Ok so how many of you saw real tangible improvements with the straps? I ran almost exactly the same 60' times with the straps tonight as I did without the straps. I am wondering if I either did not have them set up right, or if they aren't going to help since my steering angles are good to begin with, meaning that I don't get any toe in on launch even without the straps. Best 60' I could muster tonight was a 1.73. Without straps my best was 1.72.

I had them set so that they had just barely started to compress the suspension. I set them up with the wheels cranked to each side to give me more room to work, and only realized later that the straps get tighter as the steering goes back to center, so they were actually a little bit tighter than I intended.

 

You will really only see a benefit if your shock isnt good enough to keep the front down during hard acceleration. In your case, you have a ton more weight over the front and arent accelerating that hard (no offense). You will know when you need straps because the front will lift enough to spin, start spinning, you loose accerlation, then front plants again, then the cycle repeats. It feels like its bucking back and forth.

 

It does that when I launch at anything over 15 psi. I tried 20 first run last night with the straps and it did it with them too. Truck actually hopped up and down though instead of side to side like it does without them. Maybe I don't have them tightened correctly or enough? How do you set yours up at the track?

 

I tightened the **** out of mine when I had them

 

I was afraid to do that last night, the front end gets stiff as hell. I guess I'll give it a shot next time

 

You may also need a stiffer shock in the back. If you still get weight transfer then you will still 'buck' like that. I know my truck is a lot longer but with the stiffer rancho out back and straps not as tight as I would have liked my launch was really smooth.

 

Mine didn't really help my 60' times. But that's not why I did them.

I did the straps because my launch was so violent and unpredictable without them. It would lift the front enough to unload the front tires. Caused the truck to turn hard left when the wheels spun. It was a bit scary, and the track owner(a friend of mine) came & told me he wasn't happy about it.

I did hope to improve my 60' times as well, but the real reason was to have control of the suspension during launch. They did work for that. Even with a little bit of wheel spin on launch, with the straps it was non violent and controllable. It went straight.

Hope that helps.

 

Makes sense. In my case, I have a smooth controlled launch without straps at 15 psi. I was hoping that the straps would allow me to bump that up a bit...if they don't, there's no reason for me to keep them. I need to find a Saturday or Sunday test and tune or club day at the track where there aren't crazy long lines and I can get several runs in to do some experimenting.

 

You guys and your busy tracks...on a typical night here I can do as many runs as I want. Ive never seen a line more than 5-6 cars deep.

 

You won't have violent launches until you get into the low 1.6's. That's when it all changes. If you try to get there, you may want to save those straps.