.400 pro tree help

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o1heavy

1974 dart sport
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been working with my 7.0 Index car
And seem to be having trouble with cutting a good light and looking for a little insight
Actually made it past the first round last Saturday
And then broke out
At this point I’m leaving at 3200 rpm
With a 1.44 60 foot
And ran a 6.91 just didn’t lift soon enough
But my lights are .152 ish
Which just will not be competitive
Once a few rounds in
I’m using a pro brake Transbrake
I’m thinking maybe tasing the two-step will help
Anyway just looking for some suggestions from the bracket racers
 
smallest front tire you can run.....less roll out...

if you can ..limited the amount of front end travel...

you are trying to get the front wheels out of the beams as fast as you can
 
I limited the front end travel on my 71 Dart bracket car to 1" which helped stop a lot of lost motion, It would 60' 1.30-34 ran 6.30-6.40. I did this by using 3/4" all thread thru the bracket where the upper A arm rubber snubber mounted with nuts above and below the mount. This way it is adjustable and you can play with the amount of travel. This helped me be more consistent with my RT's On a.400 tree I think the worst habit people have is wanting to look back down the track before they leave instead of reacting to what they see on the tree.
 
I limited the front end travel on my 71 Dart bracket car to 1" which helped stop a lot of lost motion, It would 60' 1.30-34 ran 6.30-6.40. I did this by using 3/4" all thread thru the bracket where the upper A arm rubber snubber mounted with nuts above and below the mount. This way it is adjustable and you can play with the amount of travel. This helped me be more consistent with my RT's On a.400 tree I think the worst habit people have is wanting to look back down the track before they leave instead of reacting to what they see on the tree.

I never had a transbrake. But loading the convertor harder always made me more antsy and aware .
I never got to run on one much, but preferred it way more than the full tree.
 
I usually floor it just as the last yellow light comes on. By the time the pedal hits the floor, the car reacts, and starts to move forward, the light has just turned green. Usually get .075 or better. Sometimes .005. Not real consistent. LOL. Practice pushing it until you red light, then you know where to back off to.
 
Pro tree..there is no last yellow..
Oh, haha. So it just goes from red to green, and you hit it? Like on Top Fuel? That would require a lot of total focus for sure. May help to have some kind of practice light at home, and a timer to record your reaction time. Prob takes a little work to hone that skill. How do the funny cars sometimes red light with the pro tree ? Just anticipating the green and jump too soon?
 
smallest front tire you can run.....less roll out...

if you can ..limited the amount of front end travel...

you are trying to get the front wheels out of the beams as fast as you can

Had to loosen the front end to make the car hook after taking power out to run a 7.0
And after reading your post I went back and watched some before and after videos
And the front has more travel
Thinking this is a problem so
I’m gonna try raising the two step to help with the transfer and tighten the front back
Up
 
I did some 11.0 index on a pro tree back in 2009-2012 ish (foot braking). For me, the only way I got decent lights was to roll in deep...doing that I was almost always the first one off the line...then it was just playing games near the stripe (do I take the stripe, or brake and make them eat it...decisions decisions...)
 
.152 light is pretty far away from a perfect light. When I needed a hundredth or two I would over inflate the front tire to speed up my reaction.
 
I have been a shallow stager for over twenty five years , I have been doing some 11.50 index racing the last couple of years and love it. I Foot brake and was leaving at 2,500 shallow. Some very successful local racers talked me into deep staging. I did and my lights got much better, they told me to stick with it and I have and I also lowered my leave rpm to 2,000 and my 60fts got better. Remember deep staging makes your e.t. A tenth slower.

IMG_0485.JPG
 
So deep staging makes your ET slower? But you cut a better light? So for bracket racing, stage deep, right? Closer to the start line?
 
Correct , i set my car up to run 11.50
When I go deep I have to set up to go 11.40 actually which equals 11.50 ,60ft times are also a tenth slower. My car is usually pretty consistently between 1.59-1.62. ( 1.49-1.52) shallow

IMG_0170.JPG
 
I was wrong on my RT
I also have a slow mo video but can’t get it uploaded
I get a extension not added
9F0112DE-0779-4056-BCA2-957AC2B6EAF9.jpeg
 
On the NHRA Division 2 circuit a .400 pro tree is actually .370 . When asked why their response was "too many racers were going red on a .400 tree ". but they never told anyone they were doing it . Should be interesting at the Gators this year . NHRA sucks
 
On the NHRA Division 2 circuit a .400 pro tree is actually .370 . When asked why their response was "too many racers were going red on a .400 tree ". but they never told anyone they were doing it . Should be interesting at the Gators this year . NHRA sucks
So they were reacting so quickly when the green went on that they were red lighting? We have been using a regular tree for so many years for Braket racing, we hardly ever see a pro tree.
 
No if the green is on you can't red light. It is much harder to red light on a pro tree, but it is possible with a good set up.
 
No if the green is on you can't red light. It is much harder to red light on a pro tree, but it is possible with a good set up.

I have to say, a very lite car will react faster and red light easier than a heavy car.
I raced a hemi superstock type car for 14 yrs, it didn`t react nearly as fast as my 600 horse vega did ! both were tubbed and had 14x32`s on them------
 
I remember the pro tree now. You stage, then the light above the green one (White or Yellow) comes on, and that's when you hit it. Then .4 seconds later the green at the bottom comes on, right? So if you and your car react and move forward enough to cross the start line within .4 seconds then you have red lighted. So now they have reduced that time to .370 of a second to prevent that. I'm sure it made alot of people mad when they would red lite because they and their car reacted so quick. Prob a good move, but they should have let the racers know first.
 
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Exactly , Gary , they should have told everyone . My racer friends and I have been lobbying for an instant green for some years now . "Instant green" eliminates all yellow lights whether it's a pro tree or a handicap tree . It would be at the starters discretion when to turn the cars loose . This puts an end to top bulb or bottom bulb racing . I attend door car races that don't allow delay boxes , cross talk and rpm shifters and launch controls . Old school stuff . Just there to have fun . Money ruins everything . Money has ruined NASCAR & NHRA .
 
Exactly , Gary , they should have told everyone . My racer friends and I have been lobbying for an instant green for some years now . "Instant green" eliminates all yellow lights whether it's a pro tree or a handicap tree . It would be at the starters discretion when to turn the cars loose . This puts an end to top bulb or bottom bulb racing . I attend door car races that don't allow delay boxes , cross talk and rpm shifters and launch controls . Old school stuff . Just there to have fun . Money ruins everything . Money has ruined NASCAR & NHRA .

I agree with this post 100% !!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
Pro tree..there is no last yellow..
Actually not true. Supposed to be that way, but if you watch a slow mo video of the tree you will see that the lights progress from top to bottom. I find that if my lights are slow I stare at the top bulb. If they are to close I move down the tree to the bottom bulb.
 
Actually not true. Supposed to be that way, but if you watch a slow mo video of the tree you will see that the lights progress from top to bottom. I find that if my lights are slow I stare at the top bulb. If they are to close I move down the tree to the bottom bulb.
Where did you hear that? Not true!
 
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