Went to the track today and I couldn't get the car to hook all day. I recently advanced the cam 8* and my current set-up just can't handle the extra torque.

1972 Cuda 440
Mopar Super Stock Springs
Mopar Rear Drag Shocks
4:10 gears
28" Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials
Comp Eng Adjustable Front Shocks (set on 90/10)
Front sway bar unbolted

I messed with tire pressure but with no luck. Started at 20psi (where it I always used to run without any problems) then did 18psi..then 15psi...then 13psi...then back to 15psi. 15psi worked the best but I could still feel it spinning.

Launching at around 2,000rpm.

Best run today was 11.814 @ 115.10 w/a 1.701 60'.

Do you think regular drag slicks would do any better? How about a Caltracs system....or are there any other recommendations?

well i would say the track personel forgot to prep the track!!!

I assume you were the orange Cuda at Cecil County today. I had the purple Road Runner.

I saw your 11.81 pass today in the right lane. for what it's worth, I couldn't do much in the left lane today without spinning the tires. I think I only made one 11 second pass in the left lane, the rest were all in the right lane.

Curious... Is that 440 a stock stroke?

I had the ET street drag radials and couldn't hook up at all with them. I switched to the regular ET streets and I do much better, but traction is still iffy at best. The radials were a lot nicer on the street though.

I'll be watching people's suggestions here as I have a similar setup. I haven't disconnected the swaybar. Does that even help?

I had my best 60' time today... A 1.65 which is still nothing to get excited about.

How do the tires and wheels "match-up" ? How is the bite-pattern across the width of the tire itself?

Also ... the BESTest drag-radial is not as good as a marginal "real" drag-slick on a typical car.

I did a back to back w/ Mopar SS shocks vs a plane jane monroe 50/50 shock. 60' was much better and worth .2 overall ET. The Mopar shocks are too stiff for a slick track.

That was me. I wanted to stop over to see how you made out today but you were in the staging lanes when I was heading out. Funny...I used to have the bias ply ET Streets and switched to the radials. The bias plys seemed to make the car a little squirrely down the track and the radials seemed to hook better until today.

Yep...it's a stock stroke. 10:1 compression, Eddy heads, MP 509 cam, Eddy dual plane intake...nothing crazy.

Jimmy Halsey ran his pro-mod car down the right lane so I would have to think there was enough track prep to handle my car? I did talk to a couple other guys today that were having traction issues as well though?

Unbolting the sway bar is something that was suggested to me a couple years back. Back then I tried that along with 90/10 front shocks and Prostar wheels (vs. my old ralleyes) up front and saw some improvement. Not sure how much the swaybar did but I still unbolt it every time out. I figure it allows the front end to "move" more freely....right?

I would have been very happy with a 1.65 60' today.....I was searching for an 11.7 run but it was just out of reach.

The tires are 275/60/15 mounted on 15x8 prostars. As far as the contact patch goes, the tire shows even wear and nothing abnormal

Shouldn't the MT drag radial be able to handle an 11 second car? I don't use them for street driving. Just went with them because it seems the classes I run in require DOT approved tires.

Could it be as simple as the rear shocks? Can you give me any details on the Monroe shocks you are using that helped (i.e. part#, for what make model car, etc.)? Can anyone else give me details on what shocks they are running with their superstock springs?

just because pro mod car ran doesnt mean ]
the track is preped
looking at the responces i d
say the track wasnt preped at all
or you guys dragged up water
11 sec cars should never have a prob hooking
j m o
super springs, etc

Track prep is huge especially on a sticky street.
unhooking swaybar(better taking off) does help transfer a lot. lose the comp 3 ways for cal trac 90/10's.
If you only race a few times a year you can swap front shocks in 20 minutes!!
I would think a rancho shock from Cal trac may be an improvement set at 7 driver and 6 pass.
Unclamping the back of your SS springs lets them fan a bit and lets the front sections work better.
I used an extra full length leaf in my SS stack help hold the heavy GTX up and stiffened the front sections even more.

All cal tracs stuff works.

Most noticable improvement over the years was moving battery to rear pass side of the car!

bigger burn outs! (less air always worked for me)

Then on sticky streets I used to like to load the car hard 2700 with 4000 stall then stab it on last yellow but only 1/3 to 1/2 so it launched but did not break loose then feed the rest through the 60 foot. It's a talent and takes practice easier to do TT's then racing when the adrenilin is pumping! LOL!!!


Oh yea with streets go around the water back up into just where it is damp and do 2 to 3rd gear burn out. water will stay up in the treads if you drive through and squeezes out on the track!

Slicks are cool best chance of not spinning! LOL!

stay with my original post, bad track pep
street drag tires are a little more dicy
but as all the post everyone had trouble
hooking so slick track

There were plenty of cars there yesterday that were making great passes and didn't have any traction problems. That just leads me to believe that they have their cars set up right and I do not....right?

