Actually it does it with no foward motion so I dont think its a brake thing. I'm sure its a learning how to dial in your chassis thing. It launches straight at the line even when it spins.
Dennis, your car walking is probably in the adjustment of your traction bars, but be aware that pretty much any tire with tread will tend to make you walk sideways. I have slapper bars so adjusting preload is different for me, but what I did was (in the parking lot behind the shop) do a quick burnout and then go back and look at the marks. I then messed with the bars until both marks were just as dark. My car launches nice and straight with slicks or drag radials, but on street tires, I still have to try to guess which way it will go. Hope this helps.
All input welcome and noted. Last year the track really sucked so I didnt see the point of adjusting anything. Next year we are going to a premo track so I will definately play with adjustments. Got to get my 60fts down to something respectable.
If I can do a decent burnout with those cheapo slapper bars I had I'm sure you can make some adjustments with your setup and be fine. I got the SSM's on today but I havn't tried them yet...I'm having probs dialing in the new carb. I got a good feeling about these bars taking care of my wheelhop though. New valve body goes in Monday and 7.5 secs here I come...woohooo:bananaman Dennis if ya want a good strip tire thats streetable the BFG is excellent...Ray can vouch for that.
I know you guys run sticks....but what helped me was really giving it hell in the box. I used to do my burnouts in first gear, until the tires started spinning then shifted into 2nd for about 5 seconds, then let go of the line-loc and let it roll out, but by this time is was usually sideways.,.....a buddy mentioned that I should try the burnout in "drive". He said it gets the tires spinning faster and builds heat faster and it does not require a real long burnout......so I started doing the burnout in Drive and noticed that the smoke came a lot faster and it really took less time to get the tires heated like I want, I fire em' up in drive and hold it at about 6,000 rpm's for just a few seconds and I rollout...........the thing I noticed later was that the car never goes sideways anymore in the box.......hmmm
Years ago when dad was helping me learn the basics of drag racing, I was always trying to take it easy on the motor/trans, especially in the burnout box. Finally one day dad told me that it's a race car and that it's built to take abuse so I tried a high-gear burnout. Never looked back. Heats tires MUCH faster (and you can get more smoke!) That being said, My brothers mustang has some cheesy brakes and the line lock won't hold. I just put the shifter in high and nail it out of the water. Usually goes to 7500-7800, then back down as it starts to heat the hides, but the guys give me 10 kinds of hell about doing "John Force" burnouts. One of these days I will have to get a manual brake pedal so the line lock will work right and the pedal won't be so hard. Can't do that on my Maverick, though. At least not without a rev limiter chip. With the 351w, it was easy...just put 'er in high, 1/4 throttle and you could go from burnout box to start line with ease. Torque is a good thing!
Depending on your engine power and size tires, most cars should use a higher gear to heat the tires. Better burnouts and less trans problems from internal part failure. The foot brake method is widely used but a line lock on the front brakes is preferred. Holding that brake pedal down,you have to overcome the rear brake pressure and usually means using low gear to get them spinning. Wears out rear shoes and pads too, this also causes some of the walking to one side. Another factor is one tire being wetter than the other or as stated, preload on the traction devices is too much or to little on either side. One thing I do in our back-in box is to watch where the water has been drug foward and then after wetting the tires, pull much farther foward of the drug out water to start the burnout. Seems to work for my setup better and gets the tires hotter sooner. Line locks are easy to install and frees up the rear brakes for an easier spin of the tires. Each driver and his car has their own way of doing things and what works for one may not work for another, test and tune is where all this stuff can be determined. Good luck to all and keep trying, almost fifty years of racing and am still learning from others like yourselves and my talented son, who shows me the way to improve my ancient driving techniques etc.
Yes, I failed to mention the lin-loc.........I think they would almost be a "must" for gears with the 3rd pedal.
I had thought about the line-loc when I bought the slicks eariler this year but since I only race this thing at the roundups I figured I can get by without it. I think it would definately help though.
I agree with you there old guy. I had my 66 F-100 at the track one saturday on a so called "rain out" day. Got to run a few test runs w/ no lights or timer. Just me, my buddy and a couple honda's. I lit em up w/o any water and the honda guys just about fell down in disbelief. I did 2 runs, each time getting them a bit "sticky" the third run I wasnt going to heat them up at all but I seen a camcorder come on and they video tape me. I thought "what the hell" so I light em up, burned them thru 3rd gear and they went crazy... Needless to say... the truck didn't hook AT all that run Spun dang near the full track. Funny thing, it still beat another friend of mines Honda prelude by about 300 feet. anyways, sorry about the rambling.
