I'm lost, ignorant and out of my league, no doubt.

[DENCOUCH]

Dad always said that;

"People take a complex problem and always reduce it down to their level of understanding."

That is me all over, and here is why that is true.

I have a '74 Chevy 1/2 ton that I built up a motor for. I have made all the mistakes in the past building up my motors, so I built this one from a suggested build a guy offered up to me. He told me it would be cheap and straight forward to build, with a minimum of machining.

This guy also suggested that I do things in a correct manner, and install a proper stall converter and chuck out the 3.40 gears I had & install a set of 4.10's. I did this stuff as well.

Still reading? Good, please bear with me as it gets good now.

The motor has a ton of torque and winds like it never wants to quit! I cannot believe that this motor is mine! It is everything I want, and the torque converter coupled with the 4.10's is killer!

I just cannot get any of this power to hook-up and run. The first time I took it to a drag strip to get the good numbers, I smoked the passenger tire almost the whole 1/4 mile, it was reported. Terrible times as well, each run the tire smoked, and each time I felt like I was racing on ice. I acted on this problem and spent some money to fix it.

I reduced this issue of which I know absolutely nothing about, and installed a Detroit Locker. BOTH tires are gonna hook up now & I am going to deliver the mail fer sure! Nope. Now both tires light-up and smoke. I leave two long black tire marks on the pavement. Am I ever going to get this truck to go?

What do I do now, 90/10 racing shocks? Drag radials? Fiberglass & straight axle front end?

I have a no go show boat. It sounds bad to the bone but cannot get out of its own way.


Help me please!

[BillyShope]

What's the 60 foot time? Do the front tires ever leave the strip surface? What rear suspension do you have?
http://www.racetec.cc/shope

[John_Heard]

What tires do you have on the back?

[supernova]

Hey welcome to the site Dencouch!
There is lots of info and good people here that can help you work out your truck.

It sounds like you have lots power. What size is the tire? Are you getting any lift at the hit on the front of the truck? 90/10 shocks will help.

[DENCOUCH]

What's the 60 foot time? Do the front tires ever leave the strip surface? What rear suspension do you have?
http://www.racetec.cc/shope

I have the times of four runs;

It looks to me that the average 60' times would be 2.950. The worst was 3.576.
The tires never leave the ground & to be honest... I cannot for the life of me remember the front end acting like it was lifting at all. Not enough for me to notice anyways.

I have the 1/2 ton truck leaf springs common to the '74 chevys of that period. I removed the overload leafs, as well as the next two shorter leafs under the overload leaf. That leaves four leafs to do the job. I added a set of Lakewood truck traction bars. The traction bars are adjusted with the snubbers flat against the spring eyes.

My 1/4 times are averaged in the 14. sec. range and my trap speed is kind of funny because it seems that no matter what my times are, I appear to be going 94-96 mph.

I hope this helps.

Thanks.

[DENCOUCH]

What tires do you have on the back?

I am running some 40 series tires, the size being 295/40R15 if I remember correctly. I have them on 10" wide rims. I remember the tires as being a little bit over 26 inches tall and I believe almost 12" wide. Big fat low profile tires.

[DENCOUCH]

Hey welcome to the site Dencouch!
There is lots of info and good people here that can help you work out your truck.

It sounds like you have lots power. What size is the tire? Are you getting any lift at the hit on the front of the truck? 90/10 shocks will help.

Thanks SuperNova. It seems as if help and experience is what I am needing by the buckets full. I have never been in a position where I have a car that when I tromp on the gas pedal, the tires spin and the car sits there contently smoking the tires!

I looked at what was happening, and figured that what I needed was a good, solid locking rear end, and after saving up the money and getting everything set up... disappointment and not one inch closer to having my traction problem solved! I am looking pretty stupid, and at this rate I cannot keep throwing money at what I *think* the problem might be. Heck, once there was a time when people thought the world was flat! I do not know enough about this traction and suspension subject, to to trip over barefoot.

I need to turn to some pros for my answers. Thanks fellas.

[John_Heard]

Those tires are probably part of the problem. I'd highly recommend a set of slicks for it.

[LittleJ]

what type of tire,size and how old are they?

[DENCOUCH]

what type of tire,size and how old are they?

I am running some 40 series tires, the size being 295/40R15 if I remember correctly. The tires are almost box-new!. While they may be almost a year old, I haven't had the truck on the road that long, as the motor was apart for months and my garage is un-heated.

My bones are like the rest of me, a bit on the old side & they get cold easily.

[supernova]

Yep, Jonhs right! I also think the tire has something to do with it.
I would definatly put a some sort of drag tire on it. You might find it'll scare the crap out you then!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DENCOUCH]

Those tires are probably part of the problem. I'd highly recommend a set of slicks for it.

Let's pretend for a second that I had never even touched a drag slick in my life (that is easy to do!), how does one go about picking out a set of drag racing tires? I have reada bit & found out thatthere is a ton of information out there, but I don't know which is the important stuff to know, & which is the stuff that I will never need to.

How do I go about picking a size for my truck? Is wider better? What about compound? Is there any alternative to slicks because I don't have a trailer and I have to drive my car to the track. Slicks are illegal in Oregon.

I wish I had more experience to call upon, but I am in a strange part of the woods at the moment. I know I have the ability to go down & buy 10 sets of slicks and would probably still get the wrong set!

Thanks.

[John_Heard]

Can ya find a set of 10" rims somewhere - even some steel ones? I get some some extra rims that you can bolt on at the track and take off when you go home. In regards to tires, I think you would be wise to use a 29.5x10.5" tire - those can be picked up CHEAP from the shootout guys once they have a few runs on them. If you setup for that tire, you should have an endless supply of low cost tires to run - like $100 to $150 a set is what I'm talking about.

What track do you race at?

[BillyShope]

As everyone's tellin' ya, you need more tire.

My 1/4 times are averaged in the 14. sec. range and my trap speed is kind of funny because it seems that no matter what my times are, I appear to be going 94-96 mph.

This is to be expected. You could start in high gear and you'd still be running almost exactly the same final speed.
http://www.racetec.cc/shope

[DENCOUCH]

Can ya find a set of 10" rims somewhere - even some steel ones? I get some some extra rims that you can bolt on at the track and take off when you go home. In regards to tires, I think you would be wise to use a 29.5x10.5" tire - those can be picked up CHEAP from the shootout guys once they have a few runs on them. If you setup for that tire, you should have an endless supply of low cost tires to run - like $100 to $150 a set is what I'm talking about.

What track do you race at?

Thanks for the great suggestion, and I am going to follow your advice. Sorry I am needing so much hand holding to get through this, but I don't know any drag racers for advice on what sized tire I should try. I dumped a bunch of $$$ into a rear end thinking that would help, but no luck. I hate to be in a position of having to attempt to work through my ignorance by throwing cash at the problem.

I have run my truck at Woodburn raceway in Oregon only once & that was during a tune & time event. I dunno if I can honestly say I "raced" it.