A couple friends and I went out to the track last week and are planning on going back out again this weekend. I was wanting to get a little help on faster times. (Yes, I know this has been posted, just wanted to get a little more info than what has been said as most of it pertains to Lightnings.)

I had the front tire PSI at about 45, and the rears at 25-27 PSI. My first run was a 17.04 at 79 mph or so, .7XX reaction time. Second run was higher than that but still in the 17's, and the reaction time was a .561 (I don't know the rest of the numbers cause the time slip machine wasn't working, that's all I can remember.)

First run was with OD on, 2nd with OD off.

Please keep in mind this is a 99 Scab 4X4 5.4 and I realize these times are high.

I did win the two races against a reg cab 4X4 5.4 so I guess it wasn't too bad, but I've been seeing some 150's hit 15's with similar mods, but 2wd.

Thanks

 

So what is your question?

 

Practice
Practice
Practice


Don't worry about you reaction time unless you are bracket racing. You launch is more important.

 

Sorry yysenhimer, thought it was obvious with the "Need advice from the racers" and "I was wanting to get a little help on faster times" part.

What are some tips to improving times?

 

I can agree with that! The launch is the most important part if you are not bracket racing. Mrinaldi has one of those trucks as well as the Lightning. He was able to mash it off the line and the tires didn't spin, so try launching at different RPMs until you get your best times. Good Luck!

 

I didn't really have a problem with slipping wich surprised me. I'll try raising the RPM's a little till I run into problems.

The difficult thing about practicing is last we were out there for 3 hours and only got 2 passes in. It's been kinda busy out there. I guess I can head out to the farm roads and try it there.

 

I don't own a truck yet, but I do/did race Mustangs. What were your 60' times. This is the most important part of the 1/4. General rule of thumb is that if you can cut 1 tenth off the 60' it will equal 2 tenths off the 1/4. I also don't think you have enough power to be letting air out of the rear tires, especially if you are not spinning. Start with normal pressure in the back and only let air out if you start spinning. My guess is that the deflated rear tires are causing more bad than good as they are creating drag as you head down the track. Not sure what weight saving things you have done either, like removing the tailgate. Right now I don't know enough about these trucks to help you with the tuning or launching, but you can be sure, when I get mine I will have it on the track and would probably have some better input for you then.

 

Part of the reason why I let some air out was because my tread is getting low and I tend to run into traction problems even when I'm not racing. As far as weight reduction the only thing I did was remove the spare, which I happened to be taking off anyways since it's the wrong size.

I'll try increasing the PSI in the rear and see what that does, I can always reduce it when I'm there if need be. I can also try removing the tailgate and see what that does for me.

Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming.

 

Remember the tracks are sprayed with a sticky substance to help your traction, so it will launch completely differently than it does on the street.

 

I hope they have the time slip printer working this time so I can at least track my progress. Last time I won my first race but was in the right lane so I let the guy on the left come up and go in front, he got his slip then it broke and they couldn't fix it. Figures.

 

Well thanks again for the help guys. I got 5 runs in last night, my best being 16.825 at 80.52 mph, 2.455 60'. I had the rear psi around 40 and didn't have any traction problems, even had the hitch and spare removed. There was 1 run that I was slipping through 30 mph but I didn't do anything different, just couldn't grip. Ran a 18.03 on that one .


Thanks again.

 

Good Job. Now you need to remove all the seats

 

search around in the lightning forum. you should get lots of ideas there.

I don't race my truck but I have seen lots of ideas here on this board.

go to the track with the least amount of gas in the tank possible
remove the passenger and rear seats
remove, spare, and jack
remove tailgate
if they let you, remove the rear bumper
try shifting yourself instead of letting it shift itself
maybe do a couple of burnouts before your first run
(sorry if you already know this stuff)

 

I was actually going to remove the pass seat but I had people with me when we went out after racing. We weren't the fastest out there by any means, in fact we were almost the slowest, but it was still fun.