Need traction!

[facelessnumber]

As you might know from this thread, I took my car to the track and ran a disgraceful 14.7 in the quarter. I'm on a stock 3.00 open-diff rearend. I knew the car wasn't going to perform to its potential. I expected traction to be my biggest problem, but I underestimated just how bad it was going to be.

Horsepower is not an issue at all. Somebody correct me if you think I'm wrong, but I think this car has 12's in it - If I can ever get it to hook.

So I've decided I need the following, in no particular order:

Drag radials.
A decent gear. (somewhere in the 3.5-3.73 range)
Locker/Spool/Trac-lock, etc.
Traction bars.

What I need from y'all is to help me put these things in a particular order. Which of these is going to help me the most? Which should I do first? Or is there even any point in going back to the track without all of these things?

[tody]

i think gears and locker should go together, as you wouldn't want to pull apart the third member twice.

[facelessnumber]

Originally Posted by tody

i think gears and locker should go together, as you wouldn't want to pull apart the third member twice.

That is true, and that's probably how it will happen unless somebody tells me the gears aren't really a concern.

I should probably mention this isn't a high revving engine. My cam specs say it only makes power to 5800, and I'd say it peaks around 5000. I've been shifting at 5500.

[tody]

as your sig states that your car is driven daily i'd say you need to aim for a compromise as far as gears are concerned.
i'd go from the max speed your car sees regularly on the highway, estimate the highest tolerable rpm and calculate gears from that.
a nice addition to my car was the detroit true trac - a worm gear locking diff with a variable locking ratio of up to 70-80%. it's great on the street, but then again i don't know nothing about drag racing.

[olerodder]

Originally Posted by facelessnumber

As you might know from this thread, I took my car to the track and ran a disgraceful 14.7 in the quarter. I'm on a stock 3.00 open-diff rearend. I knew the car wasn't going to perform to its potential. I expected traction to be my biggest problem, but I underestimated just how bad it was going to be.

Horsepower is not an issue at all. Somebody correct me if you think I'm wrong, but I think this car has 12's in it - If I can ever get it to hook.

So I've decided I need the following, in no particular order:

Drag radials.
A decent gear. (somewhere in the 3.5-3.73 range)
Locker/Spool/Trac-lock, etc.
Traction bars.

What I need from y'all is to help me put these things in a particular order. Which of these is going to help me the most? Which should I do first? Or is there even any point in going back to the track without all of these things?

Well.............first, if I were you I'd hunt around some salvage/wrecking yards and find to spare tires/wheels from a 1996/2000 Mustang Cobra. The wheels are aluminum and spares are speed rated with minimal tread, or you could just go out and buy some used front skinny wheels&tires....the taller the better. While you are looking for those I'd look for used or new just depends on how thick your pocket book is..........drag radials and some wheels to put them on. Next I'd be buying a CalTrak setup for the rearend.
Then, you need some type of gears.........again, this depends on what you are willing to spin the motor to on the highway............then buy the gears and traction device....posi/trackLok/Detroit Locker......whatever.
Then you can go to the track, put the rear and front tires on, disconnect you front swaybar..............and go out and see what you can do.
You may not like hearing this, but with the powersteering and airconditioner breaking into the 12's is going to be a long process, so don't expect to put all the stuff on that I have mentioned and automatically break into the 12's right away................................IMHO

[facelessnumber]

Originally Posted by tody

as your sig states that your car is driven daily i'd say you need to aim for a compromise as far as gears are concerned.

Exactly right. If I came across an 8" center section with a 3.5 gear and Trac-Lock in the junkyard I'd feel like I won the lottery. More likely though I'll end up modding an 8.8" from an Explorer, and might have to settle for 3.73's. I feel like if I go any lower than that I'll need overdrive. 3.73 might even be too much.

Just buying everything new isn't really going to be an option any time soon though, and I'd like to get back out on the track this season.

[olerodder]

Originally Posted by facelessnumber

Exactly right. If I came across an 8" center section with a 3.5 gear and Trac-Lock in the junkyard I'd feel like I won the lottery. More likely though I'll end up modding an 8.8" from an Explorer, and might have to settle for 3.73's. I feel like if I go any lower than that I'll need overdrive. 3.73 might even be too much.

