My son is doing the teenager racing category at our local track. 13 yr old. Got his licence passes in Friday. Letting him use my tow vehicle, since it is there anyhow. Silverado 3/4 ton with a 6.oL

It spins for about the first two feet. Of course the tires have about 70 psi in them for towing. I'm sure that doesn't help. Living in the midwest, the front driveshaft is a bit rusty. So im half afraid of sticking it in 4wd...but maybe it would be ok. 1/8th mile only.
Any easy ways to stop this? He tried feathering it off the line which stopped the spin, but was way inconsistent. It's just a fun way to gain some more racing skills for him anyhow. And we will probably throw some in the bag in eliminations as well. But if I can give him a little consistency it would be great. 11.2 second 8th mile. I always wondered what it would run.

If he's not driving around the water to avoid having front tires tracking water up to starting line, you may try that to see if it makes a difference. Them wide deep tread tires can hold a lot of water in/on them... I've seen trucks spin even while in 4x4 because of the water tracked up to the line...


Dan

If that front driveshaft is truly sketchy, you might want to go ahead and address it anyway. You may need that 4wd to get you out of a tight spot someday.

Folks tell me they bracket race with the 4wd engaged all the time, with no issues. I would sure give it a shot, if I had the capability. Take care. Tom Worthington

Bucky, I have heard of guys putting their trucks in tow haul mode also if you have it for better consistency.

Curtis

My wife use to race my 1/2 ton Silverado with the 5.3L. Driving around the water and bringing the rpms up just a little seemed to work the best. The truck ran 10.80's to the 1/8th

when manually shifted the truck will take off in 2 if placed in second,maybe a 5 count and shift back to first or drive..only thing i am not sure about is if it will stay in second with throttle at wot.i know it will at partial

Great suggestions! We couldn't avoid the water that night. It was wet on the sides of the water boxes too. So that certainly isn't ideal. Never heard the tow/haul suggestion. Will try it. Probably good to raise the rpm just a little too even while staging. I wasn't aware you could command it to leave in 2nd on these.

My 96 Chevy you could put it in second and it would leave in second then it would shift on its own as a over rev protection. Worked great and actually better than using drive.

I e read where supposedly the duramax trucks will break the stock tie rods if you launch hard in 4wd.

You could always have him swap tires at the track to something better for traction. Nothing wrong with making him use a little elbow grease to improve his chance of winning.

quote:

Originally posted by BJs Wild Ride:
I e read where supposedly the duramax trucks will break the stock tie rods if you launch hard in 4wd.

You could always have him swap tires at the track to something better for traction. Nothing wrong with making him use a little elbow grease to improve his chance of winning.

Could, and he's a pretty good wrench too. But then he or we would have to invest money into this. This race series isn't worth it to us. LOL. He's still in his jr too and I have my car. He has a couple friends in this series and his "girlfriend", whatever that is at 13. It's mostly a chance for me to ride with him and give him some finish line racing tips. Well, it's kind of a hoot for us too.

I would leave it as is and hold 5, maybe 8 and teach him how to tighten up the finish line. Have fun

I love TCR! I wish more kids would be into it. Way more economical than juniors (as you know). There is only a kid here and there interested now.

When I had to use my buddy's Ram for Street when my car was down a few years ago, I put in 4wd for 1/8. It helped the leave, and seemed to tighten up the consistency, especially for an EFI. I wouldn't do a burnout, but would roll out of the water and hit the throttle, to try to shake the water off. My friend's boy did the same thing with their Buick when he was in TCR.

Put a piece of wood under the pedal. Less power less wheel spin.

I had all my best luck racing my old 02 Silverado with the 5.3

Best info I can give you is that truck needed every bit of weight (Full tank, Tailgate/spare tire on) I could get above the rear end to keep from spinning. Water temp right at where the thermostat opened when I rolled into the box. Keep the air box shaded and hood up (those engines hate sucking in hot air.) Leave at idle, and the biggest factor for consistency for those barn doors on wheels is head wind.