Hey guys, this may be a bit of a long post but I am going to try to make it as painless as possible......

I finally got an engine swapped into the 02 rcsb. Its an Lq9 out of an 05 Escalade. I ran it for the first time last night and I think it probably should have done better than it did but I think most of that was due to me not knowing what to do rather than the truck. So thats where I need your guys help.

I ran the truck several years ago with the following mods:
- Stock 5.3
- Stock 4L60e
- Stock 3.42 gears
- CAI
- 265/70/16 street tires
It ran a best of 10.01 in the 1/8th with a 2.2 60'. I cant remember mph.

The truck now has the following mods:
- Stock Lq9 (still have stock 5.3 tune)
- Stock 4L60e with corvette servo and TruCool 40K
- 3.73 gears
- 255/50/16 MT drag radials
It ran a best last night of 9.43 at 73mph in the 1/8th with a 2.2 60'.

So this has me confused. To me the 60' should be better no? Considering I have more torque, more gear, and stickier tires now I was hoping to get down around 2.0 60' which should have been good for low 9's in the 1/8th I think. Now dont get me wrong, dropping .6 in the 1/8th going from stock motor to stock motor I think is good but seems like my 60' and therefore my overall time should be better to me.

On my best run above I spun for maybe 1 second or so off the line before it took off. On the rest of the runs it spun much worse and therefore my 60' time and overall time was much worse. Admittedly I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to burn outs and launching so I think that is most of my problem. So I have these questions for you guys that run similar setups.......

1) Do you think I should be cutting better 60' times with this setup?
2) What pressure do you run in your drag radials and how long do you do a burn out?
3) When doing a burnout do you leave the gear selector in 3rd or do you put it in first and manually shift it to second?
4) When on the line, do you roll into the throttle or do you load it up (as much as the stock stall will allow)?

Thanks very much for the help guys! I look forward to reading your replies!

 

You need a tune, and I dont think your 60ft is bad for a stock motor. I think if you did a stall converter, you could drop your 60ft time. Some 4.10s to 4.56 gears and a stall would really drop your times. But getting that tune will wake it up, you will trap higher, and probably get another tenth out of the 60ft. I bet you get your 8s with it tuned right.

 

I agree a tune is a must I just haven't gotten around to getting it yet. I did contact Justin at Black Bear Performance however and he said the 5.3 tune would not damage the motor but that it would not be optimized.

Any tricks to get these drag radials to hook better? I would be afraid to throw more gear or stall at it until I can get it to hook with the current set up.

Also forgot to mention that it has the factory G80 in the back. I dont think it was working too well either cause I had much more rubber on the right rear of the bed than on the left rear.

Thanks for the help!!

 

I really don't understand why people actually makes posts like this. You know you set up is wack as hell right now because it isn't running correctly due to the tune not being close. A 5.3 lower compression tune running a higher compression LQ9!?! I know it runs and probably could run forever like that but I can only imagine you are leaving a huge amount on the table. I would be willing to guess atleast 30-50 hp!?

A proper tune on the proper engine can shave half a second or more of a quarter mile time. It can also make a big difference how it idles, and more importantly performs at lower rpms. Therfore that can easily effect your 60' time by at least a tenth.

Now at the end you have some reasonable questions.
#1 The answer is your 60 isn't bad for stock converter. Thus you aren't spinning much if at all.
#2 I believe I ran about 30 psi in the 255/50r16s and they hooked just fine. I was running low 13s at the time with 2.0 60'.
#3 I did a small burnout in first. A DR doesn't need a big burnout at the track.
#4 Each truck is different. For me Pushing fairly hard on the converter has always been best.

Get the tune right and see what it runs. That is the only you have a clue what is right or wrong. Like I said unless you have video I highly doubt you spun much if at all cutting a 2.2 60 on a stock stall and worthless tune. My truck is similar to yours but it is a 2500 with an LQ4 and 80E.

 

Thanks for your reply man. I never said the tune wasn't an issue or that the truck was optimized. I simply said I though my 60' should be better with drag radials, lower gear, and a larger engine.

Even though I didn't spin as badly on the 2.2 60' that was 1 out of 10 runs so to me I still have a traction issue. It never left the line clean or like i think it should in any of the 10 runs. I started with 25psi and made adjistments all the way down to 15psi and would still spin pretty bad on the line any given race. That is why I am asking for help on setting the radials up and staging the truck. If I can't get it to hook now it doesn't matter if I have the right tune or not.

 

I agree you must hook regardless of the power you are making. But if you are cutting 2.2 60' times then you aren't spinning much if at all. But I see you said that was your best of many runs. But the 2.2 is about as good as it is going to leave. You might get 2.0 if you are very lucky with a stock stall. I would say 2.1 or your current 2.2 are best.

Radials are not good for a truck, since you are looking for maximum traction in a minimal situation(front heavy). Some make them work but it is much more difficult. You will be much better off with a bias tire plus the extra tiny 26" tire you are on now doesn't have much of a contact patch.

 

Ok well that's what I wanted to know. If this is the best I can get then I can only get better from here. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving anything on the table in the traction department with what I currently have.

Anyone else have any opinions on the times?

 

you can quarter throttle out, and then lay into it. My 5.3 crew cab i had, had 4.56s and no stall on regular street tires. Fastest 60ft i ever had was 1.93 with this set up. I left easy then smashed it. I then went to 6.0 and 3200 stall and blower, never got below a 2.0 again, i just could not get it to hook, even on drag radials. I never went to slicks or bars, just had fun with it. I was running 12.7s with 2.1 and 2.2 60 fts until i got rid of it. Just practice, practice, and then practice some more. Some trucks like to be stalled up a bit, and some do better going off idle. I would spin the drag radials through first and thats it.

 

Heres a little clip of me trying to actually stall my truck on drag radials, did not come out pretty!!! I was already spinning bad, so stayed in it.

IMG_0012.mp4 - YouTube

 

1.93 on street tire and stock stall almost has to be a fluke. Unless you were making crazy power. My 6.0 rcsb on a 100 shot dead hooking got high 1.9s with a 2800 stall. I have 3.73s but with a set of 26" tires on the truck it didn't drop any 60" time and the 26" vs my normal 28" made an effective 4.11 gear ratio.

If you don't have at least two slips with the 1.93 I would not consider it legit.