OK, I'm starting to get a little confused here. Why do some people swap to 3.90 or 4.10 gears and run 28" race tires? To me that is totally defeating the purpose of making a gear swap to begin with. Correct me if i'm wrong, but I thought the reason for swapping gears is not only to increase the 60' time, but also make the right tire/gear combo so the truck can cross the finish line making maximum power.(high rpm's) I think that's one of the basics of drag racing....OR am I missing something?

 

I can see where you are coming from. I would much rather have some 3.73 on a short tire(lighter) than some 4.10 on a tall tire(heavier).

 

hey 12sec 5.3 sorry for interrupting your post, i am thinking about running 3.90w/ an eaton what size slicks would you reccomend and would this size require me to change my shift points. If it matters i only have CAI and a cutout on a 4.8 RC, but when the gears and eaton goes in i will have headers cam and a 100 shot.
Thanks for your help

 

Have you ever seen a 4/6 dropped truck on 26" tall tires?

I was looking for a 28" tall, 16" tire to get some more sidewall. The 26" tall 16's have VERY short sidewalls. Wouldn't the taller sidewall make it easier to hook?

 

I would either run the 26x10.50 e.t.streets or 26" e.t. street radials, which ever you could hook better with. If you can hook with the radial, it would be better. As for shift points, if you wanna tweek it out, you'd have to put it on a dyno to find out where to set the shifts and then set the rev limiter a bit higher just so it doesn't hit before you make the shift. probably ~300-400 rpms

 

Yea, I would think more sidewall would make it easier to hook, but most people don't need that. That would be for people like Parish running in 2wd. I have made up to a 1.72 60' with stock suspension and 26" e.t. streets. I've also seen someone go 1.68 with stock suspension and 26" e.t. street radials. There's no reason I can think of that anyone on this board running 12's, 13's, or slower should have big tires like that.

 

What do you have for suspension? Is it COMPLETELY stock? I'm just worried that since mine's so low I'll need all the help I can get.

 

Stock leaf springs, 2"shackles and 2" hangers, and the cheap Gabriel air shocks from auto zone.

 

The problem is looks. Not many people have a dedicated set of drag rims/tires and on a truck you would almost need all 4 rims/tires to keep the truck from sitting funny and looking like ***. I would like to run my truck in 2wd but I cannot afford 4 rims/tires just for drag racing right now. My stock tires are 29-30" tall so a 26" tall tires in the rear would look funny as hell. LOL

I agree though that a 26x11.5 ET Street will hook great with a solid burnout. I cut 1.55-1.57 60's regularly in my T/A on those tires. It wasn't until I tried using nitrous on that combo that I couldn't get em to hook, even at 10psi in the tires.

If I were to try and run my truck in 2wd it would be on a 28" ET Drag (hook MUCH better than an ET Street). For a 2wd truck with big power, that needs gearing (turbo trucks dont need gearing), I would use 26x11.5 ET Drag. For basic N/A trucks I'd go the ET Street route.

 

I am personally buying a set of semi-light 18s (smallest I can do with my Baer Alumasports), and throwing on 245-45-18 up front and either a 295-35-18 or 305-45-18 drag radial rear. Havent decided yet which way I want to go with the rear tire. These will be for track only to replace my 285-35-22s.