Converter. Trans brake questions.

-
When you foot break a car the power is going to the wheels, and the only thing stopping it is your breaks. The chassis, suspension, and tires are loaded. With a transbrake the power stops at the trans when the transbrake is engaged. There is no power to the driveshaft at all, so the chassis, suspension, tires are all slack until you release the button. You can certainly see how this requires a completely different setup. Every car and setup is different, so there is no... "this one is better".
 
I do have a 2 step and line lock.

Are folks who use TB adjusting the 2 step for traction? Or do you just leave at full stall speed?
 
Cope said:
I do have a 2 step and line lock.

Are folks who use TB adjusting the 2 step for traction? Or do you just leave at full stall speed?
Click to expand...
You can use a 2 step to a point. As soon as the 2 step releases it's gonna hit the stall speed immediately if you've got it floored. So a combo of rpm and throttle position. The same applies for footbreaking too.
 
So again in a perfect world with the 3,500 stall And my 2 step set a 3,400, i could just hold the car at the light at 3,400. Correct? While foot braking.
 
Cope said:
So again in a perfect world with the 3,500 stall And my 2 step set a 3,400, i could just hold the car at the light at 3,400. Correct? While foot braking.
Click to expand...
Yup, as long as your breaks and tires can hold the car back. This will all make way more sense after you get it installed and screw around a bit. I'm no pro drag racer, so a lot of the guys on here can give you better advice on staging techniques, ect. I recommend going to your track for test and tune day, and bring a notebook. Write down everything (air pressure, RPM, shift points, weather, ect). Write down how each change effects your time slip. The last T&T I did we brought my friends GN that he had never taken to the track. We started with a high 12 second smoke show, and ended the day with a mid 10. We really didn't play with the car much. Mostly just him learning how to launch, keep it hooked up, and playing with shift points.
 
As a mechanic and fabricator I'm a big fan of "having the right tool" even if it's a tool I only use once a year.

I'm looking at the TB as just another tool in my tool box..

One thing that does worry me is that the TB uses a separate "neutral" and you engage the TB for reverse. So every time I back up I'd be using the TB. Is that hard on it?
 
Cope said:
So again in a perfect world with the 3,500 stall And my 2 step set a 3,400, i could just hold the car at the light at 3,400. Correct? While foot braking.
Click to expand...

NO, hell no.

I have a 3500 convertor and I can't foot brake it much past 1,200 without it twisting and pushing. It flashes right to 3500 on a flash stall.

If you are going to use a transbrake you'd be smart to use a 2 step. Just realize that.... 1. They aren't legal for al classes. 2. They are hard on transmissions and parts. 3. The car will have to be setup differently.
 
So now I'm broke....

Hopefully I can get some money coming in before V day..

New custom converter from ultimate getting built.

And WAY more money than I wanted to spend at CRT...

good news is I will have a legit race trans and maybe even leave with the wheels up!

Its a scary thing for me to just drop that kind of cash but hopefully it pays off in fun...
 
Me and the owner of Gromm Racing have a good relationship, he kicks me and I kick him.

Well looks like I will be putting my 400HP SB against his 700HP small block.

I have a legit race car and he has a ford bronco on mud terrains.

Granted he built my engine but I said if I can not see your taillights then I win.

I fricking hope I can destroy him.
:)

Although it was a bad call on my part to tell him I'm upping my trans.

Also he has to tow my car to the track and back home.

Looser pays for a steak dinner for me and my lady and him and his lady.

A good steak dinner for four people can easily be 500 bucks....

2,500 bucks to win or loose a 500 dollar dinner, not the smartest choice I've ever made.... but dam I want to shut him down!
 
Yeah pink slips

Nope, not loosing my car to my engine builder. 500 bucks says you cant gap me.

Give me one month?
I'll give you one month.

That gives me one week to build my trans and get it in the car


@yellowrose

This is how adults do things.
 
Maybe I missed it reading through this.... 727 or 904? If 727 pony up for the billet front drum.

Hope the topic of “trans brake” came up on the conversation spec’ing out your converter.... they are built differently do to the pressures involved.
 
HP doesn't scare me.

Lots of people have useless high HP cars. My friend firebird makes upwards of 600, at the wheels. He goes the same time as me at the track but 9mph faster through the traps. On the street it's useless but smokes the tires well.

A consistent, well setup cars that hooks every time is always something to contend with.
 
If you do go with a TB and are willing to put up with pushing a button to back up....well then grate!
You can make a TON of Heat in a real short time stalling your converter, so keep that in mind.
The only reason i wouldn't put a TB in a mostly street car is that, chance, of accidentally hitting the TB button at 80 mph!!!!!!

