For those of you running Cal-Trac rear suspension and a transbrake, what's your setup consist of?

Meaning...
ET and MPH for the combo?
What tires and tire pressure?
What rear shocks?
Preload on the Cal-Trac bars?
What RPM do you leave at?

I tried the 'brake for the first time last night and it absolutely blew the tires off. Tried a few different setups and made little progress. Hooked great footbraking it. I am running Drag Radials, but curious to see what works for yall. Thanks, CHIP

I bet your going to have trouble hooking that beast on DR's off the transbrake...But man if you could it would be one heck of a ride...

My info may not help you as you have WAY more motor but 17 psi 12 inch wheels 315/60, 1/4 turn preload on drivers' side snug on passenger side,rancho single adjustable on 7,cal trac 90/10's on front. Leave at 3400 rpm on a 4200 convertor.

Bob...I think you're right,it may take a while but I want to make it work. It feels like a monster when I let go of the button, but as soon as the wheels get in the air it slams them back down and fries the tires.

67wedge...thanks for the info. I tried a setup close to yours last night and it didn't work for me, but I'm gonna keep at it.

Anyone else? CHIP

So are me and 67wedge the only 2 here running Cal-Tracs and transbrakes? CHIP

I think your problem is in the front , not the rear, as soon as you run out of travel,lift stops, the front falls and you spin. I run slicks but as far as the Cal-Tracs, I set mine up with a slight air gap about .030 gap and adjust small amount of preload in as needed to keep the car straight.I've had Cal tracs and Ranchos (5way)since 02 set on 3 or 4 . Footbrake I use a lot of preload and get same results but car goes out about 10 feet before coming up

I have 6" of travel up front and the front end is loose.

I've tried no preload, 1/4 turn preload, and 1 turn preload. I've tried 19.5 psi and 15 psi in the tires, not much difference. Made a big change just to see what would happen.

Hooks the best footbraking w/ 19.5 psi and no preload. 1/4 turn preload works well footbraking too.
9 way ranchos have been set on 9 for the past 3 years since that's where it hooked the best footbraking. Have not tried a different setting on them yet with the transbrake. CHIP

What shocks in the front? The reason I said that about the front is I used to do same thing, Changed shocks and cured it. I went to Koni's from Comp eng. 3 ways and they slowed the rise enough it stopped the spin.

LilWedge...I have some "custom" lakewood 90/10s. I drilled and drained them, then replaced the fluid with marvel mystery oil. They're pretty loose. Work great on motor (wheelies as high as your picture footbraking), but obviously lacking on the transbrake. I've been wanting to put a pair of Calvert 90/10s on the front but havn't gotten around to it.

I watched the video. As soon as I release the button , the front tires are in the air (only 2-3") for a split second and then touch back down when the rears go up in smoke.
So slow up the front end rise? CHIP

keep us updated.. im thinking about a brake

Worked for me but I just have a 10-1 360, Your throwing a lot more at it with a lot less tire, I read an article by Wayne Scraba years ago on shocks and thats what got me to try it. You might google it and see if you find it. Also my car scales about 51% to rear.

http://www.automedia.com/Adjustable_Shocks/pht20001101as/2 This isn't it but explains it somewhat.

I think you need to slowdown the front end rise, and more travel would help, I run the Koni shocks set to the middle, think that is supposed to be 70/30, I have no front end limiters, right at 6 1/2 travel, if it just jerks the fronts and spins you have to slow the front down, or figure out a way to give it more travel, I had to rig some shock extensions with the Koni's to get the 6 1/2, now as far as those DOT rears, I have no expewrience with those, all my runs on slicks, so not sure if my advice is the best or not. If possible weigh out all four corners, you in the car, get rears as close to same as possible, run about a dime gap on the Caltracs, should be the working spot, if not increase preload 1/4 turn at a time, I run mine in bottom, but it pretty muchs works in either hole, get those rear wheel weights close, it'd help to if you bought a set of real drag tires, IMHO

Maybe I missed it, but how much front end travel do you have?

If it hooks initially, and then unloads the tires when the front wheels come up you might want to lower the front end.

