M/T drag radials at the track

[LETZRIDE]

figured I would get a better response in the racing section...

I am going to the track either wed/thursday...weather pending... I just put on my new weld prostars and MT et streets...

2 things.

1) I notice when I lit them up to try to heat cycle them, they are wearing only on the inside half of the tires...

2) what psi should I be running in them? I was running 20psi for the dry run on the street today...I just wanted to see if anything was rubbing etc...

The tire size is 11.5x 26

[97rs4life]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

tire psi depends on your car, everyone has a "sweet" spot and it will take practice to find that with your car.

[Shirl]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

figured I would get a better response in the racing section...

I am going to the track either wed/thursday...weather pending... I just put on my new weld prostars and MT et streets...

2 things.

1) I notice when I lit them up to try to heat cycle them, they are wearing only on the inside half of the tires...

2) what psi should I be running in them? I was running 20psi for the dry run on the street today...I just wanted to see if anything was rubbing etc...

The tire size is 11.5x 26

You could start at 20psi. 18psi would be good depending on what kind of power you're making. Make sure you do a LONG burnout to heat the tires otherwise they will just be balogne skins that will slide rather than grip. (You could eat the wall). What kind of ET's are you running that you would use ET Streets? What are you're 60fts? What are you launching at?

[LETZRIDE]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

You could start at 20psi. 18psi would be good depending on what kind of power you're making. Make sure you do a LONG burnout to heat the tires otherwise they will just be balogne skins that will slide rather than grip. (You could eat the wall). What kind of ET's are you running that you would use ET Streets? What are you're 60fts? What are you launching at?

these are my mods: 1996 3800 Camaro- ARH N/A Cam 210/220 .512/.512 112LSA, 36# injectors, 105# springs, Exhaust/headers/Cut-out, K&N intake, w/p underdrive pulley, aluminum d/s, Hp tuners, kyb adj. shocks, lca reloc. brakets, stb, 32mm hollow sway bar, 3.90 gears/lsd, edelbrock Tq arm, custom 3200 stall...

I've cut a best of a 1.9 60' (once) with street tires...I'll be leaving at 3200rpm with the stall kit, or atleast trying to find the sweet spot on the stall...My best e.t to date is a 14.3...I'm looking to finally get into the 13's with the radials.

I realize you can't tell me a sweet spot, what I am more concerned about is why my tires seem to be wearing from the center to inside half of them only, and not the outside half...I can only break stall to 2000rpm...my street tires can hold the 3200 rpm no problem...I know we have a solid axle so the camber can't be out...thats why I'm confused....

[Shirl]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

these are my mods: 1996 3800 Camaro- ARH N/A Cam 210/220 .512/.512 112LSA, 36# injectors, 105# springs, Exhaust/headers/Cut-out, K&N intake, w/p underdrive pulley, aluminum d/s, Hp tuners, kyb adj. shocks, lca reloc. brakets, stb, 32mm hollow sway bar, 3.90 gears/lsd, edelbrock Tq arm, custom 3200 stall...

I've cut a best of a 1.9 60' (once) with street tires...I'll be leaving at 3200rpm with the stall kit, or atleast trying to find the sweet spot on the stall...My best e.t to date is a 14.3...I'm looking to finally get into the 13's with the radials.

I realize you can't tell me a sweet spot, what I am more concerned about is why my tires seem to be wearing from the center to inside half of them only, and not the outside half...I can only break stall to 2000rpm...my street tires can hold the 3200 rpm no problem...I know we have a solid axle so the camber can't be out...thats why I'm confused....

Nice mods! I'm not sure on the wear. I had a similar thing happen on my beater car but that was because the camber was out because I swaped in new struts in the front end. Do you have the proper backspacing on the wheels? I think it's like 5.5" if memory serves me correctly. It sounds as though there is some "toe in" for some reason. The only other thing I can think of is experimenting with is lowering the PSI and seeing if the tires wear more evenly.

