Hard tail dragster problem

Jason Oldfield · 07-24-2007, 11:45 AM

Make sure you go high enough and then back the pressure back down to it's optimal setting! Ideally, you would like to have the pressure as high as possible without negatively affecting the performance of the vehicle.

I had been running mine between 5.5 - 6.0 psi, but when I switched to M/T and subsequently Hoosier, I found that I could run 8 psi no problem (it's a smaller tire on a 4-link car so I wouldn't necessarily expect the same pressure on a HT dragster with a bigger tire). I never would have thought that I could go that high, but I just decided to keep going up until I saw a dropoff in performance. My dropoff came at about 9 psi, so I settled on 8 psi as a safe pressure.

Anyway, good luck, and look forward to hearing the results...

Mike Hedger · 07-29-2007, 06:10 PM

Well I upped the tire pressure to 6.0 last night (it was night after the 2 hour rain delay) and the tire spin/wadind is better. I went out in the third round after putting the car in a little deep in the beams and going red. You know how you know you screwed up when you staged and now you are married to it? I am going to try 7psi the next time I go to the track and see if it works. Thank you for all the help, Mike

Mike Hedger · 09-16-2007, 11:35 PM

I tried 6.75 last time out and I now know what tire shake feels like. I am sticking with 6.0 and calling it fixed. Thank you for all the help, Mike

Floyd Staggs · 09-17-2007, 10:41 AM

Thanks for all the info, Guys.
We have a VW powered altered and I keep arguing with my son about tire pressure. I can plainly see the tires wrap up on the launch @ 4 1/2 #. It barely spins on launch but it does spin hitting high gear. It's a turbo so we can hear the tires over the motor. It gets a little squirley on the top end with that low tire pressure. We ran 8.06 @ 168 with the little motor and are trying for 7.50's with a new and bigger motor but I want to go with higher air pressure and we put a 33" tire on it.
www.staggsracing.com

Floyd Staggs · 09-17-2007, 10:42 AM

Mike, we get tire shake at 5#, that's why the kid went down to 4 1/2.

don R · 10-05-2007, 06:10 PM

We ran 4 3/4 with a sbc and hard tail, now a four link with an iron head bbc 5 1/2. I have had the same problem while visiting a different track. At the pressure we used at home it would wad and then spin. I saw other cars doing the same thing the same day. We use the Hoosier 16.5s x 33 also.

07-24-2007, 11:45 AM	#1
Jason Oldfield Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 619 Likes: 1 Liked 10 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Hard tail dragster problem Make sure you go high enough and then back the pressure back down to it's optimal setting! Ideally, you would like to have the pressure as high as possible without negatively affecting the performance of the vehicle. I had been running mine between 5.5 - 6.0 psi, but when I switched to M/T and subsequently Hoosier, I found that I could run 8 psi no problem (it's a smaller tire on a 4-link car so I wouldn't necessarily expect the same pressure on a HT dragster with a bigger tire). I never would have thought that I could go that high, but I just decided to keep going up until I saw a dropoff in performance. My dropoff came at about 9 psi, so I settled on 8 psi as a safe pressure. Anyway, good luck, and look forward to hearing the results... __________________ Jason Oldfield S/G & S/St 1838

07-29-2007, 06:10 PM	#2
Mike Hedger Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kemah TX Posts: 93 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Hard tail dragster problem Well I upped the tire pressure to 6.0 last night (it was night after the 2 hour rain delay) and the tire spin/wadind is better. I went out in the third round after putting the car in a little deep in the beams and going red. You know how you know you screwed up when you staged and now you are married to it? I am going to try 7psi the next time I go to the track and see if it works. Thank you for all the help, Mike __________________ Mike Hedger S/C 4646 MPH Racing and Fabrication

09-16-2007, 11:35 PM	#3
Mike Hedger Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kemah TX Posts: 93 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Hard tail dragster problem I tried 6.75 last time out and I now know what tire shake feels like. I am sticking with 6.0 and calling it fixed. Thank you for all the help, Mike __________________ Mike Hedger S/C 4646 MPH Racing and Fabrication

09-17-2007, 10:41 AM	#4
Floyd Staggs VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cucamonga, CA Posts: 1,522 Likes: 169 Liked 229 Times in 99 Posts	Re: Hard tail dragster problem Thanks for all the info, Guys. We have a VW powered altered and I keep arguing with my son about tire pressure. I can plainly see the tires wrap up on the launch @ 4 1/2 #. It barely spins on launch but it does spin hitting high gear. It's a turbo so we can hear the tires over the motor. It gets a little squirley on the top end with that low tire pressure. We ran 8.06 @ 168 with the little motor and are trying for 7.50's with a new and bigger motor but I want to go with higher air pressure and we put a 33" tire on it. www.staggsracing.com __________________ Floyd Staggs 787 SST

09-17-2007, 10:42 AM	#5
Floyd Staggs VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cucamonga, CA Posts: 1,522 Likes: 169 Liked 229 Times in 99 Posts	Re: Hard tail dragster problem Mike, we get tire shake at 5#, that's why the kid went down to 4 1/2. __________________ Floyd Staggs 787 SST

10-05-2007, 06:10 PM	#6
don R Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 109 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Hard tail dragster problem We ran 4 3/4 with a sbc and hard tail, now a four link with an iron head bbc 5 1/2. I have had the same problem while visiting a different track. At the pressure we used at home it would wad and then spin. I saw other cars doing the same thing the same day. We use the Hoosier 16.5s x 33 also.

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