New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird April 30, 2010, 03:50:18 PM I always wanted drag tires for the front of the T-bird but they are expensive at $300 plus a pair and I could not pull the trigger. On eBay last week I saw a pair that was near new (still has some of the tips on them) for $200 so I bid and won them. After I put in the bid I saw that they were 29 inches and I said "sh** this will not fit my car they are too tall". But being the good eBayer I am I purchased them anyway.Today I mounted them up and to my surprised they do clear just fine. Not with a lot of room but they do clear. My old tires were VW tires 165/80/15 and about 25.3 inches tall and I kind of worried about them because I do not think they were designed for going 120mph. The wheels are Mustang Spare wheels with a spacer in the rear to clear the TC disc brakes.Now I think I will take it in for a front end alignment, there's a guy on the westside that specialized in racing suspension alignment and I guess he is not too bad for price. I handles very good before but last night I centered the steering so it would move the same right and left and I think I screwed up the toe in a bit. Best to get it checked anyway.I also ordered an anti roll bar kit from Team Z to install. This should take the twist out of the take off. Anyway still spending money and having fun.TED Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #1 – April 30, 2010, 04:55:17 PM I think those look pretty bad ass. Gives the car a nice stance. Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #2 – April 30, 2010, 06:54:08 PM Think about it.......shouldn't that make the weight transfer faster with the front higher?? Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #3 – April 30, 2010, 07:00:04 PM Maybe? It's also 8 pounds lighter.TED Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #4 – April 30, 2010, 08:46:04 PM Ted,It'll be interesting to see how the extra roll out effects your reaction time. You may have to play with positioning in the staging beams.Saved 8 lbs? I didn't realize they were that light!Great find for $200. Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #5 – April 30, 2010, 09:07:12 PM i like how you were worried about the tires handling those speeds, but then you're running them on spare wheels. :D thats where i would be concerned, i'm actually surprised you are allowed to run those. Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #6 – April 30, 2010, 11:09:28 PM The spare wheels look very heavy and take regular lug nuts. They are built heavy and I think that Ford built them right. But at the same time they are light in weight.I was worried if they are legal also before I put them on. There is a lot of rumors that they are not but I cannot find any tech in my area that have heard these rumors. Now the spare tires are not legal and maybe this is where these rumors started. Some people do not know the difference between a wheel and a tire.I cannot find any reports of failures and I'm at ease with them.My racing buddy hate them and say they are ugly; I don't think they look bad at all. I think he just does not like them because they do not match the rear.TED Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #7 – April 30, 2010, 11:17:49 PM From what I read tall tires will slow down the reaction time but will fool the lights to a faster ET. Apparently the light does not register until the tire passes and with the taller tire you roll more before the clock starts to tick.I have a terrible reaction time anyway and I don't think anything would help or hurt me. I just do this for my own enjoyment and do not complete in bracket racing. Right now I'm trying to get my 60' times down with tuning and hopefully also lower my ET at the same time. I would love to get below 11.5 NA so I can say that all this work during the winter was worth it. I only have the NOS on there to play once in a while.Mounting the race tires were like mounting cut inter-tubes without tires. I was glad my machine has the blast of air to set the bead.TEDQuote from: 86T-bird;320363Ted,It'll be interesting to see how the extra roll out effects your reaction time. You may have to play with positioning in the staging beams.Saved 8 lbs? I didn't realize they were that light!Great find for $200. Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #8 – April 30, 2010, 11:47:58 PM I think the steel spares are the weak ones. I have the 14" spare out of the capri in my festiva and its basically a two piece steel wheel with some spot welds, I would not want to go far on it. Those aluminum spares look much better. Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #9 – May 01, 2010, 08:43:10 AM I think they look pretty good , the front looks a little higher so you will get better weight transfer . I dont think its gonna help your reaction time , just go on the last yellow and you should cut a good light . The weight transfer should give you a better 60ft time and maybee a little more of a wheely ! Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #10 – May 01, 2010, 09:05:03 AM Raising the front for better weight transfer? That's a flash back to the old gasser set ups. A properly set up stock style drag suspension on a fox body will usually have the overall car pretty low. The rise in the front on the launch (weight transfer) is a function of the spring & strut/shock valving and a properly adjusted rear suspsension height to get the instant center right. I had Dave at Team Z set up the Mustang. The nose is in the weeds! Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #11 – May 01, 2010, 10:23:18 AM Quote from: 1 BADBIRD;320407I think they look pretty good , the front looks a little higher so you will get better weight transfer . I dont think its gonna help your reaction time , just go on the last yellow and you should cut a good light . The weight transfer should give you a better 60ft time and maybee a little more of a wheely !leavin on the last yellow was always the best way to get reation i guess around where u go the havent changed to led bulbs yet cuz withe those new bulbs leavin on yellow gives u a big redlight hahah :burnout: Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #12 – May 01, 2010, 10:43:31 AM "leavin on the last yellow was always the best way to get reation i guess around where u go the havent changed to led bulbs yet cuz withe those new bulbs leavin on yellow gives u a big redlight hahah" Thanks for that comment! They switched to LED's at our track recently. I didn't make the connection and I've pretty consisently red lighting -.02 on almost every launch! Looks like I have to make some adjustments... Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #13 – May 02, 2010, 05:19:56 AM Yeah I dont think they changed to leds yet , I will have to check it out . I also didnt mean you should set your suspension high . It just looks like it is and it might help a little in the weight transfer . As for the fox bodies sitting in the weeds , My Tbird is real low in the front and it pulls the front end off the ground with a 1.5 60ft . Quote Selected
New Front MT Tires for the Cad-T-Bird Reply #14 – May 03, 2010, 09:00:53 AM LOL that thing looks so mean man.... just the hood and tires make it look so good.... Quote Selected
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