I made a last minute trip to one of the sorryest drag strips in the country last night for test and tune ( Little River near Temple Tx.). I should have gone to River City in Seguin (a fantastic place to race but two hours away)! Even in this warm wet air, 82 degrees 80%. my truck will run 13.4 to 13.5's. I had not been to any track since installing the Factory Tech shift kit and the new lower pulley, so I'm thinking 13.2 to 13.3's with the new mods in this crappy air. How about 14.33! The best 60' time was 2.45...thats right 2.45! My speed was 101 mph (I think that's good for such a slow ET) but what do you do to get off the line (and run good times) when there is NO traction? I was on the same set of Toyo's as I was on my last two trips to River City. I was turning 2.0 to 2.1 60's evey run. I tried only two passes, both from idle, the first one I jamed the throttle to the floor and fishtailed half way down the track. On the last pass I rolled on the throttle...but when I floored it at 30' or so it broke loose again. I need your help on what I'm doing wrong. Noel, you are a champion racer, got any ideas short of buying slicks? Oh yea, you cannot drive around the water box in this hell hole, maybe that is part of the problem.

 

Jinkie Shaggy

 

Try Truck-Traks. They are working out well on the street. They are on my website.

 

Jinkie Saggy? I'm sorry I don't get it.

Jerry

 

Jerry,
Sounds like they need to do some work at the track LOL
Seriously though, It's kinda hard to launch at a terrible track, like the track I have been running at the last few months in South DE.
Besides removing the front sway bar (for better weight transfer), and dropping the pressure down a little in the tires, tranfer weight to rear (battery), and also feathering it out of the hole, there's not much else to do when the conditons are not right.
But if course...you could always bring your own VHT and spray down the first 100 feet or so

 

If you can't drive around the water box, then your kind of SOL

Even if you did a big burn out to get the rears dry, you still have water drippin off the fronts.

 

Jay, what would be the difference in your truck tracks and Caltracks? Besides about $100.00. Keep in mind I drive my truck every day (44 miles round trip).

Jerry

 

Jerry Jordan

There is a 3rd set of traction bars availabe. JDM makes a awsome set of traction bars. In my opinion they are the best, but also the most expensive. I will be putting them on my truck this week, and will let you know how they work. From what I have heard everyone who has the loves them.

Spiro's advice to lower your rear tire pressure and easing into the throttle off the line, may be your best option on a track with poor traction.

 

Jerry, sorry for the gelay in getting back to you, I was at the track today. Myself, and 5 other L owners and about 400 imports. It took me all day to get in 3 runs. With all those cars, the track went away fast, loosing .1 between runs.

The Truck-Traks are a slapper type of traction bar that bolts to the leaf springs. They have a rubber snubber that contacts the spring whe the rear end rotates upward. They were designed to be used in daily driving. I have had them on my truck since April. I drive about 800 miles a week in So Cal as a salesman. They don't affect the ride much because in normal driving the snubber is not on contact with the spring (unless of course normal driving includes a lot of full throttle launches ).

Today was the first time that I ran the production models. I had the prototypes on before, and they were 10 lbs heavier per set. I redlighted twice out of three runs. They react much more quickly, and I need to reprogram my brain for them.

I have included a picture below.

 

Hey Don
You have a pic of the JDM bars?

 

Hey Don,
A picture and price would be good.

Later George

 

Jerry,

I had very similar problems with just plain not hooking up and fishtailing wildly until I got a set of Jay's Truck-Traks. I've had them on for about a week and they enhance daily driving. I don't own slicks or go to the track much so I wanted a streetable traction mod that I could also use at the track occasionally, and they seem to fit the bill nicely.

Jay,

I was planning on being out at Ca Speedway Sunday but had some unexpected family stuff come up...but hopefully I'll be able to go later this fall and maybe the temps will be down more then as well. Wow 400 imports I guess the Lightnings really stood out