I'm not sure why my trans has lasted so long but I was told from the start to roll through the water and do your burnout at the very edge of the water, get the slicks hot enough to dry when you roll forward. I have always started burn out in second. I did a dry hop and staged. No problem thousands of pass's.


Are drag radials that much different than slicks?

Sure glad to hear he is ok. I am the guy in NE. Ohio that DoubleD was referring too. When a transmission blows like this it is a literal BOMB! I have researched this problem for the last 2 years. All the engineers I have conversed with (all of the major ballistic material suppliers), all agreed that this is a extreme condition and would require some very serious material. I will say this: metal hood types allow parts to escape forwards (towards your feet) and backwards to the tail housing. Carbon fiber usually works "IF" you have Alum. drums. Steel drums can and do shatter carbon fiber. Billet drums are "NOT" the total solution! Using billet drums allows them to spin faster before exploding. Unfortunately since spinning faster they release even more energy than a stock drum. Therefore causing a even larger explosion.
Something to think about.
If that blanket costs you $400, then the manufacturer's cost was half or less than half of that to make a profit. Part of that half cost is packaging, buckles, strapping, an outside covering and labor to sew it together. So how much actual ballistic material are you really getting for your money???? Now go look at ballistic materials and their costs. You also have to know how much of it "layers" (there are many, many types of Kevlar and others) will pass the SFI test. Now go to the SFI Foundation site and look up what it takes to pass their test. Better yet go look up the military test standard they use (MIL-STD-662D-V50).

If you would like to explore this subject further email me here.

Coming from Nottingham, England i'm curious to know why he calls himself Robin Hood. Lol

I beg to differ with you on the drum statement. There was a magazine article that covered the billet steel 4140 drum that Rick at A&A came out with. They tested it on some sort of a spin tester and I believe it went to 36,000rpm before they stopped it, and there was nothing,no cracks, no flaws, nothing. So even if your shifting at 10,000 and your sprage lets go, your still covered.

No I meant a manual VB in a high HP/TQ car. I don't know who built my trans, so I tend to launch it and do burnouts in 2nd. It's a pro street car with a lot of gear and a decent amount of stall. It leaves pretty good in 2nd, just wanted to confirm or not if this method reduces the possibility of this situation.

I do my burnouts in 3rd only. Part throttLe at 6000 rpm. Never hits the limiter (7200). I stay in the throttle about 4 seconds before lifting. Gets good wheel speed.
Doug

Wait.... You Launch the car in 2nd??.... with a manual VB 727 ?? Why would you do that?

The CRT trans brake I have will work in first or second. The last time I was at the strip I accidentally left in second, it still ran 1.51 60' leaving at 2500.

BTW if I were buying my drum again I'd buy the aluminum one with the steel liner.

I've purposely kept quiet on this post, but I'm one of the geezers who have been racing the same Hemi Dodge for almost 50 (48 years, actually) years with no incidents. In fact, I can only recall even seeing two incidents over those years, both caused by driver error.

I still use a "J" converter, a Cheetah VB. standard stuff. It was pounded into my head back in the day the cause for trans explosions, and to always check after a first gear drive line failure, or excessive spinning. The easiest way to check is to pull the driveshaft, put a driveshaft yoke into the rear of the trans, and spin it. It should only spin one way easily. If it spins both ways easily, the sprag is turned and it's got come apart. I have always started my burnouts in second, and then go to high. I use first gear only to put it on the trailer, or to pull it into the garage, or to leave the starting line where it's pulled second real quick. Not hard, just pay attention.

I can't help but notice that some of the cars on here who complain about it happening are dual purpose, street/strip cars. To me, that is probably a lot of their issue. Go out on the street, blow the tires off of it in low gear, take it the track, and then, pow. My guess is that in a lot of cases, that is what happened. I'm sure there are some explosions that are legitimate, but, to be frank, I've never seen one that didn't have an explanation for it. Now, I'm sure that there will be a pile of you on here who start arguing with me. That's OK, whatever. Do whatever you think is necessary. But, one can save themselves a lot of hassle and money by just doing it the right way.

But, when I hear guys saying how they are scared to drive one, that's a bit over the top. It's not like jumping into a combat zone with the 82nd Airborne. Just know what you are doing and pay attention. Not hard.