Also, with all of those mods, you should be able to see mid 13's. Don't take the burnout lightly because you are using these sticky tires. As I said they can be slippery and downright dangerous if you do not heat them up with a proper burnout. Have the techies help you in the burnout box.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

Thanks,

will do...got rained out tonight, so I am going to try again tommorrow...how long should I be doing a burnout for? just wait till the smoke more or less hits the front of the car?

[caspernicus]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

I would try just a small burnout to clean them off first, then
work your way up. That's quite a bit of tire and if track prep
is decent, you should hook pretty well.

[Shirl]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

Thanks,

will do...got rained out tonight, so I am going to try again tommorrow...how long should I be doing a burnout for? just wait till the smoke more or less hits the front of the car?

You need to do a LONG burnout with these tires. When you pull up, signal a techie, then back up into the waterbox and let em rip. They will let you know when you're ready (usually a LOT of smoke). Track prep means nothing with these tires. You will have people running radials in front of you making it extremely slippery. Do it right and you'll be able to launch at 3200 like you do with the street tires! The burnout is THE most important part. Good luck!

[LETZRIDE]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

perfect... Im gunna have to wait until atleast friday, I called and they said they cancelled thursdays event because of lack of attendance...

How do you/would you signal the techies? And this is going to be a dumb question, but...I go around the water box, back into it, then pull out of it, then do the burnout right?

[bigbrian442]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

If these are the ET street bias tires, Try lowering the pressure to get them to burn all the way across. These do require a burn out like a slick but once they are hot they hook like a slick! These don't have enough tread to where you really need to go around the water. Once you get them smoking you will feel them getting sticky, roll forward about 10 feet but make sure your off the gas before the tires hook.

[transamtom1]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

Start at 20psi for your first pass,they are going to squirm on the top end and you need to get a feel.

Lower the pressure by 2lbs on the next pass,most guys go no lower than 15psi

[Skinny]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

Which tires are you using??
These:


Or these:



The length of a burnout should mostly be dictated by ambient temperature and track surface temp. If it's a cold day, you'll need a longer burnout. Your first pass of the day should always be the longest burnout. For the bias tire (the first one pictured), you shouldn't need to do more than one or maybe two hard burnouts. After that, just a short spin for a few seconds would be sufficient.

If you're using the radial tire (second one pictured) then you should only have to spin them enough to haze the tires then stage immediately. Generally for the radial tires, shorter burnouts are better.

Tire pressures: for the bias tire, I would start around 16psi and work from there. I wouldn't go any lower than about 13.5psi. Those tires can be pretty unstable at the top end of the track on a heavy car like this. For the radial, start around 20psi and go down from there. Go no lower than 15psi.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

Which tires are you using??

I have those one's

If these are the ET street bias tires, Try lowering the pressure to get them to burn all the way across. These do require a burn out like a slick but once they are hot they hook like a slick! These don't have enough tread to where you really need to go around the water. Once you get them smoking you will feel them getting sticky, roll forward about 10 feet but make sure your off the gas before the tires hook.

I know I need the back tires to go through the water box...I was just thinking that I still need to go around and back in because the front tires are still the stock street tires....I don't want them to hold water on them and take it up to the line...


Another question, I'm getting 50/50 answers from people...do these rims/tires need to be balanced the same way that regular street tires/rims are balanced? (little weights on the rims) Alot of people are saying no, but then won't the rim wobble like a normal rim would if you dont balance it?

[bigbrian442]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

If you have the stock front tires then it would be a good idea to go around the water and then back up.

It is always a good idea to balance your tires. Remember your going to be driving on these at a higher rate of speed then a normal street tire.

[techsan23]

Re: M/T drag radials at the track

do these rims/tires need to be balanced the same way that regular street tires/rims are balanced? (little weights on the rims) Alot of people are saying no, but then won't the rim wobble like a normal rim would if you dont balance it?

I have balanced slicks/cheater slicks with clip on weights and stick on weights before; it depends on the application as to what might work best. Thing is that they wear so rapidly that it is difficult to keep them in balance. Just looking at the size of weight they put on the wheel will give you an indication of any major heavy spots in the assembly.