He got it on the nose.

On the top end of the track you will get a sway from the rear of the truck due to the front tires following grooves due to there tread design and the rear being a floaty softer walled tire.

I don't want to scare you into thinking it's a definate danger but I have felt/seen it with my own eyes.

I think the reason alot of the diesel guys get away with it is because they are running in 4HI and the front is still being pulled down the track?

I know on Oxidizers truck he has to actually drive the truck down the track to keep it straight.He runs 26" ET Streets and he thinks this helps him due to the rear lean and keeping the weight on the rear tires.

My guess would be that bigger the tire 28,29,31,etc.. the worse the sway will be.

I am not quite sure what your truck is going to be running at the track or what your future plans are but this may only be an issue over say 90-95 mph.

I Like to run skinnys on all of my cars I run with a full slick to avoid the front tires moving the rear out of position.

Maybe some of the faster 2wd guys can chime in that run street tires on the front and slicks on the rear?

 

I know on my truck I plan on running skinnies up front so I don't have to worry so much. That top end sway can be a lil unerving at times. I've actually seen one guy in our car club crash his SS because he tried to correct when it started to sway.

On low MPH trucks with a decent amount of air in the slicks I don';t think there will be much problem but for the guys trapping 110mph plus it could definately get kinda scary if you air the tires down too much. That's A LOT of sidewall to be bouncing around on..

Skinnies are pretty cheap AND light though

 

I run a H rated tire up front on my truck, not the stockers. E Load tires are not good for 100+ MPH drag passes.

The slick walk as you describe is due to the soft slicks and most often too narrow a rim for the tire. The nostalgia tires on a 16x10 rim wander all over the place above 80 to 90 MPH because they balloon. On a 16x12 rim they would be much more stable.

The cheaters I run on the 16x10 rim are perfectly sized. They don't crown or balloon and are very stable. They feel just like the H rated tires I am running at high speeds, you cannot tell a difference. As long as you are running a properly sized tire height and width wise for your application there is no problem mixing a street tire up front with a slick out back.

The M&H Racemaster cheater (MHD-11) in 30/14-16LT on a 16x10 rim is a fantastic track tire for our trucks.

Width 14.02" (356.00mm)
Sidewall height 7.01" (178.00mm)
Overall height 30.02" (762.40mm)
Circumference 94.30" (2395.15mm)

Here they are next to the OEM E load tires for comparison:

 

The "slick walk" he is refering to is caused mainly by 2 things. Running a wide tire with a large contact area (slick) and low air pressure (like less than 15lbs or so, the less air pressure the worse it becomes) cause a vehicle to feel like it is skating around abit. The faster (mph not ET) you are going the more noticable it becomes as well. As far as running a bias tire such as a slick with a radial tire mixed in the front....I'm sure this can add to the feeling/danger. I know for a fact that a dump truck with mixed tires (radials and bias tires) can turn itself over..but I believe that is if they are on the same axle! I had M/T 29x15.5x15 rear tires on my Oldsmobile aired down to 11psi mixed with 195r15's (radials) on the front and at 11.61@123mph it was scary. I think the tires were junk, but it moved around quite a bit...especially when I let off the throttle going thru. I switched out the front radials to 8ply M/T's and it helped. Here is what the tire "experts" say about mixing.
http://www.michelinman.com/care/tip6.html#2

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/s...rofile_ss.html

http://www.musclecarclub.com/library/tech/tires.shtml

 

Very good info given to help the truck guys out.

I am not saying something bad will happen by mixing tires just know what your doing and take the steps needed to make it safe.

Also the picture that Devin posted in the first post looks like a full slick where as the tire posted above looks like a better option.

 

if you are looking to drop the et. get a shorter slick, it will give you more gearing to get out of the hole, just my $.02

 

I'm looking for some traction right now, I'll work on my ET after I can hook.

 

roger that

 

Anyone that has not experienced "slick walk" really should sometime....it's ABSOLUTLY TERRIFYING the first time it happens at 110 miles an hour, the front stays glued to the track and the rear starts swaying like a hula-dancer !!!, it gives you a real respect for the speed you are going and the fact that the concrete wall is right beside you doesn't help much either !!!, I used to run a '69 Nova that would do it something awful....I ran 28x12.50-15 MT's on the rear and 225/60-15 Cooper Cobra's on the front,

 

I have a concern about the weight rating of these tires....a slick isn't the strongest tire to begin with and by design only has a single ply sidewall, while this is GREAT for drag-racing I wonder if throwing these things on a 6000lb truck isn't just a bit too much for them, I'd hate to see a slick blow at the big-end while going 100+mph because you are 2000lbs over the reccommended max capacity of the tire


just concerned.....that's all