed with inboard A990 Superstock springs and 10 inch wide Supertricks. From inside the trunk it looks close to stock.
 
My rule of thumb is at least an inch of clearance for growth. An inch and a half is better. But if you run radial slicks an inch is plenty.
 
No drag radials. Goodyear Eagle slicks. When watching my buddies Hemi Demon, it looks like the same tires grow about 4 inches... could be just an optical illusion, but they look like they get HUGE.
I think I can swing an inch and a half and still use the tires I have now. That would be great. :cheers:
 
Your main concern is towards the middle of the tire. This is wear the tire grows the most. I had about 3" MOL on my 67 SG Cuda at the middle in the front and It never put a mark there. Car ran 5.80's, w/ 16-33-15 slicks.
 
Outsider said:
I have a '66 Dart that has been a race car all its life. It has been HEAVILY abused, but it is probably one of the best performance optioned '66 Dart GTs built. It is also VERY solid, and from 5 feet it looks great. Anywho, The K-frame was cracked in half in two places, the steering box was split, the cowl has cracks running out from the bottom of both pillars, the shocks have been yanked out of the body a couple times, and the lower control arm was bent. Since I am in the process if replacing all the broken parts, and welding up the damage, I turned my attention to the stretched wheel openings. They were starting to blister through the old welds. I hated to start stripping paint, but when I began sanding, I found a different quarter panel has been pieced in there...actually it was done pretty well, but the damage was done in the original paint scheme a long time ago, and it was stick welded in and then the welds were beat down so that the valley could be mudded.
Long story short...I'm replacing the entire quarter and I'm NOT going to stretch the openings. This means the 30 x 10.5 x 15 Goodyear slicks won't be used again. How do you guys measure for slick growth at speed? Things were tight before, but I liked the fit. I'd like to get the tallest tire I can in there.
Any ideas? The car is mini tubbed with inboard A990 Superstock springs and 10 inch wide Supertricks. From inside the trunk it looks close to stock.
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not to go off topic here man, but what part number are the A990 superstocks? are they better than the 002/003's racing wise for an a-body? just wondering man...thanks
 
The springs are two 1965 Superstock 7 leaf rights. I have the part numbers written down somewhere. They are the original springs the car raced with back in '66.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Your main concern is towards the middle of the tire. This is wear the tire grows the most. I had about 3" MOL on my 67 SG Cuda at the middle in the front and It never put a mark there. Car ran 5.80's, w/ 16-33-15 slicks.
Click to expand...
I was concerned about the front bottom edge of the quarter..right about the middle of the tire. 3" will probably force me to get new tires. I really want to keep the 30 inch tires.
 
Outsider said:
The springs are two 1965 Superstock 7 leaf rights. I have the part numbers written down somewhere. They are the original springs the car raced with back in '66.
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do all the right side SS springs have 7 leafs? what made you run two rights instead of one right and one left?
 
mshred said:
do all the right side SS springs have 7 leafs? what made you run two rights instead of one right and one left?
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Most of the time people run the the same part number is to have an even rear stance. If you look at a set of 002/003 SS springs you'll notice the arch is more for the right side. This is done intentionally for launching the car because the car twist from left to right on the launch and this reduces the body twist and is suppose to plant both rear tires with the same force.
 
I had 1" to an 1 1/4" clearance on the Duster with 29.5 Mickeys and they didn't rub. With SS springs though you may need a little more because the rear moves around lot.
 
if the man your buying your tires from knows any thing about what hes selling he will tell you if you ask. if he says he dosn't know fined one that does iv lernt that lesson .and it also depens on make of tire.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Most of the time people run the the same part number is to have an even rear stance. If you look at a set of 002/003 SS springs you'll notice the arch is more for the right side. This is done intentionally for launching the car because the car twist from left to right on the launch and this reduces the body twist and is suppose to plant both rear tires with the same force.
Click to expand...

hey SGbarracuda, i knew that about the ss springs already thats why im wondering why you would run both the same part number...wouldnt that defeat the whole purpose that the SS springs were designed for? i guess having stiff springs is better than nothing than? do all the right side SS springs have 7 leafs? sorry outsider i dont mean to be hijacking your thread
 
mshred said:
hey SGbarracuda, i knew that about the ss springs already thats why im wondering why you would run both the same part number...wouldnt that defeat the whole purpose that the SS springs were designed for? i guess having stiff springs is better than nothing than? do all the right side SS springs have 7 leafs? sorry outsider i dont mean to be hijacking your thread
Click to expand...
No, not all SS springs have 7 leafs. Current SS springs are based on the '68 SS Hemi A-body springs. These are early springs. The SS springs that I have are old '65 parts that came on the car. I've owned this car for a little over ten years, so I have no idea why they chose to use two rights. I can only assume it is as SGBarracuda has already said...they wanted to even out the stance. Most likely because this wasn't a race Hemi car, and it launched fine with the two rights.
Don't worry about a hijack...these guys have already pointed me in the right direction.
 
Outsider said:
No, not all SS springs have 7 leafs. Current SS springs are based on the '68 SS Hemi A-body springs. These are early springs. The SS springs that I have are old '65 parts that came on the car. I've owned this car for a little over ten years, so I have no idea why they chose to use two rights. I can only assume it is as SGBarracuda has already said...they wanted to even out the stance. Most likely because this wasn't a race Hemi car, and it launched fine with the two rights.
Don't worry about a hijack...these guys have already pointed me in the right direction.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info outsider, i appreciate it!:toothy7:
 
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