Thread: Billetproof drags, found a Youtube

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Point taken. But, the springs, be they coilovers, leafs, or transverse should not be considered a chassis tuning item... They should only be correctly sized and rated to support the weight of the car. The tuning on coilovers comes in the shock valving and adjustments, the spring part of it just supports the weight. The items I would be concerned with are the bars or rod ends (or hairpins) snapping with the additional bite from slicks. Good shocks valved correctly will do more for traction with any kind of suspension. Nothing wrong with leaving the transverse spring, just make sure the parts that will have to withstand the torque transfer are up to the task!!!!

Most altereds and diggers runs solid mounted rears. They work ok on a good track, but with decent power the cars tend to unhook and buzz the tires once you're off the sticky part of the track... Very few of the smaller tracks spray anything much further out the 60' to 100'...about the same place where you run out of rubber laid down on the track from the other cars. With less power then the rich kids run, a solid mounted rear works great, ran one myself for 3 years in Top Dragster and Quick 8.... Tire choice was critical for the car, softer compound worked better on tracks with less prep to them. If we were running some place that had a lot of big power cars then we could go to a harder compound, get good bite off the line and still keep the car hooked up from 300' to 600'.

What about drag radials, Dave? I keep seeing lots of them on PassTime on some pretty hairy cars. How do they compare to regular slicks?

On our 68 Mustang I ran 11 inch M and H slicks and even with a 4 speed they hooked great. I think I would use those again for the old school look I like.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

What about drag radials, Dave? I keep seeing lots of them on PassTime on some pretty hairy cars. How do they compare to regular slicks?

On our 68 Mustang I ran 11 inch M and H slicks and even with a 4 speed they hooked great. I think I would use those again for the old school look I like.

Don

I set up a couple cars with the Hoosier Drag Radials, so I guess they're the only one's I can talk about... One car with them is a '63 Nova, healthy small block and a Heidts IFS under the front.... He's running the 245's and really hooks hard on the car with 15 psi and a 2800 rpm launch with a 700R4 trans and 4.11's. The other one was an '83 Mustang with 5.0 and 5 speed. same width tire, good lower bars and held the same 60' times with the drag radials as with slicks!!!!! The car is tubbed, he was running a huge 15" wide slick and went to the 245 radial---actually goes a full tenth of a second faster on the drag radials because of the HUGE decrease in rolling resistance. I have the Hoosier's on my Mustang...they even do ok uptown on a Saturday night!! Best part about the drag radials, they don't "unload" like a slick does and give the big bouncy ride on the big end......

PS--Just pulled the invoice, we put 245 x 45 x 17's on the Mustang....another + with the drag radials is the 17" tire of course has less sidewall height and more stability going thru the quarter.....

Those radials sound like a good move. I remember the M and H's on the Mustang hooked best at about 11-13 psi air pressure, and at the big end I could feel it moving side to side as I went across the finish line.

Don