Drag Racing

**BadBird** · November 22nd, 2015, 07:06 PM

Not too many answers to questions but here is one more chance for someone to chime in. I have 14" wheels now, and have made up my mind to go with the 4:11 gears. So, if there is room, would I be better off to go with 15" wheels and slicks on the back or stay with 14's. Larry

**Luva65wagon** · November 23rd, 2015, 10:29 PM

Larry - I'm not a racer, so not gonna have much to offer. The only thing I can offer is that the wheel isn't all that important, except as it has to do with what size tires you may have available to you. You may have more options with a 15" wheel. You'll find the exact same OD and Width on both 14 and 15 wheels, though 15" wheels may allow larger tires than you can get as a 14"and vice verse. I think you'll have to be more concerned with how much tire you can get under the wheel-wells combined with wheel offset.

Here's a cool tire/wheel comparison tool:

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

I think Merc Marquis or similar had rear discs. Whether they are the right width, or will need shortening or leaf pads added, I'm not sure.

Sorry couldn't help more.

**BillP 98201** · November 23rd, 2015, 11:14 PM

Wayne Kauk races his 64....
He races mostly vintage drags like Mission and Bremerton.
He lives in Everett

**BadBird** · November 24th, 2015, 07:50 PM

Thanks for the help Roger and Bill. I would love to talk to Wayne about the racing. I was talking to the tech at Bremerton to see what I needed to do in getting ready to race there next year. Larry

**BadBird** · November 29th, 2015, 06:33 PM

Moved my Falcon out to the new garage. Have the new 9" housing, axles and bearings on order. Can't afford to get the third member yet. Too close to Christmas to spend that much. When I get the new housing I will pull the old one. Install the new, install the driveshaft loop that I have, and install the line lock system.
The third member is a Strange rear end with 4:11 gears, traction lock and 31 splines.
Then will need some steel wheels and slicks. I think I will stick with 14 wheels but still not positive about that yet.
I intend to take a whole lot of pictures of the rear end swap, loop install and line lock. May use them for upcoming newsletters. That is if I can figure out how to do a newsletter. It is hard being an old fart.
Also, now I can get my truck back in the house garage and not freeze my bottom off everyday. Larry

**BadBird** · December 11th, 2015, 05:17 PM

After reading the post about brake fluids I realized we have some folks on here that can figure this out for me. Can some one tell me what the tachometer readings would be at 70 mph in my falcon with my Tremec T5Z transmission that has a ratio of .68 in fifth gear with 4:11 rear end gears and 4:56 gears?

**dhbfaster** · December 11th, 2015, 09:52 PM

No problem Larry...but I also need to know your tire size.

But if my calculations are correct, with 295/50R 15 tires at 70 mph, a 4.11 rear end, a .68 transmission gear ratio at 69.72 mph, your tach is at 2456 rpm.

Hummm...now where do those 4:56 gears fit in...sorry I didn't include that in the estimation.
Ok, I'm not really that smart, but I'm a gooder googler. Check out this calculator: http://vexer.com/automotive-tools/speed-rpm-calculator