What is about the slowest mph you can be doing and release your chute if the car starts getting loose enough that it would aid in slowing you down and help to correct the swerving?

It has a pilot installed to. I had a few upgrades done to my car by having the chute mounted and also an anti roll control.

My friend lost his life at the track 2 weeks ago when his car got loose after the 300 ft mark and he started rolling then hit a light pole. Since my car runs super comp times now, I needed the chute anyways, and my car has always shown tell tale signs that it would benefit by installing the anti roll control.

Will a chute open correctly at 75 or 80 mph or so?

j don't see why not, but if your running 8's in the 1/4 you are running 120+ at 66o'. those kind of accidents happen so fast i doubt you would have time to deploy the chute. i have see some pro stock cars use them to get themselves out of trouble before though. in my experience it's better to lift when the car doesn't feel right. most of the crashes i have seen the driver stays in it to long

To get the chute out that fast you better have a launcher and the button better be on the steering wheel. When that car goes side-ways at the 1/8 mile or before at 130mph things happen real fast. Ask me how I know.

To add one more thing if you don't use the chute on every pass you won't be ready to use it in an emergency, I wasn't and didn't.

I agree with Quicktree better to judge that the car isn't right and let out of it . Once the car goes sideways the chute is not going to help .

I do know enough to lift and not to brave out a risky run. I have a friend in training so to say , begining to drive my car now. He has drove it 6.34 now, but I want to give him all the knowledge I can in any area that he may find himself into. I am having him do a few 60ft's only now, then a few 300 ft then work into the 1/8th and go from there. I find there is a lot of people that think these cars are not toys and don't understand that they can and will hurt you, if you do not respect the power and all the safety features needed to run in any type of racing. The nomex suit I gave him will take time to get used to when it starts hitting 100+ degree temps.

those kind of things are hard to teach, seat time is the only teacher and quick reactions.

Guys I am sure what I am about to tell you is going to piss some people off. Simply put every reply I have read is pure BS in my experience. Normally I would just let this be but, I feel what I am about to share could save many lives and could have possibly saved the guy mentioned.

For about 20 years I ran as fast as I was capable with my budget and the help of the happy juice. Limited knowledge of suspensions and no majic boxes or timers. If it had not been for the parachute I would not be here many times over today.

#1 When driving a drag car from the time you leave the starting line you need to invision an invisible string from each side of the steering wheel to the gas pedal. These strings can have a minimal amount of slack to allow for some small, and I mean small corrections. In other words if the steering wheel must turn to keep the car in the groove more than say an hour of clock position either way the your foot needs to come up off the gas while making that correction. Get in trouble as some mentioned get off the gas. This is not always going to save you but, a good foundation to keeping you and your car in one peice. Locked up brakes and things can still get you. The biggest mistake made is getting on the brakes hard at speed.

#2 NHRA requires a chute if you get over 150MPH. Well I would suggest one for cars that go over 130 in the quarter and 110 in the eighth. When driving with a chute use it frequently even if the need is not there to keep it dry and loose in the pack. When driving a car with a chute I would suggest holding your hand on the lever or over the button. If you are manually shifting do this as soon as you get in high gear. If you have air or electric shifter go ahead and put your hand on the lever as soon as you leave the line. This way in the event anything goes wrong as your body weight moves you will release the chute, sometimes before you even mentally mean to. Trust me it works great at saving you after the car gets upset from pure fate or just overdriving the car which all of us have done somewhere along the way.

Many times I have heard people after an accident say they could not find the chute release. I'm sure as you are being thrown around in a car you can forget finding it when you need it.

I have raced tracks that throwed the car around at the stripe. Pulled the chute just ahead of the trouble and never saw an ET change or anything unpleasant in the trouble area on the track.

As for how slow you could be going that would depend on the size of the chute. I have the largest chute stroud advertises. It takes a good bit of air to pull it open. I have had it accidently deply at less than 100mph and trust me it did it's job and slowed me down. As the starter of the tread suggest it will also straighten you out. A freind that is 69 years old totaled his car last year at 180 mph after a broken break rotor but no broken bones or stitches thanks to deploying the chute. Another 70 years old broke a break rotor and was not able to pull the chute and had to have two hips and a pelvis not to forget broken back and arm.

The parachute in my car is my best freind. Many freinds of mine who use them say the same. It will get you out of trouble. The only time mine acted nutty was after it had gotten really dirty due to oil and burnt piston smoke. Stroud and I both could not find the cause. I had trouble for several races. Finally I washed the chute and you would not beleive the difference it made. Shared the results with Stroud and they laughed about it as most people have their wife or freinds pack the chute and when they complain about dirty hands they wash it. LOL

Two guys two accidents due to broken front rotors. We need to pull our chutes and leave the harder breaking to less than 100mph. This would be another subject. I am not perfect I 1/8 mile race and am too lazy to use the chute. Afraid someone will make fun. A 3000# car at 120 at Natural Bridge or Motor mile requires a little pressure on the brakes. Hope I don't eat my own words here.

Race safely guys

Leon

Point taken Quicktree. And thanks for the pointers and comments. I do plan on having my friend Jackie pulling the chute quite a bit in the beggining, so he can get familiar with the system. This way he will get used to it, feel how it acts and be comfortable when using it. It also will aide in him learning how to pack it

Leon, thanks for sharing and reminding me to check my rotors, it was on my list over the winter, but I got dissabled and had over looked that check. This would be the second year on them now, so they need to be inspected.

I normally dont use my chute but the 1 time I needed
it I didnt pull the safety pin... luckily I was only
running 1/8 mile that day but I stayed in it well
past the 1/8 marker... on the starting line I dumped
the trans button and heard a LOUD boom but the car
was running fine... when I hit the brakes I was doing
about 125 mph... the pedal went farther than normal...
I hit it again and it went to the floor... I went for the
chute to get nothing... the lever went forward but
no chute... I started zig zagging down the track and
the other driver seen there was something going on and
I was taking both lanes and down shifted into 2nd
but I was doing about 30 mph on the last turn around
(its a TIGHT 180)... I seen a couple people standing
just up the return road so I hit the grass
and spun it out and stopped.... the rear caliper mount
busted off and got rapped around the axle and tore
the break lines off.... now I dont even put the safety
pin in it at all

Talking about brakes I need to start a thread about that. Only thing is it will be quite embarassing for me when you read.

I fealt kinda uneasy about my post. I don't like to be mean or even come across that way. But, when people's lives are at stake...fealt I had to.

Like I tell my kids. I love you guys and don't want anyone getting hurt with bad advise.

Leon

PS If I pissed you off read my brake thread you may feel a little tickle from it.

Very well put, my car hits 9.92 @134 and for a 3400# car it does require some good stopping distance. That's with 10" rear drum brakes and 4 piston calipers front brakes. What type of frame setup is required for a parachute? Thanks Matt

Thanks for the info guys! Would the track have a problem with pulling a chute on a 9.90/135mph pass? Thanks Matt