On the 'mildly' Cheap SS Monte Carlo chasing a 9.0___

[64nailhead]

These are the tires I have on my Cutlass as well; I can't say that I am all that happy with them. Street or strip, I spin a LOT with them.

I am going to try these next time I think (edit: 275/50R15 size however):
View attachment 177304

I bought a set of the Pro street radials from Amazon and they turned out to be M/T 2nd's that M/T discarded - they took over 15 oz to balance. Fortunately, I was able to return them for a refund and found a friend with a set of Street S/S in stock never installed, and needed the money. He sold them to me for $400.

Something to keep in mind, 10 years ago the Street S/S radial was all that was offered and the X275 guys were running sub 5 second 1/8's on them. The Pro Street's came out after that. The issue with the Pro Streets is that they are like ice skates on a wet road where as the ET Street S/S's can handle a wet road. For a track only car, the Pro Streets are better, but at my level I ask how much? I don't think ET Street tire is my issue - it's my tune. Your issue is probably the same - you have to cut the crap out of the timing to cut power to get it to launch.

The solution is a bias ply if you never drive on the street, but who does that?

wingnutks I believe he is running a bias ply and he's gettin' it done on the hit. I'd like to know his entire setup for shocks, tires, pressure, timing, etc.

 

[bracketchev1221]

Im new to the whole drag racing thing, been circle track my whole life. But i love

These are the tires I have on my Cutlass as well; I can't say that I am all that happy with them. Street or strip, I spin a LOT with them.

I am going to try these next time I think (edit: 275/50R15 size however):
View attachment 177304

I bought a set of the Pro street radials from Amazon and they turned out to be M/T 2nd's that M/T discarded - they took over 15 oz to balance. Fortunately, I was able to return them for a refund and found a friend with a set of Street S/S in stock never installed, and needed the money. He sold them to me for $400.

Something to keep in mind, 10 years ago the Street S/S radial was all that was offered and the X275 guys were running sub 5 second 1/8's on them. The Pro Street's came out after that. The issue with the Pro Streets is that they are like ice skates on a wet road where as the ET Street S/S's can handle a wet road. For a track only car, the Pro Streets are better, but at my level I ask how much? I don't think ET Street tire is my issue - it's my tune. Your issue is probably the same - you have to cut the crap out of the timing to cut power to get it to launch.

The solution is a bias ply if you never drive on the street, but who does that?

wingnutks I believe he is running a bias ply and he's gettin' it done on the hit. I'd like to know his entire setup for shocks, tires, pressure, timing, etc.

I was going to suggest, and I know I'll get flogged by the radial crowd, but what about getting the car ironed out on a pair of bias slicks as far as the drivetrain. Once the car is up and running then try swapping over to the radials. I know the radials are good when the track is good. But they aren't much fun when the track isn't and makes getting a car running near impossible when you can't get down the track consistently.

 

[bracketchev1221]

Agreed, many ways to skin a cat. However, you just have to choose a method and stick with it. My wagon and Monte are drastically different in how they are set up (because of the ride height) - but both have some anti-squat dialed in because they are on radials.

View attachment 177288

I would also suggest that the M/T S/S may be the wrong tire to turn mid-9s on and exacerbating the conditions seen.

I'll throw my 2 cents in the hat. Anti squat is good to have to a point. You need both the power to apply the force long enough and you need a really good shock to control the rebound into the car from the tire. This is where the top version tends to work better on a lower hp car. It applies a lower force to the tire yes, but it is a longer acting force. My car had 32" ladder bars in it, so my instant center was the front point of the ladder bar. A 4 link car can have the instant center WAY out on the bars. And both pictures show the bottom bars pointing up to an extent, my bars were pointed down 3 degrees. I tried the lower version years ago in my car and it would bang the tire, but then it would unload and spin. I think the best it would 60' was a 1.47 once and usually around 1.50. With the ladder bars and geometry change the car went to 1.42-1.46 in 60'. Almost 20 years later with a lot more power and no changes to the bars it went 1.21.

 

[fleming442]

I was going to suggest, and I know I'll get flogged by the radial crowd, but what about getting the car ironed out on a pair of bias slicks as far as the drivetrain. Once the car is up and running then try swapping over to the radials. I know the radials are good when the track is good. But they aren't much fun when the track isn't and makes getting a car running near impossible when you can't get down the track consistently.

Why ya gotta go making sense? Now, I'm shopping for bias ply slicks! Stupid question: do they all need tubes?

 

[bracketchev1221]

Why ya gotta go making sense? Now, I'm shopping for bias ply slicks! Stupid question: do they all need tubes?

They do not all need tubes. HOWEVER, tubes can help on a heavy car to keep the sidewalls stiffer. I ran tubes in my 10.5" slicks and when I went to the big tire I ran ONLY stiff sidewall tires. My car was between 3120 at the lightest and 3675 at the heaviest so it was never a lightweight. They also help with air leaks since some slicks can have constant air leaks. I had sets of the stiff sidewall that in a couple of weeks would be almost flat in the garage. Others would go weeks and never lose any. It could have been the tire porosity, could have been install even though they were all soaped up inside to seal the pores.

 

[64nailhead]

bracketchev1221
I've been told about the bias ply slicks being easier to dial in. And I agree with you about that being a better plan and the deal with the prepped track. My issue is $$. Another $400+ for two tires that I can't run on the street. And at the end of this, I need some consistency. Once I get the shock tuning figured out, then I can get after the rest. I'm hoping (pipe dream) that they will work out of the box on the 1st hit or two and I can keep improving from there, but that probably won't happen lol.

It would be cool if I can lift a tire, but I'm a realist - g-body front suspension, no weight reduction at all, novice driver and tuner.....probably not going to happen until I drop some more coin.

Thanks for the response.

 

[64nailhead]

These are my rusty blue shocks that have been 10.2 and 10.3.

 

[64nailhead]

Viking double adjustable B230’s are in. Hopefully they’ll help me achieve my goal. Seems hard to imagine that they won’t do better than the rusty blue ones.

FYI, Viking recommends 60% of compression of suspension travel, with my setup they are 58% compression of suspension travel. Trick Chassis was the only place I could find a set. Thanks to Jake for the lead on them. And if they suck, then bad kudos to Jake - hehe.

kidding of course - thanks to everyone who has help guide me through this build 👍😜

 

[GroceryGetter83]

These are my rusty blue shocks that have been 10.2 and 10.3.

 

[bracketchev1221]

bracketchev1221
I've been told about the bias ply slicks being easier to dial in. And I agree with you about that being a better plan and the deal with the prepped track. My issue is $$. Another $400+ for two tires that I can't run on the street. And at the end of this, I need some consistency. Once I get the shock tuning figured out, then I can get after the rest. I'm hoping (pipe dream) that they will work out of the box on the 1st hit or two and I can keep improving from there, but that probably won't happen lol.

It would be cool if I can lift a tire, but I'm a realist - g-body front suspension, no weight reduction at all, novice driver and tuner.....probably not going to happen until I drop some more coin.

Thanks for the response.

No I know its not cheap for an extra set of tires. But I think you could do it. Make the front end as loose as you can for now and use a good shock in the rear that you can control compression to keep the rear from rebounding into the car and unloading the tire.

that’s all I had in mine for a while. I think you’ll be much better off with the new ones. I would favor looser on extension and tighter on compression to get the rear body separation and then hold the tire down.