Sounds counter intuitive to take weight off the rear by lowering the front, but it will give it more total front end travel. It might be enough run at the front suspension that when it pulls the front wheels up, it will just keep going up and not unload the rear suspension.

My

before t brake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCQt_cATHLk

Lilwedge...Thanks for the info!

Wyoming...I think you're right about the slowing the frontend rise. It took some doing to get the 6" of travel I have now. Removed the UCA bumpstops, shock extensions, and tall front tires so I could lower the front down as much as possible.
I went to these DOT radials b/c I was having trouble getting to hook at all w/ bias ply tires. The tech guys at M/T told me to get these and I was pleasantly surprised w/ low 1.3 sixty foots. They hook better than any slick I've ever had on the car. I've seen fast drag radial cars with transbrakes so I know it can work, just need to know what direction to go w/ the suspension tuning. I hope I don't need to go back to a bias tire to get it to hook on the transbrake.

Dizuster...6" of travel. I can't really get the front end any lower. The oil pan is barely 3" above the ground now. I put 28" tall tires on it a few years back so I could lower it more to gain travel.

WedgeOmatic...Thanks for the vid links.

67wedge...If you lived nearby I wouldn't mind seeing what it'd run in your car! It's not porpoising, I fought that issue a few years ago. I'll be giving Calvert Racing a call tomorrow and see what they recommend. CHIP

Chip i dont have a trans brake or radials on but i would preload the Cal-tracs and make the rear shocks Less Stiff.I would slow down the front end also with a adjustable shock or you could try a stock front shock if you have some at the house.

chip, i wish i could help you. but, i don't know too much about caltracks.i do know that you have a good motor{it has to be to move your car that fast}, and you don't have much tire. it sure be nice to throw a nice set of slicks on that baby. i have never seen a car react the way you said yours is doing. usually if they stand up on the footbrake, they will drag the bumper on the t-brake.

Chip tie the frontend down maybe 1 to 2 inchs travel.If it gets better you know the front end needs to slow down.If it gets worse you know it's in the shocks.Lenny

what about thicker torsion bars

Talked with Matt at Calvert Racing a little while ago, never talked to him before, but a cool fella. He recommended me to soften up the shocks a lot. They're currently set on 9, he said loosen them to 1 or 2.
He also said that I went in the right direction with the air pressure by lowering it.
While I was on the phone with him I went ahead and ordered a pair of their 90/10 shocks.

So Lenny, I will try to tie down the front end this weekend and see what happens. I needed new shocks for the front anyway. Then I'll try softening up the shocks and play with the air pressure.

So I guess we'll see if it the rear tires go up in smoke, the front tires go up in the air, or if parts hit the ground. Whatever happens, I'm just happy to be back on the track after everything that's gone on recently. Last Saturday night was the first time I'd been back on the track since the explosion before Halloween. CHIP

CHIP, I'd be very interested in how going that soft on shocks works out for you, after I read that I realized I'd never really visited the "soft" side, I started at 5, on Rancho's and dial them stiffer until the car worked ok, but maybe there is something to be had on the soft side, let us know how that works, may give it a shot myself, when I started at 5, mine just hopped down the track, so I went stiffer.

wyoming...Same here, I started out on 5 and kept goin up. It kept getting quicker as I went up. Yes, I have Rancho 9 ways. I'll try it and letcha know how it works. CHIP

Post deleted by wyoming

Chip, I realize matt is a expert,but lowering the air pressure and the rear shock will give you the same thing.
I say to keep the tire pressure and lower the rear shock until you get some spinning off the line.
The tire was hooking and unloading because the front rise was to fast.The cal trac shock might help you if its slower than you had, but a adjustable front shock would of done the trick.
You would still want the most air pressure possible in the rear tires and the rear shocks at the highest setting possible for the 60 foot.A limiter will stop the front from going all the way down but will be hit and miss till you find the best spot.my

Like has been said try slowing the front end rise. We used to run the front shocks at 90/10 and the car would lift the front end so fast that it would blow the rear tires off. We wound up setting the front shocks to 50/50 and it helped. Sounds like you need to get some adjustable front shocks for the car.