Drag Radial Tire Pressure

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GreyWizard

GreyWizard

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Hi all:

I have 235/60 15 M/T ET Street S/Ss on the Dart. Got it to the track for Test and Tune yesterday and they did not want to dead hook. Best 60' was 2.19 (high 14 second car).

I would love to to go to school on what tire pressures have been successful for the experts.

TIA
 
Something severe going on. Was anyone hooking up?????
I ran 28 psi with my last pair of drag radials. Hooked great and cut low 1.8's
 
Wow, 1.8's. I have a long way to go.

I believe the track was a bit loose. There were several hundred cars there and I arrived late. I started at 25lbs and dropped to 22. The 2.19 was at 22lbs. I did a short dry "burnout" to clean the tires.
 
GreyWizard said:
Wow, 1.8's. I have a long way to go.

I believe the track was a bit loose. There were several hundred cars there and I arrived late. I started at 25lbs and dropped to 22. The 2.19 was at 22lbs. I did a short dry "burnout" to clean the tires.
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I had a 68 Valiant that would run mid mid to low 13's. It had M/T 236/60/15 drag radials and we ran them at 14-16 psi.
 
GreyWizard said:
Thanks!

We have another test and tune this Saturday. I will give lower pressures a shot.
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Try it, but I think something else is up. Last summer I cut 1.9's with a normal street tire - no sure grip either. 32 psi in the street tires.

P.S. - And I know it has nothing to do with the 40 dollar slapper bars, because it's all over this site they don't work :D

sorry, I had to...
 
With the Mickey S/S radials, I have had good luck around 15-16 psi for tires that are 28 to 30 inches in diameter. Maybe a bit higher if your car is over 3200 pounds. The car should basically dead hook. Track prep and temp obviously make a difference too.
 
I run 25 street, 18-20 at the track depending.

Do a real water burnout with a short rollout.

One of the biggest problems with drag radials is most guys mount them on wheels that are far too narrow. You want the sidewalls spread. That 235 tire you have should be on a 8-9" wheel.
 
318willrun said:
Try it, but I think something else is up. Last summer I cut 1.9's with a normal street tire - no sure grip either. 32 psi in the street tires.

P.S. - And I know it has nothing to do with the 40 dollar slapper bars, because it's all over this site they don't work :D

sorry, I had to...
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A 1.9 put street tires? One tire fire? They must pour glue on your track? Either that or it's a straight downhill drop off at the starting line LOL. I had to...
 
I'm looking forward to taking these Nitto 555's out. I feel I'm going to suffer from the problem in post 8 and not have a wide enough rim at 7 in. They say they want at least seven and a half, but I'm really building this for Street play. But I will take it to the track and give it a shot. I had no intentions of running it any more than 17 or 18 lb at the track though..
I used to run 11 or 12 lb in my Hoosier slicks...
 
j par said:
A 1.9 put street tires? One tire fire? They must pour glue on your track? Either that or it's a straight downhill drop off at the starting line LOL. I had to...
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Consistent at 1.9's... every run. 1.94 was best. Yep, 1 leg wonder :D
BUT.... With slapper bars it always spins two tires, lays two marks for about the first 15 ft, then the one legger takes over. Before the slapper bars, it would just spin one. At the strip, I don't spin a lick.
 
j par said:
I'm looking forward to taking these Nitto 555's out. I feel I'm going to suffer from the problem in post 8 and not have a wide enough rim at 7 in. They say they want at least seven and a half, but I'm really building this for Street play. But I will take it to the track and give it a shot. I had no intentions of running it any more than 17 or 18 lb at the track though..
I used to run 11 or 12 lb in my Hoosier slicks...
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Run as much pressure as you can and still hook. If it's 10 psi, then it's 10. But if you can run 28 psi and still hook, then that's better.
 
roccodart440 said:
One of the biggest problems with drag radials is most guys mount them on wheels that are far too narrow. You want the sidewalls spread. That 235 tire you have should be on a 8-9" wheel.
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I do have the tires on 7" wheels. I could not find 8" with the offset I needed within my budget. M/T recommends 6.5" to 8.5" with my tires. I hope I am okay.
 
GreyWizard said:
I do have the tires on 7" wheels. I could not find 8" with the offset I needed within my budget. M/T recommends 6.5" to 8.5" with my tires. I hope I am okay.
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7" will be fine for that tire
 
IMG_20190414_165101319_HDR.jpg
318willrun said:
7" will be fine for that tire
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Thanks!

BTW, here is a pic of the Dart at the track.
 
I run 18 cold 20 warm MT ET Street SS 235/60/15 1.65 2k launch 904. I drive thru the water, quick spin and roll out in 2nd gear.
 
I run 275/60/15 MT ET SS drag radials. I can get away with running 20 PSI at a well prepped track. If the track isn't good I drop down little by little. I wouldn't run less than 16 psi on a drag radial.
 
Ah yes...good ole Bandimere....I really miss that place. I run my Hoosier drag radial's (275/60-15) at 18lbs, 1.4x 60' times. I agree with 318, there must be something seriously wrong if you are spinning a drag radial with a 14-15 second car. I know back when I raced there (1993-2007) Wednesday nights didn't have much track prep, but even still you should hook OK.
 
I run the M/T drag radials 275 60 15's at 16 psi car 60' with the 416 low 1.40's 1.50's with the 360..
 
255/60/15 MT SS's I ran 17-20psi depending on track, constant 1.7 60's.
 
flyfish said:
Ah yes...good ole Bandimere....I really miss that place. I run my Hoosier drag radial's (275/60-15) at 18lbs, 1.4x 60' times. I agree with 318, there must be something seriously wrong if you are spinning a drag radial with a 14-15 second car. I know back when I raced there (1993-2007) Wednesday nights didn't have much track prep, but even still you should hook OK.
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I'm thinking it would take something like a front brake caliper sticking bad or something
 
So the car is a high 14 second car. Runs 2.19 60’ spinning? Is this a new combo or just a tire change? You can get in the ball park by looking at the tire marks after spinning the tires. You want an even color all the way across. Light in the middle add 2 lbs. light on the edges take out 2 lbs. when it is even you are close enough to play with it at the track. I assume it’s an auto, try loading the converter. I know its counterintuitive, but I have found that leaving at idle allows my converter to flash to high and knocks the tire off. By loading it it goes up to stall speed not really up to the flash rpm until I’m farther down track.
 
I found it's hard to get a good 60 ft without frame connectors . 90/10 front shocks help more than you think also . and if you want to get serious 2 way adjustable rears and a snubber .
 
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