Hey guys, just wanted to say hey as I am a new member to this forum. Been reading the forums for ages but never signed up. I am young and bought a lightning with poker money, (50 dollar deposit) and ran it up to 22k and bought a lightning within about half a year. I've had the L for about a year now and had a few questions on racing it. First off, when I race on the street, I can't get ANY traction on launch. If I floor it then my back end swings around to the other side. I have tried feathering it on the start but it seems too slow and i usually get killed on the takeoff, which my L should be the BEST for taking off due to the rwhp and torque it provides. Now I do have 20's on it, which I figure is the problem here, GT2 goodyear eagle tires. I also just installed nitrous on it an I don't notice the HP increase in the seat at all, which is weird. I just bought a tune for it and the nitrous from JDM, NX kit. Here are my mods and thanks for the help.

02' L
-Stock eaton- 4 lb. pulley, SCT JDM tune (race and street), 20" goodyear GT2 tires, NX Gen2 wet kit 50 shot (from jdm), MAC CAI, boost bypass(if you call it a mod), NGK plugs for the nitrous.

I'm a little tight on money right now, and don't want to shell out a ton of money into 18" nitto 555r's unless it will make huge difference on the street. I just want to be able to floor my truck, or even feather harder into it, without my back end swaying into the other lane while racing cars. Also, do you guys suggest I get it dyno'd? Havent done that yet. I can't punch the truck with this tune on there without skidding out, let alone the nitrous. Very frusterating after spending all this $$$ on it. Thanks again guys, and glad to be a part of the forums.

 

Welcom to the group, well, it sounds like you're gonna have to get some sticky tires, or put a few hundred lbs in the back....LOL. Sounds like you have 2 problems, maybe 3. The two most important for launching is the 20's...they are HEAVY, too heavy, and also are too tall and make your gear ratio too tall. The taller the ratio (lower the number) the more the tires want to OUTRUN the truck, and it makes launching more tricky. It's either too much or not enough to get you going when you have too tall of a tire without running a 4:11 or higher number of gear in the rearend. 3.73's are what you have now if they are stock, and with the 20's you might as well have 3.25's! The lower the number the worse it is for drag racing and launching. Go with a shorter tire for racing, like your 18's. I'd spend the money and get the Nittos. Traction bars help a lot, too. Simple Lakewoods are cheap and do help, but you really want the long ones that attatch to the frame. The third problem may be with your nitrous...you don't always feel nitrous in the seat if you're running less than a 100 shot, but you should feel a difference. Talk to your tuner about this. Dyno tuning is VERY recommended also. Running a Lightning on Nitrous can be tricky business, and there isn't much room for error. Better to be safe than sorry. Good luck, it sounds like you're on your way to having a pretty fast truck though. Enjoy! BK

 

Chuck the rears and put the Nitto555R drag radials on the back. I run them on my truck on the street because my truck became dangerous as far as i'm concerned on the f1's, and I don't have any real heavy mods.

Get a set of the Rancho style bars from JDM, or JLP or whoever else carries them. They will help a TON. Did on my truck.

Most importantly, get the truck dyno tuned so you don't blow it up and don't street race!!!

 

I would think the 20's would help you get traction by reducing the gear ratio, lowering/raising it to like a 3.55.(However you look at it, I alway's get confused)
I got advice on launching from a couple of fast people, their response was get it moving and roll into it. The answer is in your right foot!!
I've personally witnessed people getting 1.7's on F-1's. I've managed a 1.8 on Nitto's, at the track and pretty warm(tires).Not very happy with them!!
Best of luck!!
Bryan

 

Best advice for you... i got a 500HP lightning.... TRACTION BARS!!!!! i put them on, and i cant just bout punch it and lauch it everytime.... dont get the small ones you will see around i got 57Inch bars on mine.. works wonders let me tell you