Anyway, I don't really want to throw a lot of money at this point so Caltracs would be a last resort. After doing a couple searches it seems like there are plenty of guys out there running SS springs with quicker cars than I have.

I am going to check my pinion angle first to see if that needs some adjustment. Maybe a set of those Rancho adjustable shocks unless someone else has a better recommendation? Adjustable would be nice so I can do some easy tweaking at the track if needed. I have read good and bad on the Caltracs 90/10 fronts so I am hesitant to spend the money on them.

I am not sure if this tells you anything or not but when my car launches both the front and rear appear to rise about the same amount so that the car looks like it is lifting straight off the ground...then it moves forward. My brother has a small block '73 Cuda and when he launches his front end lifts up and he gets a lot of rear squat. So it seems he is getting much better weight transfer. Of course he has a small block on the nose and I have the big block.

Yes the front not lifting fast enough and the rear too much is a problem. adjustable shocks set to resist separation help a lot Rancho set at 8 7 or 7 6.
do try unclasping the rear of the spring last clamp should be right behind axle.

Try the cal track 90/10 they are inexpensive and will work great.
Take them off if you don't like street ride 20 minute job!
Battery in trunk back of pass side is a must IMHO!

http://calvertracing.com/rancho.php

everything is available from Mancini's
http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/catrbarsy1.html

Maybe your hitting the tire too hard?

If the rear end is rising like the front end I bet its hooking initially then its spinning.

You can control that with rear shocks and spring clamps.

Best thing to do is video the car and post it so everyone can see what its doing.

My street car is a similar setup.
'73 Barracuda, 440, SS springs, 10.5x28, 11.8-12.0 ET, 3700+ lbs, etc

I think you will get the best improvement for the money with the right shocks, front and rear. I don't like the front shocks you have. My Barracuda works best with real loose front shocks. My experience with your front shocks is the "90/10" extension is still too stiff.

Battery is already in the trunk on the passenger side. I put it there when I resto'd the car so that has been a constant.

440Jim...what shocks are you running front and back?

Are most people running the adjustable rancho's in the rear and Calvert's 90/10's up front? I already change out the Comp front shocks when I race anyway. I run KYB gas adjusts on the street.

I have some video of each run yesterday and I will try to post it. I have never done that before so it may take me a while??

I run a basic simple setup as you do. I have the 3400 lb SS springs I bought from Mancini and just your standard C-body shock in the rear. Up front I have the Comp 90/10's which work ok but I have to agree with Jim as I think the front came up faster with a stock shock. I use no pinion snubber and just have the front clamps on the springs. Thats it and I do have my battery in the trunk but it is on the drivers side as I ran short after running the cable I used so I just put it on the drivers side and it works fine like that. My 440 is very close to the same setup you and Steve have but I use the MP .557 cam and have 906 heads I ported. My converter is a 9.5 Dynamic that flashes about 4200 and I use 4.30's with a 30 x 9 radial slick. My best 60 is a 1.57 but it was not on my best run as it was at Capital when I ran 11.58 @ 115 with the 1.57 sixty. I average 60's in the low 1.60's as you can see by this timeslip that my 60 was a 1.60 on my best pass and I have had a 1.58 at Cecil before. The car I raced in the right lane is a 65 Plymouth setup like our cars but it actually has a stronger Ray Barton built 440 that he is still dailing in. I would think you should average about a 1.65 sixty with a good 60 in the low 1.60's as a normal SS spring car at your et. As was stated try to stop the rear from lifting so much. I hope you get it dailed in good for better 60's. Your car and Steve's RoadRunner would be a good race as both are real nice cars. I know you changed converters last year but I dont remember what you put in it ? Ron

Ron...I put an 8" ATI in it a couple years ago but last fall I switched back to my original 10" Turbo Action. I like the 10" much better on the street and the difference at the track was not significant enough to keep the 8" in it.

So when it comes to front shocks you want something that will extend easily and compress hard? When it comes to the rears you want something that is harder to extend in order to keep the rear from rising. Do I have this right?

Get yourself a set of real drag slicks for the track sessions.I see them on Craigslist all the time with lots of rubber left for $100 .For what its worth im getting mid to low 1.5 60 foots with 47 yearold stock leaf springs,Slapper bars ,and old Monroe shocks with 8 inch wide M/T slicks on 7 inch wide steel wheels with my Dart.When i got the car it was getting high 1.6 60 foots on the 8 inch slicks and no traction devices.I added the $35.00 slapper bars and it dropped to high 1.5 .I then unclamped the rear of the leafs and it dropped to mid to low 1.5 .I have no doubt it will hold a 1.4 60 foot with this junk and i have a starting line ratio of only 8.5 with the Powerglide and the gears...