Just buying everything new isn't really going to be an option any time soon though, and I'd like to get back out on the track this season.

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you only had the stock 8". Well, with that in mind I'd look at mod'ing an 8.8" or a 9" if you could find one to fit..........there is a lot of used 8.8/9" stuff at a reasonable price...................that would be first on my hit list..................and then you could at least head back to the strip without buying anything else and see what the improvement was............................................... .......my 2 cents worth.

[facelessnumber]

Originally Posted by olerodder

Well.............first, if I were you I'd hunt around some salvage/wrecking yards and find to spare tires/wheels from a 1996/2000 Mustang Cobra. The wheels are aluminum and spares are speed rated with minimal tread, or you could just go out and buy some used front skinny wheels&tires....the taller the better. While you are looking for those I'd look for used or new just depends on how thick your pocket book is..........drag radials and some wheels to put them on. Next I'd be buying a CalTrak setup for the rearend.
Then, you need some type of gears.........again, this depends on what you are willing to spin the motor to on the highway............then buy the gears and traction device....posi/trackLok/Detroit Locker......whatever.
Then you can go to the track, put the rear and front tires on, disconnect you front swaybar..............and go out and see what you can do.
You may not like hearing this, but with the powersteering and airconditioner breaking into the 12's is going to be a long process, so don't expect to put all the stuff on that I have mentioned and automatically break into the 12's right away................................IMHO

I appreciate the advice. AC needs to stay, so if that's going to limit me then so be it. Is it just the weight that's a concern though? The AC compressor freewheels when it's off, or if spinning that pulley really holds it back I can always just pull the belt off at the track, right?

The skinny front tires I kind of understand... Less rolling resistance, right? I'm guessing that must make a bigger difference than I previously thought. What's the line of thinking on pulling the swaybar though?

Caltracks are pretty high... Would Lakewood type "slapper bars" be an acceptable substitute or do I need to just save up and not waste the effort with those?

Thanks.

[olerodder]

Originally Posted by facelessnumber

I appreciate the advice. AC needs to stay, so if that's going to limit me then so be it. Is it just the weight that's a concern though? The AC compressor freewheels when it's off, or if spinning that pulley really holds it back I can always just pull the belt off at the track, right?

The skinny front tires I kind of understand... Less rolling resistance, right? I'm guessing that must make a bigger difference than I previously thought. What's the line of thinking on pulling the swaybar though?

Caltracks are pretty high... Would Lakewood type "slapper bars" be an acceptable substitute or do I need to just save up and not waste the effort with those?

Thanks.

One thing to keep in mind when making changes to your car then heading to the strip..........................the least number of changes will help you the most. What I would suggest is to try and solve your traction problem first, with that I mean get the gears and some type of posi unit.......change nothing else..............then head to strip and see what you can do, maybe even drop the pressure in you street tires a little...............make a number of passes................then see where you are and keep notes....a lot of notes..............like how hot/humid it is, what air pressure you use every run down the strip............rpm at launch........you want as much data writen down as you can so next time you have it at your finger tips, and maybe do this on a number of weekends.
Now if you are still having traction problems the next thing would be slicks, and I have no idea how a stock Maverick reacts when you put slicks in place of the street tires.............wheel hop, spring wind up, or ??????
I'm sure if you put the slicks on you would soon find out.....but again keep a lot of data...................then if you need them CalTraks or slapper bars, although you need to set them up correctly..................skinny front tires and lightweight wheels will give you less rotating mass and can improve you times by .1's of seconds...............but for now don't worry about the front tires (if you do go scrounging take a magnet and check to make sure they aluminum.........and the will not have a speed rating like most space saver spares), and as for the removing the end links in the front sway bar this will free up the front suspension and maybe give you alittle more weight transfer...............I did this 40 years ago..........and it did help some.
So, like I said, just try one thing at time..............and the first thing is at a minimum, some type of posi/track lok/etc...................then head back to the track to see what you can do..........coming out of the chute easy and then nailing it.................try adjusting the tire pressure.........burn out and no burn out..................and record everything.......................IMHO

[facelessnumber]

Sounds like very good advice. I appreciate it.