Mickey Thompson ETs

kenewagner

Registered User
Mounted my tires tonight and have a few questions. What does everyone recommend for tire pressure? There are a few weights still on the rim which I will remove. Do they need balancing?

Ken
 
I would get them balanced. No reason not to. though others have not.

Are you running tubes or not?

Are these the ET Street Radial or Bias?

Most people like at least 18 psi in them. I've gone as low as 10psi looking for hooking. It really depends on your power and the track the day you are there.

For the club clash, get there early and you have plenty of runs before the time trials. During that time start with 18psi cold. That'll probably be 20psi hot. Practice a few rounds like that to get used to the track. Then drop the pressure 3 psi. See if your time gets better or how it feels. If worse, or no change, then try to go 3 psi above your initial pressure. See if that does better or feels worse.

You just keep doing that until you get a consistant time.

When you do your first burn out with those you will want to get the wheels spinning (start out in 2nd) and hold it around 3000rpm for a 5 count. After that if you are not letting them get too cool, you can just do a basic clean them off burnout as they hold heat well. Mike down there can give you good tips on that too.
 
Mounted my tires tonight and have a few questions. What does everyone recommend for tire pressure? There are a few weights still on the rim which I will remove. Do they need balancing?

Ken


Ken

The tire pressure I ran with my M/T ET Streets was 16psi in right and 15psi in left had to do water burnout to get them sticky. You need to balance them with stick on weights inside as close to center as you can needs to be spun balance. Make a run (note) always check tire pressure at the end of the track keep at 15 and 16 hot works perfect for best 60ft times
 
I would get them balanced. No reason not to. though others have not.

Are you running tubes or not?

Are these the ET Street Radial or Bias?

Most people like at least 18 psi in them. I've gone as low as 10psi looking for hooking. It really depends on your power and the track the day you are there.

For the club clash, get there early and you have plenty of runs before the time trials. During that time start with 18psi cold. That'll probably be 20psi hot. Practice a few rounds like that to get used to the track. Then drop the pressure 3 psi. See if your time gets better or how it feels. If worse, or no change, then try to go 3 psi above your initial pressure. See if that does better or feels worse.

You just keep doing that until you get a consistant time.

When you do your first burn out with those you will want to get the wheels spinning (start out in 2nd) and hold it around 3000rpm for a 5 count. After that if you are not letting them get too cool, you can just do a basic clean them off burnout as they hold heat well. Mike down there can give you good tips on that too.

Tires are MT ET Street LT26x10.5-16 Bias Ply.

Thank all for the suggestions. Do they have a way to air up tires at the track or do I need to have a portable air tank?. Never even thought about starting a auto in second for a burn out.

Ken
 
Racin' boys.....

He may be referring to a manual trans? Have fun at the Clash Ken. Go break stuff!

Danny
 
Tires are MT ET Street LT26x10.5-16 Bias Ply.

Thank all for the suggestions. Do they have a way to air up tires at the track or do I need to have a portable air tank?. Never even thought about starting a auto in second for a burn out.

Ken

Get yourself a portable air pump that plugs into the lighter. No need for a tank.
Takes a while to pump up the tire but you are only really going up or down a few #s. Sears has one for like 30bux with a digital display.
 
I use the portable compressor like Ricardo mentioned. If you over inflate the tires before going to the track, you probably won't need to add air. I usually start off with 18-19 psi and check them after each pass. Since heating the tires increases the air pressure, you will probably have to let some air out after the first pass. The compressor is usually just for adding more air to the front tires to reduce rolling resistance.

You need to do a good burnout to get the tires sticky. Start in 1st then shift to 2nd, bring it up to about 5000 rpms and after you see smoke rolling around the sides of the car release the brakes wdhile you keep the tires spinning for about 5 feet then let off pull it back down to 1st and begin to stage.

David
 
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YES GET THEM BALANCED! I couldn't go past 90mph on my ET's with no weights....at least without the car shaking so bad that I thought I was going to wreck. I've gone as low as 15psi, but IMO, 19 is low enough for the kind of 60ft's you'll most likely be looking at - 1.7-1.8 range.
 
they have a compressor at the track. The hose is over by the rest rooms. Plenty of room to back up and it's on the way back to where we park on the return road. It can be much handier to have your own compressor. I still need to get one.

With the auto I just hold it in first. Manual start in 2nd. With those tires I always go through the water box. I have the same size, but in a 15". With street tires up front, you should really go around the box, then back into it. Honestly, I never have at one of these events. It's a test and tune day, so the approach is a challenge to keep decent all the time.

The guy staging you will motion you to come over after the cars in front of you complete their burnout and start to stage. You then drive through the box and then slow down. The guy will give you a sign when your rear tires are just at the trailing edge of the box. he'll then have you hold. Watch him, don't watch the other stuff going on. he may back you off if there is a problem. When it's safe, he'll indicate to start the burnout. Take a quick look to make sure no one walked in front of you, and then with an auto, simply press the brake pedal down to the floor, and press the gas to the floor to get things spinning. Then hold RPM's at about 3000.

The first time through, count to 5 and let off the brake letting the car roll forward then release the throttle and roll up slowly to stage. Avoid the John Force style burnout across the starting line. Other times you can spin them up for just a moment to clean them off, they'll hold heat pretty good.

If you haven't been down the track much before, you may want to start with a higher pressure and just start working your way down. Bias ply tires are gonna be a tad wiggly after the 1/8th mile. Don't panic. It can feel disconcerting to some folks. The lower the pressure, the wigglier it gets.

With my 90 SC and the Lentech valve body, I didn't see a difference between shifting it manually, and letting it shift. With your power level, you should take a look at your dyno chart and find your power peak at RPM. Then play with what RPM to shift at (or see if it will shift good on it's own) to keep things moving down the track. Don't forget to lock out overdrive.
 
The portable compressor is a good idea, but most tracks do have compressed air that is available to the racers. However, if you've never investigated the availability of a track compressor, you probably should bring your own.
 
I wish I were going. I have a tire pressure equalizer you could use. (inflates both tires at the same time.)
 
Mounted one on the car at lunch today to check tire clearance. Everything looks good:D

Ken
 

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Bias ply tires are gonna be a tad wiggly after the 1/8th mile. Don't panic. It can feel disconcerting to some folks. The lower the pressure, the wigglier it gets.

Good info Mike....Ken, when the car starts to sway side to side on the top end, just hold the wheel steady and ride it out. DO NOT try to make steering corrections as it will only make it worse.

David
 
Good info Mike....Ken, when the car starts to sway side to side on the top end, just hold the wheel steady and ride it out. DO NOT try to make steering corrections as it will only make it worse.

David

.... and fight the reflex to lift, even a little bit!! ;)

Ira
 
Good info Mike....Ken, when the car starts to sway side to side on the top end, just hold the wheel steady and ride it out. DO NOT try to make steering corrections as it will only make it worse.

David

Sounds like what I had to do when trailering my car back 500 miles from Lincoln in the rain and dark. :eek:
 
.... and fight the reflex to lift, even a little bit!! ;)

Ira

Yes...It was all I could do at last year's Dayton spring meet to keep the gas pedal floored with my 93. I really wanted to get out of the throttle about halfway between the 1/8 and 1/4 mile mark. I'm hoping the wider wheels I've got now will improve that situation.

David
 
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