What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Okay, we've seen the Bob Porpora wheelstand video. If you get into one of those situations is there anyway to come out of it short of banging the front end down? Here's something that may work...

A few years ago a local S/S racer here in Louisville broke his wheelie bars and started to climb way too high. Realizing something was wrong he put his shifter into high gear, skipping second gear. Still under power the car settled down smoothly after the transmission shifted into high gear. All that was damaged was the broken wheelie bars.

Travis

(Disclaimer: Opinions expressed by me on this forum are exactly that, my opinions.)

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Interesting thought. Was the S/S racer a stick like Porpora's?

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Automatic

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

I've done this exact same thing too and it works. We did this before wheelie bars were legal. The wheelstand was a gradual up,up, up, not all at once.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Amen!
yea, totally amazed at some of these mountain motor races like nmca pro stock that dont have wheelie bars. I wonder if those guy have their insurance paid up if they have any kids:eek: maybe that's the thrill.

good advice Travis! :)

stacy

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

I do not have the problem of getting up too high. But if iI did I think that I would have wheelie bars on just for the sake of a finely prepped track.

In Popora's wheel stand he did not have any bars on that I saw of on the video. Usually he has those huge lightened bars (braces) on.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA I got the left front up one inch once.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

he put his shifter into high gear
This would be OK if he had a H pattern shifter, but if it were a inline shifter it would take a lot of stumbling & fumbling to get to High gear. It apperars Travis hasn't driven a inline shifter in some time!

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Most automatics I've seen have inline shifters.

Travis

(Disclaimer: Opinions and ideas expressed by me on this forum are exactly that, my opinions. My opinions and ideas are also meant to help. But then some people cannot be helped.)

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Did anyone notice that it looked like the right headlight came out of the car on landing???

Also I watched Brett Mc Farland & Arnold Greene Go up on the back bumper, Brett just kept on shifting and came down when he hit 4th gear. Arnold road his out the same way. This was a Orlando.


Hammer

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

With a Automatic car keep foot in the gas use your left foot and get on the brakes, will slow rear wheel speed.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Allow a wheelie bar that actually works and does not unload the tire. Nah, that makes too much sense. Ralph's car looks like it unloaded the tires and then stuff happens quickly. Ours bent the motor mounts, headers, radiator support, spindles, tie rods and new front rims. Hope it didn't do too much damage Ralph. Shifting early sounds logical.

BP

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

pray,hammer down , shift , ride not always in that order ya also need to look out side window to see if wall/rail's going same direction as the car .
if not all above is null and void jim

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Oh to dream of a bumper draggin' wheelie..........expecially difficult to imagine with the car here on the jack stands trying to wait out the economy..........I kind of got scarred when the front tire(s) came 12" (ok so maybe it was 6" really) off the ground...LOL

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Anyone remember Glen Betz's wheelstand in his Cavalier at Orlando December 2001? Maybe the best I've ever seen....awesome.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

I dont think Ralph had any wheelie bars on his car that pass? WHY? The car appeared to unloaded when it hit the rear bumper.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

There have been questions about the legality of some of the bars in Stock. Ralph had a set on the car that looked like an erector set, but I think NHRA decided they don't like them. I guess maybe he hadn't found a set he liked to replace them yet.

Even cars with bars will have problems on a pass like that. I've seen really good cars get steered to the other lane by the bars, even with those orange wheels they say won't do that. When you get up like that with the regular bars, it drives them into the gravel pan, and that can often steer the car or unload it.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

I think I would call Billy Nees on the way up and ask his advise on a course of action.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Mike

I was there for that one. I think wheelie bars were installed soon after.

Hammer

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Well I think this is an easy one for me to answer coming from expierence of doing many of these w/o wheelie bars. The only thing you can do is shift. . . . . . . . shift. . . . . . . . and oh yeah hold on.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Ah, the voice of experience. With the pictures to prove it!

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Yeah I saw that. I was commenting on the outlawed bars. Still ticked about that. I would not take a chance on not having them on an A-C car now. Too many variables and besides, it's too expensive to fix and loose a round.


BP

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

See if I could flip it all the way ?


(no Im not serious but it would be an interesting thought :)

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

After watching Ralph's video the car stoped going up but then he shifted into second and that's when the car went to the bumper. If he would have waited just a split second until the nose started down he would have been fine. But that's not that easy to do in the moment. BTW love the sound of that X pipe.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

damn cant say thats ever happened to me LOL :)
(once in an old modified car maybe)

However when randy BIGG STUFF payne went about 500 foot on the back bumper (without lifting) to beat an emmons in class at belle rose he made these comments "never thought about lifting, hell at my age what a way to go out ! "... and "when i put her in high gear she started to settle down" > so if i ever get some big air in the old U/SA wagon ill take travis and bigg's advice and throw her in high gear !!!!

captain jack

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

With as many wheelstanding antics i've done (not proud of them), I would say, you need to short shift 2nd gear and it will come down. If it still wants to come up, you need to feather the throttle. In watching the video of Ralph, if he had of short shifted 2nd gear, she woulda came down alot smoother, but things happen so fast. It all boils down to knowing where you are at in the air....Easier said than done, but Ralph did a good job, it could have been worse than that.....

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Trust me if you feather the throttle your gonna lose momentum. If you short shift 2nd, then short shift to 3rd. It'll come down. Trust me. I did an 1/8th mile wheel stand at Topeka Nats a couple years ago and all's I did was threw it in 2nd then 3rd. And hang on. Oh I believe I did it again at Joliet the following race to the 330' also 2nd to 3rd. Not LIFTING and she came down smooth everytime.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Mike
YOU THA MAN!!
That wheelie at Chicago was AWSOME!!
Listen folks he KNOWS..
Hes just alittle crazy like his DAD!!

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

I'd have to go get new undershorts.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Nothing ever saved my car, once it hit the rear bumper, the short rear overhang of the 70 Cuda had already allowed the rear tires to come off the pavement by a foot or so, staying in the throttle and hoping both tires hit the pavement at exactly the same time would have been a recipe for total disaster, the trans had already shifted 2nd/3rd while the tires were off the ground, and the wheelspeed would have had me swapping lanes or into the wall in a split second. As it was, mine came down about the 4-500 foot mark, we killed the trans pan, oil pan, headers, motor plate, crank trigger, shaker hood scoop and front grille, but not the driver. As far as the comment about flipping it over backwards, I was real close to that, I looked out the windshield and saw the tower behind me.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Wheel stands suck!!!!! I just stopped racing in a heads up series that I supported for 10 years because they wont allow bars. Since 1997 I have done 4 real bad wheels stands. Each time causing over 10k in damage. I am limited to a 29.5 x 10.5 tire. When the car dead hooks, it just climbs the ring gear and is on the rear valance before 40' (under 1 second). By the time you let go of the trans brake, it just climbs too fast to react. Sometimes shifting from first to third (pro flite) will hold the front end around 2.5' off the ground for 200-300', some times it doesn't and just continues to climb. Last year in Chicago I shifted 2 times and peddled the car 5 times until it finally came down around the 330'. Comments like drag the brakes and stuff like that just makes me laugh. You can either ride a wheelie out, or you can't. It isnt something you want to practice or know you are good at. If I can give 1 small piece of advice, if you do lift, make dam sure you are WOT when you come down to soften the hit.

Re: What would you do in a bumper scraping wheelstand?
 

Bigshow,,,,,,, You think you'd have to get new undershorts???? Depends!
Danny Durham