I have a set of the M/T Radir 10" whitewall dragster slicks on the digger. Made about 15 passes now and i cant get them to hook up for nothing. All they want to do is spin off the line. Tried air from 8 - 14 psi and its all the same. Anyone have any ideas on making these things stick to the track. If i cant get them to work there getting sold and replaced with some new style slicks.
might try hitting them with some vht......having the same trouble hooking up my model a with some hurst cheaters.....no motor and it still is spinning almost the whole 1/8th mile..... brandon
They wont hook....period. The best mine ever were was doing a burnout/demo. I spun em way too long, I wont say how long and they got a little stickier than usual.
I use them and have had good luck with them............I run pressures between 8 to 10, depending on what the track wants.............Now I am only running 12.20's to 12.50 with them...........with a mild engine and a light vehicle............Littleman http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197395&highlight=littleman+burnout+video
I think they are engineered for looks. You'll note that, much like standard passenger car bias plies on the roadways, you don't see the early-style slicks at the strip. Why? Cause neither are nearly as good as their modern counterparts. We put up with it for the sake of the "look"
How fast do your cars run on other slicks?.......maybe I am just in the sweet spot power wise, not too much not too little.........Are you guys running faster than the 12's?...........Littleman
those are for looks, not racing. mine just spun, put a new tire on and picked up 6tenths first hit. if you wanna go fast get new style slick.
Theirs more than the slicks just hooking up..........your suspension has to be setup correct also along with other factors....Littleman
My last set of 10'' M/T Radirs..............I ran a whole summer at the track.....103 passes in all, and my times did not fall off at all....They where a little to thin to use anymore.........I really heat them up........Littleman
trying to run them as a slick is the same as running a regular bald tire. the compound and sidewall is structured after a standard tire. look at the wear rating and you will see it is a hard compound. they are about the look more then the traction. yes there is alot that can be done with suspension to get the car to hook but im sure that is not the look you want if you are running these tires.
My buddy SWEARS they need to be on a rim that seems too narrow to make sense(6-7"), and run the pressure up some. He says it's a bitch to get the center of the tire on the ground. Have you looked to see if your contact patch is consistent with my buddy's beliefs?
How fast has anyone here gone with a set ? with their street driven hotrod. I have gone a best of 12.26, with no wheel spin off the line...........I know thats not fast but its not that bad for what it is, a street driver, raced on the track as I drive it on the street..........Littleman
had a set on my 64 vette (white wall in) and the best i could get out of them was 11.80 1.61 60 foot with a set of m&h street slicks it would run 9.80 1.23 60 foot
Mine are on 10" rims. It takes about 25-30 psi to get then flat across the surface. At the pressures ive tried the center 6-8" is thin. Maybe more pressure is it?
Thats a huge difference, thats why I think my set up is just as I described above, just the right weight and power for them...........If I left the line not planted, I would try something other than the piecrust.........I am planning to rebuild my engine, and introduce alittle more power to the chassis and am wondering how it will all work...........should be fun........if they fail me then, well I will run a different slick at the track also and just run the other on the street..........because if your at the track and not trying to run as fast as you can.........well then your just wasting your time......really what is a dragstrip for anyways.......someone did take a pic of my truck leaving the line at Thompson gasser weekend on 05, and it actually wrinkled the sidewall, and those are some stiff sidewalls..............Littleman
The best so far was on a extra good track prep in eliminations. Lots of rubber was down. 11.45 @ 115 with a 60ft at 1.7. The car has 10's in it i know. But there is no suspension to tune.
Well, so far it's consistant with my buddy's claim. That's a lot of air pressure. I'd try the narrower wheels before MORE pressure.
Definitely. That's the way it was done with slicks such as these. Personally, I'd get real slicks for racing and save these for show.
Already thought of that. I can buy good slicks cheaper than new rims. Maybe i could chain it to something heavy and just spin'em down smooth? I have some new concrete thats nice and rough!
This is a pic that someone shot of my Truck leaving the line, you can see the tire at work in this shot, but again I think it works with my horsepower to weight ratio..Littleman <br/>Shot with FinePix S5100 at 2007-07-29
looking at the tire there is too little air in it by the marks on the tread the center is shinny as the outer edges are scuffed. does look like it has a good bite in the picture
I've actually learned quite a bit about running these 10" Radir slicks during the course of this past weekend. So much if fact that they ripped up my leaf spring perches at the track Friday. They really are a bitch to get contact with the center of the tread to the pavement. They like to cup in the middle just like an under-flated tire behaves. You can even feel it with your hand. Anyway, I tried the 12-14 lb thing like a regular slick but that was useless. Pumped them up to 34 lbs on these magnesium American 15x9's and they started leaving a really nice autograph on test pavement. Did burnout, staged, dumped clutch and leaf spring perches ripped, bent the traction bars, and pinion rotated about 45 degrees upward, chucking out a very nice driveshaft in the process. So yeah, even with the stiff sidewalls and all, I'd say they can be made to work with some experimentation. Now I gotta fix this thing for Joplin!
Its hard to say what I had my pressures at that time...........But going by my log, I never tried below 8psi., and usually ran between 10 and 12..........and around 25-26 on the street.........but really never had a tire spin problem from the git go..........I did learn to really heat them up thou, my truck really does not leave hard, its best 60' time has only been 1.6907 and that was just last Sunday its last pass........and that was at 10 psi. .....Littleman
One of the most over looked aspects of hooking cheaters and drag radials is the burn out. I don't have personal experience with the Radirs, but the BFG drag radial will stand a car on the rear bumper IF, and only IF it is the right temperature. Most street tire users overheat them with too long a burn out. They have a softer compound that heats easily, so a smoky burn out turns them soft and greasy. I'll bet you a double cheeseburger that the Radirs are just as sensitive, in addition to the contact patch issue mentioned above. Turn them a coupe of slow turns and see how they respond. Then turn them a bit more and try again. Also pay attention to the track surface. Following the big tire cars will mean that you are already on a greasy rubber track.
Same thing here. I just went out and looked at my tires and i have rubber built up in the center where its cupped. More air and getting them scuffed down flat may help some. This pic is the only one i have off the line. Look at the tire close.
hmmm...well, looking at those pics of destroyed rear end components above, I am thinking maybe their IS some potential here, one perhaps just cannot treat them as a normal slick. I ran MT drag radials on my Fairlane, and this here statement is def. the case... A long burnout only turned them to jelly...but, with a breif couple of spins ( not even enough to really produce any smoke), just a quick jab...they would hook, and 60 ft. the same as my slicks I used to bring down before...and have a bit more mph.
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