I have a stock car that we torqued to the max around 200 inch lbs on both the front and rear axle the track is fast but a little bumpy we have ramps and I know the car has zero crossbind and we are running full tail weight of 15 lbs we are running the r washer set-up how do I know if we are running too tight thanks

come on guys twenty six of you have looked at this post with not a single reply doesn't anybody have any input or an opinion give me some feed back good or bad
thanks

My thought is that if you're running on a street, you're probably a bit tight. The only real way to tell is to try and do some testing. Run the car tight and then run it loose and compare the results.

If you have the car pointed out and you are running off ramps there is a lot of bind input to the car coming of the ramps. Our experience always said it was better to run the front looser coming off a ramp at an angle.

Brad, we are not allowed to angle cars in our ramps so all cars will leave the ramp straight out. what is the best way to set the ramps to the street so the transition is correct. any input thanks

My two cents:
Are you running on N's or R's. Street have a lot of crown?

Are the ramps up in the back,,, what does the hill look like,,,
All down hill?
SLOPE:

We have raced on a lot of street tracks. Usually running the front that tight would kill you coming off of the ramps. We like the N's esp. on a street track,

Racing with N- contact under will help with the flex of the axle. I would still run the front a lot looser than the back..

But remember, torgue settings are kept very close to the vest by most derby people..

Is this your local?

And if you can say, where is it?

If they will let you, we have used bondo to help with the transition from ramp to road. ..

Good luck,

You can't come off the ramps at an angle? What's up with that?

200 Inch lbs of torque on a grade 8. Did not think that was possible. That is considerably over the max they recommend. I would have to think you have probably went to far and possibly damaged the bolt / nut or both.

I would say the max I would consider would be 165.

Off ramps I would suggest 165 rear. 130 Front. That's with out seeing the ramp so this could be bad info I am giving you. Normally when there is a transition of some sort you probably need a little give so to speak. I still would not call 130 loose by any means.

Tight is generally good if you have no crossbind to worry about.

Best of Luck

Roger Van Waart

I think we were getting about 180 on the rear or our cars although my memory might not be perfect there, it has been 6 years. That was with no bushings on the particle board floor. I don't know how a bushing or the thewer floor would effect things there. We treated king pins like head bolts. If we changed something with the torque after we had made them that tight we put in a new one.

I raced stock 3 years ago, and used about the same torques. 200 lbs/in is way too high for a stock car, without plates you are likely to damage something.

Did it work at your local? Are you going to Akron? Or did your driver have to over come the tieght car on the rough road?


Moose Racing

We also have a stock car that we torqued to 200 in lbs. on front and rear axles, the road that we use as a track is also fast and bumpy, we have ramps and no crossbind, used same tailweight you did, we used option two "R" washers, we can start at an angle off the ramps. The car that was second place ran "loose"; last year they were also second by three thousands of a second, this year the difference was .16 of a second.

moose racing the car was junk but the driver prevailed next time we will run looser
like 110 rear 85 front

I ran Brooke Martin's car at the NDR Nationals which she also won @ 260 on the front and 300 on the rear. We were the tightest car in the race and also the fastest. My rearend is always super tight. I will loosen the front end only when there is crossbind in the ramp.
DEREK

What grade of bolt are you using? No way can you torque to that amount with out pulling threads or streching the bolt 1/4" GRADE EIGHT bolts will not take it. Not to say compress the floor board.