Traction advice

[Ron Gusack]

Toyo 9 inch tire, 10 inch wheel with a starting point of 14 lbs of pressure. Calvert 90/10's, Rancho SA's, Santhuff springs, 400 trans, 4.88 gear, mono leaf with sliders and ladder bars, foot brake leaving at 3000.

The tires spun bad leaving the line and then chirped hard on the 1-2 shift. Racers at the track convinced me to go with less pressure, which I felt was wrong based on my other thread here. We took a pound of pressure out and 60's were better, but not good. We went as low as 10, which was so bad that the tires spun when I tried to get the r's up to 3 before staging.

The shocks were set at 4 on the left and 5 on the right. I set them at 2 and 3. I'm also going to loosen the front limiters all the way. Is that the right way to go

Thanks for any help.

[Bob Pagano]

You mite want to look at a thread I read yesterday about then toyo's being old rubber and it gave how to read the date code. (bad rubber)
Look at the tire foot print, if no rubber on the ground in the middle of the tire you need MORE air. Take off the front end limiters until you get the car to work.

[Richard Grant]

14lbs. is low for radials but maybe high for bias tires. I don't know about Toyo's but with Hoosiers on some tracks they require using #6 compound to hook. How the track is preped is critical. To know for sure how well the tire is working you need to run on a track that other stockers are showing that they can hook. At the local track it's spotty to get a 9" tire to hook. Some tracks are only worried about a over tired bracket car being able to hook and it's almost impossible to get a well running 9" tired car to hook.

[Ron Gusack]

Originally Posted by Richard Grant

14lbs. is low for radials but maybe high for bias tires. I don't know about Toyo's but with Hoosiers on some tracks they require using #6 compound to hook. How the track is preped is critical. To know for sure how well the tire is working you need to run on a track that other stockers are showing that they can hook. At the local track it's spotty to get a 9" tire to hook. Some tracks are only worried about a over tired bracket car being able to hook and it's almost impossible to get a well running 9" tired car to hook.

The track prep was not good and there was lots of complaining going on. I lost 1st round and watched the class run their 2nd round. All of the cars I watched spun, but not nearly as bad as I did. I talked to the top 2 points leaders and they both said the track was terrible and not normally this bad. These tires are dated 07, which could be a major factor.

My question is if I'm going the right way with the shock setting.

[Myron Piatek]

Most of the Rancho settings I've heard about, and use myself, have been on the high end. Being a ladder bar car, their adjustment may also be a factor. Carb tuning can help plant and keep the tires planted.

I often usually have inconsistant traction at local bracket events also. But I use radials all the time which are more sensitive.

I only went up about 2 pounds in air pressure when I switched from bias to radials.

[Ron Gusack]

Originally Posted by Myron Piatek

Most of the Rancho settings I've heard about, and use myself, have been on the high end. Being a ladder bar car, their adjustment may also be a factor. Carb tuning can help plant and keep the tires planted.

I often usually have inconsistant traction at local bracket events also. But I use radials all the time which are more sensitive.

I only went up about 2 pounds in air pressure when I switched from bias to radials.

So if it's having trouble hooking, I should turn the knob CCW, right? Can you give me basics on carb tuning to help traction. I'm foot braking and trying to leave at 3k.

[gsa612]

I would put the tires at 13, both shocks on 3, try leaving at 1800, if you know someone who runs the same size tire (m/t, hoosier) see if you can use them for a pass. If the track is bad you can try taking 4 deg. timing out. Maybe some weight in the trunk (spare tire off a truck). See if any of the regulars are having traction problems. If you suspect the tires try to borrow another set. gsa612

[Myron Piatek]

Evertybody has their own shock suggestions but you still have to try them yourself to see if it works for your particular combination.

As for carbs, footbraking probably requires more tuning than 2-step or T-brake. Basically you have to size the squirters and pump volume (pump cams on Holleys) so it doesn't squirt too long or not long enough as well as how much is being delivered through that time.Remember that a smaller squirter will prolong the squirt duration while a bigger one will reduce it, if there are no other changes. I think you can actually unload the suspension enough to encourage spin if you get lean or rich enough before the main circuit kicks in. Jet for MPH and play with the accellerator pump circuit for 60' times. Keep tinkering back & forth till you get the best results. It can take a lot of time, but inconsistent traction makes it more difficult. Make sure you only make one change at a time and keep the water temp consistent. In other words, keep variables to a minimum so what you change will make the most difference.

[Ed Wright]

Listen to this man.

[Ron Gusack]

Originally Posted by Myron Piatek

Evertybody has their own shock suggestions but you still have to try them yourself to see if it works for your particular combination.

As for carbs, footbraking probably requires more tuning than 2-step or T-brake. Basically you have to size the squirters and pump volume (pump cams on Holleys) so it doesn't squirt too long or not long enough as well as how much is being delivered through that time.Remember that a smaller squirter will prolong the squirt duration while a bigger one will reduce it, if there are no other changes. I think you can actually unload the suspension enough to encourage spin if you get lean or rich enough before the main circuit kicks in. Jet for MPH and play with the accellerator pump circuit for 60' times. Keep tinkering back & forth till you get the best results. It can take a lot of time, but inconsistent traction makes it more difficult. Make sure you only make one change at a time and keep the water temp consistent. In other words, keep variables to a minimum so what you change will make the most difference.

Myron, thanks for the information. You've given me ideas that I never would have thought of. I'm running a 6.50 index class and I try to leave as high as I can because of the pro tree. I haven't checked this particular carb, but the boosters are probably flowing by 3k, right? This is a 9375 with .052's. I try to stage between 145 and 150. I thought about staging at a higher temp to try and kill some power.