There doesn't seem to be much traffic in the Drag Racing forum these days, so I thought I would contribute. This is what I did my last outing at the track. My first run of the night was a new personal best, but this is what happened on the second run.
It was kinda strange how it happened: I did my burnout, then I dry hopped it to make sure it would hook up, and then I pulled up and staged. I revved it up and on the third yellow I dumped the clutch. It was a strange feeling though, because I didn't go anywhere. I didn't even break the stage beams. I thought maybe it had popped out of gear, but I looked down and it was still in first and the engine was idling. That's when I knew something was wrong.
I wasn't really mad because the pass before was a new personal best for me. I kind of shrugged it off, and towed my car home with a smile on my face.
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how much you think its gonna cost?
I just went to the local O'Reilley's and got a remanufactured one for $60. This isn't the first time I've replaced axles, so I knew how much it was going to be. Honestly that's only the second thing I've ever broken at the track, so I consider myself lucky, especially considering how long I've been doing it.
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wheel hop?
Actually I don't have any wheel hop at all, and to be honest I never have. I do have ES motor mount inserts.
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Holy cow! How often did you race your car and what mods are on it?
As far as mods go, I don't really have much except slicks and an untuned VAFC. I still use the factory intake and factory header. I've concentrated most of my attention on weight reduction.
So the axle breaking can just happen out of the blue? There are no warning signs? (I'm thinking along the lines of clutch wear signs, ETC.)
No, not at all. I didn't mean to make it sound like that at all. My axle only broke in this manner because of drag racing. More specifically, it broke because I was launching the car around 7000 rpm on Mickey Thompson slicks. The axle lasted longer than I anticipated, but it was no surprise that it broke.
You should never have to worry about an axle breaking like this unless you're putting it under extreme pressure, ie: launching on slicks.
what size slicks are u on? you should preload the clutch to help prevent axel snapping
Well hold on now, it seems like he's been doing this for awhile and it seems for him this is his best method for getting his ET's, and in my opinion a 60 dollar axle is damned cheap for a broken part, shoot I can deal with a 60 dollar axle all day long. But then again I get them for 30 so werd to that. I personally love breaking stuff at the track it makes me feel all giddy inside, kudo's to your breakage.
what size slicks are u on? you should preload the clutch to help prevent axel snapping
I use Mickey Thompson 22x8x15 slicks mounted on factory wheels. I certainly won't deny that preloading the clutch might save me an axle, but I've put in a few clutches in this car already, and replacing an axle from time to time is much easier than replacing a worn out clutch.
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Well hold on now, it seems like he's been doing this for awhile and it seems for him this is his best method for getting his ET's, and in my opinion a 60 dollar axle is damned cheap for a broken part, shoot I can deal with a 60 dollar axle all day long. But then again I get them for 30 so werd to that. I personally love breaking stuff at the track it makes me feel all giddy inside, kudo's to your breakage.
You're right I have been doing this long enough to try just about everything to lower my e.t.'s, but I try to always keep an open mind. I love trying new things, and being different, this is what keeps import drag racing so fun. I won't ever turn down advice on how to go faster. This includes alot of information I get from the domestic guys. They've been doing this for alot longer than we have.
You're absolutely right: I love breaking stuff at the track. Well, sometimes. That is if it's not too expensive to fix.
It's kinda funny, the last time I broke something on the track, it was at the end of my last personal best e.t.
if you've already replaced "a few" clutches on your car i think it's about time u upgrade to a more high performance clutch if u plan on draggin your car alot, which it seems you do.
reyke,
preloading the clutch wont slow him down any, it just puts less of a shock on the axels and tranny helping to prevent them from breaking.
personally i'd hate to break stuff at the track. not only would i have to worry about the tow truck cost home at $7/mile, but my track time gets cut short then i have to worry bout fixing whatever broke and spending more money.
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if you've already replaced "a few" clutches on your car i think it's about time u upgrade to a more high performance clutch if u plan on draggin your car alot, which it seems you do.
You are absolutely right; which is why I just installed an ACT not 5,000 miles ago. The first few clutches I went through were factory replacement clutches, that had plenty of miles on them. My car now has about 192,000 miles on it, so I've had enough time to wear out a few clutches, especially drag racing.
One of the reasons I don't like to preload the clutch is because it heats up the clutch and makes it difficult to make back to back runs. At the track I stay off the clutch until I absolutely have to use it.
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personally i'd hate to break stuff at the track. not only would i have to worry about the tow truck cost home at $7/mile, but my track time gets cut short then i have to worry bout fixing whatever broke and spending more money.
I can completely understand where you're coming from. I've been fortunate to only break things that are easy to replace: an axle, and a slave cylinder. The slave cylinder actually didn't cost me anything, I had an extra one. As far as towing goes, I'm actually lucky there too: I use my dad's truck and we have a couple of trailers we use for work. The only real inconvenience I've experienced so far is a long night.
how do you like the act, I currently have, a centerforce stage 2 sprung hub and that thing grips back to back to back, I preload my clutch at before launching and never have to worry about fade or the clutch weakening, in fact it's almost as if it grips harder it's awesome in my opinion. The thing that sucks is it has a damned stiff pedal I mean it took me a good couple of months of daily driving to get used to it. I guess when you're in this game you gotta be ready to play, lol, or at least get hook-ups, I usually go when my friends shop goes that way whenever I break they have an extra trailer to tow me back thier kewl as hell and they find it funny when my honda breaks a couple of times versus all the breakages they have on thier SN95's and 97+ GT's.
I haven't had it for very long, and I've only been to the track with it twice, but I have no real complaints about it. When I first put it in it would start to engage immediately coming off of the floor, so I adjusted it to start engaging about 1/3 off the floor. Other than that it seems to grab plenty well, and the pressure plate doesn't seem too stiff. By the way it's a Heavy Duty pressure plate and Street Disk.
I have a few friends that like the Centerforeces as well. I've driven a few of their cars and thought they performed quite well.
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I guess when you're in this game you gotta be ready to play,
You're absolutely right, I'm to the point now where I've stopped fighting for tenths of a second, now I'm trying to improve my e.t.'s hundredths of a second. The smallest changes to the car can make huge differences at the end of the track.
damn kudos to you for reaching such a level on your car, I would love to have that kind of intimate knowledge of my car, I just need to stop making changes and get used to her. I swear that breeds a lot of respect on this end it takes extremely intimate knowledge of your car to get to that level.
Just like everybody else I love trying to find new sources of horsepower for my car, but I don't have any money to buy parts, so I concentrate most of my effort on the free stuff ie: weight reduction and seat time. I'm a firm believer that the best way to lower e.t.'s is to get more seat time. I'm glad somebody else understand's that, and can appreciate the hard work that goes into learning how to drive.
I love drag racing and it's nice when I get to talk to other people who feel the same way about it. Usually those are the domestic v8 guys who are constantly whooping my *** down the track, but it keeps me humble. I don't meet many people who drag race hondas, especially Preludes. The challenge of drag racing a fwd vehicle with so much less motor is a lot of fun for me.
Well, again thank you, and good luck with your car.
P.S. I'm interested to know how other prelude owners are doing at the track.
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Well, sometimes. That is if it's not too expensive to fix.
down the track, but it keeps me humble. I don't meet many people who drag race hondas, especially Preludes. The challenge of drag racing a fwd vehicle with so much less motor is a lot of fun for me.
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