Of course, there were also the neutral starts we played with back in the late sixties, but, that's another story....Dick Oldfield and Ron Mancini can tell you all about them....

having been around the results personally (friends car luckily), none of our rides hit the track after that without a steel drum and blanket or shield. If you are racing with a 727, you really don't want this to happen. We were fortunate that Chuck Lofgren was at the track that weekend and came by and educated us on the whole deal as we did not have a clue as to what happened (good ole pre internet days )

Prior to this happening I had been street racing for a couple years and track racing for only a couple. I had broken a ring gear when I had a 8.75 rear in my Mirada. Not knowing any better we simply threw in another gear set and went on our way.... got lucky. I'm proof like many that it doesn't happen every time.... but knowing what we all know now, it's not worth the risk IMHO.

Huh, didn't know that

Like Steve 1118 says, watch what you are doing. Back in the day thats all we had, there was no LBA manual valve body. The was no updated drum that was reasonably priced, so nobody used them. Remember the 1980's! All the old days 727 racers are not limping around.

Many sprag failures might seem to be sudden but they're usually preceded by flattening of the rollers. A sprag with several flattened rollers might pass the "turn it backwards" test (which is highly judgemental) but might still be in distress.

The only way to positively judge the condition of the sprag is a periodic visual inspection.

A lot of us old-timers used to abuse the sprag and never have a failure but there's a difference between doing it wrong and getting away with it and doing it right....I'm one of the lucky ones who did it wrong out of ignorance. No excuse in this day and age.

I got my first B&M LBA manual valve body in 72, I think they started making them around 68.

Crazy timing reading this again.

Old HS buddy of mine from back early mid 80's just texted me last night his '68 HEMI Charger just did this exact thing. This was not a race car but street car with a healthy large CI HEMI motor with street DOT's. He was lucky to walk away with just cuts bruises. Looked pretty bad. Car was rotisserie restoration and was mint. He said there is metal everywhere in the interior.

Sucks.

Before everyone starts to debate stock,billit and aluminium drums lets put everything in perspective as to use and application.
Using a stock drum has it's place in stock street and mild dragrace use if your application is not in big torque,high RPM and horsepower ranges and proper procedure is followed.
ie:Engines under 500HP,operating RPM ranges under 6000,second to third burnouts and a proper shield since the sprag(over running clutch can fail)
Aluminium drums in all applications reguardless of HP/RPM but require maintaince and a shield for the same above mentioned sprag failure.Second to third gear burn outs also
Billet drums in all applications reguardless of HP/RPM,less maintaince and a shield for the same above mentioned sprag failure.Second to third gear burn outs.
If you insist on using a stock drum on anything above a mid ten second race car then I suggest you use the best shield you can find.Steve's comments are correct for his use and application but must have a shield for the unexpected breakage.
With the techonology of race cars today with the capabilities of low tens to high eights in many brackets we suggest use the strongest and safe parts you can afford.
Respectfully Bob

Ah, the voice of reason from Brother Bob. Different applications call for different things. But, Torqueflites are good, good trans.

I'm still getting around OK, despite racing a torqueflite for all these years. Except for some arthritis and a little gout, the knees and feet still work OK. I spent many, many years watching Bagwell, Marshall, BG, and many other Hemi and Maxie SS cars make thousands of passes over the years with no issue by doing what I do. Don't forget, most of that stuff wasn't around back then. Make more HP, better chassis, and all and of course the demands are different. A blanket is like belts and harness, helmet, anything else. Should always be on there, just in case.

The problem I have with threads like this is that everything gets worked up so the average kid bracket racing his 440 Road Runner has the mindset of an infantryman going into a firefight.

It's not necessary. You've got kids scared to death, and spending money they don't have. So, they never get to the track. Some of the guys here are very free with others' money.

Just pay attention...do it the right way, and you won't have any problem. Get the right product for the application, use good parts. . If you have a dual purpose car with big HP, which seems to be the in thing, and you are running around laying tire in low gear all the time to impress the local kiddies, you'd better be careful. For what it's worth, the trans in my car is the same one BG did for me a long, long time ago. Change fluid, maintain, and pay attention. True in everything. Works everytime

I usually just do a short burnout in second only and ease off the throttle as coming out of the water. Anything wrong with this?

I wouldn't base drum selection on ET. A twelve-second car that is capable of 8000+ rpm on a free-wind overspeed can explode a stock drum.

We are not basing in on ET alone read all of the statement that includes proper technique and safty equipment.The last statement your quoting is a caution and suggestion.We all know what will happen if RPM is exceeded in low or second gear and the overrunning clutch fails(which it will)I learn a long time ago no one can guard against stupidity and if a person can't use common sence he should run a complete containment shield around himself for all the "what ifs" that can happen.If a person free winds a 12 second car it's because he has done something stupid.
Respectfully Bob