Traction issues

[Floyd Staggs]

My truck is a ladder bar coil over set up with MT 29.5X11.5X15 slicks. My old tires gave up after a year and a half and I bought a new set, same size. The new ones don't seem to be sticking. My 60 fts have dropped from 1.42, 1.43 to 1.50 plus. I've got the ladder bars in the bottom hole and the shocks set soft, 3 and 4 clicks left to right. They are Varishocks single adjustable. Am I hitting the tires too hard or are the new ones not as good as the old ones? They just cost me a race when I let go of the button and they just blew away. Had to peddle and then couldn't catch the guy.
Any ideas?

[C and W Racing]

Not familiar with m/t, but have you checked to make sure that the compound is the same as your old tires? Have you tried them more than one race? Maybe the track prep wasn't up to par. Like that ever happens. lol

[Floyd Staggs]

Yes, I tried them 2 weekends in a row, same track. Nobody else seemed to have any issues that I know of.
As far as I know that tire size comes in one compund only. This is my 3rd set of these and the first time I have had any issues.
Question, which hole hits the tire harder, bottom or top?

[C and W Racing]

You said your old tires gave up. Were they doing the same thing as the new ones? On a ladder bar, you can't change the length of the bar, so technically, it hits the same, what you can change is the lift point, relative to the nuetral line. If your truck was mine, I would have the lower bar parallel to the ground or slightly pointing down. The best way to see how it is hitting the tire is have someone vidio the truck with a good look at the rear tire. If they use a digital camera and you can play it frame by frame, you can learn a lot. On the truck that I had, I ran the shocks full soft, with the long wheelbase that it had, it needed the help for pitch rotation. That truck would go down a dirt road and it would go red on a pro tree
Chuck

[Floyd Staggs]

The old tires just wouldn't hook any more. They would spin at the hit, not as bad as the new ones.
My bars are in the bottom hole, slightly down, and the shocks are 2 clicks left, 4 clicks right from dead soft. I've got 150 lb springs on the back.
Would you like to come help me get mine sorted out? I sure as hell can't go red on a pro tree.

[Floyd Staggs]

C & W, check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...xt=1&list=QL&index=1

[Tony Curcio]

Before you spend any money, try going the other way with the shocks. Make them stiff on extension, ie hard to pull apart. Make a big move, not just one or two clicks.

Costs nothing, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Tony Curcio]

I later realized I should make sure it was clear I meant the rear shocks.

Also, the ladder bars' upper hole will usually make the car hit harder, which is probably not what you want in this situation.

[Floyd Staggs]

Thanks Tony, I've been brain f#cking this thing for days now and you are probably right. I had some chatter at the last division race and I raised the launch rpm and softened the shocks. That was probably the wrong way to go. I think I have magnified the problem since. I made 2 changes instead of one and lost sight of where i was, I'm going back to my original settings where the 60' were good and go from there.

[Floyd Staggs]

I took the tires back to MT yesterday and they agreed the tires were too hard. They are going to change them out for me. Now I got to get back to my original settings and make some of the adjustment suggested to try to improve.
Thanks for all the suggestions.