Some racers have a 30 sec. timer. So once you release you TB you can't set it again for 30 sec. Comes with a reset button so that you can reset it after you back up from a burn out........

30 sec is not much time on the street.

just some food for thought.
 
Cudafever said:
If you do go with a TB and are willing to put up with pushing a button to back up....well then grate!
You can make a TON of Heat in a real short time stalling your converter, so keep that in mind.
The only reason i wouldn't put a TB in a mostly street car is that, chance, of accidentally hitting the TB button at 80 mph!!!!!!

Some racers have a 30 sec. timer. So once you release you TB you can't set it again for 30 sec. Comes with a reset button so that you can reset it after you back up from a burn out........

30 sec is not much time on the street.

just some food for thought.
Click to expand...
your can hit the button all you want at 80 mph.....the transbrake only works in 1st gear...
 
I did tell lenny that I would be using the TB a few times a year.

The brake will be on a toggle switch in my switch panel, so no worry about hitting the button on the street.
 
My brake will work in first or second gear so I have the power feed for the button on a toggle switch to lessen the chance of accidentally engaging it.

For reverse mine is wired to a relay that is triggered by the back up lights.
 
Couple things i have noticed over the years.
If a combo is pretty well sorted out, ET and 60 will be pretty much identical on a typical bracket car. No matter foot or T brake. Assuming hook.
My old 9 sec W5 deal would go 1.34 off foot or brake.. didnt make any difference. Usually more air off the TBrake

Another thing is people worry too much about getting the rpm’s up as much as possible using the footbrake at the track launching the car
Any car i have had, including my current car, i can leave at 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 and the car ET’s the same. My convertor flashes 5100.
The only difference is reaction time. If i am racing on a pro tree i bring it up to 3000, if a full tree i usually leave at 2000, and sometimes will adjust my leave rpm to compensate what my lights are.
If i am too quick i will leave at a slighly lower rpm, too slow, slightly higher.
At the end of the day the car is going right to the convertor flash almost instantly. Playing around with lauch rpm has a tiny, but noticable effect on reaction times. I am looking for repeatability. I usually leave at 2000 just because its easier to see the needle on the tach, than at say 1800 or 2200 or any odd figure.
Anyhow, just my experiences.........
 
Got a ride in my buddy's bronco today.

I'm not sure how this is gonna play out. I think for sure I can out 60 foot him. If i can get him to agree to 1/8 mile its gonna be dam close.

Although he did mention he has a new center section, newaxles and a set of slicks on the way.

Just the fact that hes out front of his shop tuning on his engine vs making money made me smile. Also the fact that he is spending money on basically a full new rear and a set of slicks realy makes me happy.

My engine while not a crap build was done with almost no money. In fact I didn't pay him a dime but I did work for free for him for 3 months to pay him back for my build. I'm running cast iron heads with minimal port work and factory rockers.

His build is a no expense spared show peice for his shop. AFR heads ported to the moon, full roller, crowler , diamond in a goats *** type build.

So just to see him worrying about lining up against my car makes me smile on the inside!

I've got a long way to go before I'm ready to run this car but I'll be spending all my free time and cash getting ready!

I told him if I out run him he should just sell his business and get a job a Mickey D's!

He said, WHEN I out run you, I'm joining that MOPAR site and posting the video of my 4,800LB truck beating your pants off!!

Its gonna be fun no matter what. I've never run at a track so this will be all new for me.

:steering:
 
I dont think my engine would do well on juice. Its already pushing the limit with compression.

I do have 2 kits sitting on the shelf tho.....
 
Cope said:
I dont think my engine would do well on juice. Its already pushing the limit with compression.

I do have 2 kits sitting on the shelf tho.....
Click to expand...

Pull timing out and race fuel, cool the plugs down. NE recommended a 250 shot for mine and I am 10:1.
 
Well Broncos are about the worst handling vehicle every built. I've had the displeasure of owning one and driving many. Maybe you're better off doing the 1/4mi. He'll get terrified at the 1000' mark and lift.
 
I'm really late to this thread.... but the brake will find ANY weak link in your drive train for you.

You had also asked how it works driving around town with a high stall...my car has an 8" converter that stalls at ~5000. Driving around town you would never know it. It takes a little more RPM to get the car moving (1500 ish RPM), and it does feel a little softer under light acceleration (normal driving)... the only time you really know it is there is if you mat the gas, then it jumps straight to 5k (no matter what gear I'm in). I hope that helps.

For me, I've thought about switching to a T-brake, but only for the reaction time consistency...then again, I've been foot braking for so long it would probably mess me up, lol. My car seems to run the fastest leaving at ~ 2k RPM, but I also know my brakes can't hold the car much past 3k at the starting line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top