I have a 2800 lbs Ford Falcon. Building a 406 ci SBC with a T400 to a 9 inch with 4:86 gears and a full spool. The car has all new drum brakes on all fours. I plan to run D/ Gas a 10.60 index. Would I need a parachute to stop the car safely? The weight of the car and drum brakes makes me think I should run on. Thanks for the advise.
No, if you need a parachute to stop when running on a 10.60 index, that track doesn't have enough shut down. Plus at the speeds you'll hit,I don't think the chutes will deploy properly anyway.
Gasser. Be careful with those drum brakes and going fast. Drums have a nasty habit of locking up at high speed if hit very hard. One front wheel locking at high speed is no fun. Drums don't like to unlock. You could put a chute on it and use it. Let it slow down then use the brakes. Never hurts to have a chute. And my motto is, if you have a chute, get in the habit of using it. Or put some discs on the front. JMO. Lippy
Is there a reason you want to run drums? If you are building a drag car that will not be comprimised in looks I would say just put a set of disc brakes on it. The brake conversion will be cheaper than a chute and all of the time to mount, install and run the pull cable. You don't have to have a power booster to run discs. My wagon 55 wagon runs into the 10's with front gm metric discs and rear drums with a manual brake cyclinder. It works perfect. The NHRA rule book states anything over 150mph needs a chute. Your 10.60 index car will stop fine on any strip unless it has a super short shut down and then you probably don't want to be on it anyways. With an et like that you will be looking around 125mph at the big end. Glen is on the board here and he runs a 2700lbs 505ci big block A-sedan with drum brakes all the way around. We just had it at the hamb drags in Mokan and the car went 10.23 at 130mph with absolutely no braking issues. The Mokan shut down is not the longest but his drum brakes work fine. I can not see any issues with that braking configuration for those speeds. Glen is running the drums for a period look. It is your call but I would not say that you will be unsafe with the drum brakes and the chute idea is definetly not something you need. Hope this info helps.
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