help needed, went to test and tune at a local 1/8mile strip with a friend and his fed I had built a new motor, on the first run he stood it up on the back of the frame scraping the vht off the track for a 120 ft. He now needs wheelie bars how long do they have to be and how do you adjust them spring loaded or not?
That's a pretty open ended question as there can be a lot of considerations in a wheelie bar design (i.e. one wheel or two, type of wheel, three tubes or four, tube material, tubing length and diameter, spring or not). Are the bars going to be used to get the car "up on the tire" or just control wheelies? You should pm Rooman or King Chassis or Lippy to get a recommendation. Neil and Parks sells them on their website. You may be able to just add some weight to the front of the car to calm it down. Good luck!
I was thinking one wheel three tubes and maybe a spring to cushion and not unload the tires. the last yellow came on and the car was standing on the rear of the frame when the green lit 160" fed 406 sbc carbed on methanol the same motor with a smaller cam flat top pistons would come out lifting about 4-6" mid to high 5's but this set-up hits a lot harder tires are 10 1/2"x33" 4.86 gears foot braked
thanks for the link. oh yea it would have made a GOOD PHOTO the right rear went off the track then came down hard and flattened the rim stayed on the gas and finished the run running his worst time ever
I'd go with a set M&H or Hurst slicks with an ol' s'cool compound and just smoke'em all the way down the strip... That's how you git'er done..
My last run last year I stood my sr dragster on its tail bone. Very painful for my back. I started making a single wheel for the back of the frame since i had seen that back in the day. I also checked my rear tire pressure which was low as someone adjusted it thinking they were helping me. (I run 8 psi , they were sure I should run 3 PSI and "fixed" it while I was at linch thinking I was just stubborn and had not thought it through)I was also just about out of fuel in the tank which lightened the front end somewhat. Car ran a lot without a wheelie bar with no problems so i am going to try it once more without at the original set up IF it ever stops raining on race weekends. . Don
Jeff if you go by the link for Neil and Parks you will be ok . don't be afraid to make it long about 5 feet should be just fine it will flex a little that way . It sounds like you are dead hooking not good with a fed .You need to get a little wheel speed at the hit .I have heard that those 10.5 tires realy stick hard .
Hi Jeff. Brian at King Chassis knows all about wheelies. Sorry Brian. There are many ways to keep the car in line in my opinion. Is there any weight on the nose? Balance is quite a bit of it. I take it this is a P/G car with a trans brake? 160 isn't very long. Our old car was 165. It had a three bar wheelie bar about 5 ft long. No spring. It was adj on the top bar at the bracket for the wheel. Just pulled a pit pin and placed it in another hole. I usually set it with my toe under it to start. I think it also had 80 lb on the nose, it would carry the wheels just right. It had a 4.30 gear and a 13x33 1/2 tire. I would also scale the car and find out how much weight is on each wheel. JMO. The Neil and Parks deal is an idea also if you don't have a way to fab one yourself. Roo could help you out also or Brian. Lots of others I'm sure. Your lucky, sometimes you never get a second chance to put a wheelie bar on. If it was a clutch car you wouldn't need it. Lippy
Mine are 5' spring loaded and at ride hight I can stick my shoe underneath, and I can jack the front end up a foot before the wheel bottoms out. I use a BB Chevy valve spring for resistance because the solid bars that I have seen tend to bash the chassie mounts when coming off of the burn out and the tire squats back down.Never liked the theory of using the bars to help launch the car, to much of a crutch and the consistancy isnt there.
I use my bar as more of a safety item . When I first built the car it would always hit the bar . Now that I am making decent power it never hits anymore .Like I said before you need wheel speed not huge tires!
we had tried 14x31"on 14" rims and all it would do is spin went to 4.10 gears 60' times dropped way off went back to the smaller 10.5" x33 on the same 14" wheels and 4.86 gears planning to increase the timing only the first two threads on the plugs have color,trying for the first three,motor is running dead cold 130 degrees after the run.
he got a new frt wheel bought some tubing to make a Neil&Parks style wheelie bar he's going to scale the car tomorrow i've got hydroplane races this week-end and we're going to Napierville or Sanair next week
We ran a 80" single wheel set up on a 168" blown alky BB chev. 12x33 tire, 4.10 gear, PG w/ a brake, 1850 lb w/ driver. Before we had it running right, and w/ no wheelie bar it would stand up right away. We figured it was because it was underpowered. With the bar it would carry the front wheels maybe 6' off the ground and dance little. The bar was unsprung, it came off a 10.5 car. I never thought it looked right but it worked. It's still hanging in the garage. We had to take it off the car to fit in the trailer it was so long. Car ran 7.60, 180 mph. There are a couple of pics in my album but they don't really show the wheelie bar detail. Good luck.
Jeff is the 10.5 tire you are running the same tire that the outlaw 10.5 guy's are running . If so that is a very aggresive tire made to go on a 1500hp bodied car .I dont know what air pressure you are running a little more might help . If you are footbraking you might just have to rely on the bar to get you going.
talked with Lippy, lowered overall weight and moved some forward and going to add weight to the frt axle. Going to a nostalgia race next Saturday at Napierville
Make sure you set your motor out a proper distance also take into consideration what wheelbase you set you car at. Also consider putting tabs in up front to add a weight bar. And make sure your 3 point wheelie bar setup is spring loaded to absorb some initial shock when your chassis is loading, otherwise your chassis will unload and your 60' times will go downhill quickly. I would consider at least 72" - 80" with removable quick pins for transport if you are lifting and dragin the bumper. Allen,
the three point wheelie bar ended up 60" and is spring loaded just have to wait and see how everything goes next week.
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