Bracket Drag Racing Basics
Tires
For most Vehicles in the Sportsman class of Bracket Racing, you can use any kind of tire as long as it has at least 1/16 inch of tread. They cannot be Farm Implement Tires, a Space Saver Spares or Trailer Tires.
The front tires on all Vehicles should have a tread depth of at least 1/16 of an inch. You cannot run slicks (Tires without tread) on the front. The reason for this is because you want traction with your steer tires going down the Track. You will have to pull thru the water box to do a Burnout and if you have no tread you would not be able to steer the Vehicle very well with wet slicks on the front. There are some Manufactures out there that make a super light Front Tire, these Tires work excellent with a Magnesium Rim. The Lighter the front end of your Vehicle is, the better the weight transfer on Launch.
Slicks are the Ideal Drag Racing Tires for a rear wheel drive Vehicle. They deliver the best Traction when warmed up in the Burnout. Although, there are many good Street Tires these days, that do have very good Traction. Slicks come in a lot of sizes. There are Narrow Slicks as well as very Wide Slicks. There are Short Slicks as well as Tall Slicks, and they come in different Rim Diameters, from 13 to 16 inch Rims. For the best Traction you want to run the Tallest Slick you can. The Slick needs to go under the rear of your Vehicle without rubbing the insides of the fender wells, or sticking out past the Fender. There is also different Rubber Hardness available too.
When using most Slicks, you should use Inner Tubes with them. This way they will not lose air pressure. Most slicks do have a tendency of losing air pressure without Inner Tubes, with the lower tire Pressures that are used in Drag Racing for Traction.
Many Racers use Special Rim Screws, That screw into the rim and into the bead of the Slick, to keep the tire from spinning on the rim when Launching off the starting Line.
A good Tire Pressure to start out at, for Drag Racing, is 15 Lbs. in the Rear and 40 Lbs. in the front. The reason the front is so high, is because you want the front tires to rolls easily. You may want to adjust the rear tire Pressure up or down for more or less Traction.
For Safety, you should have all the Tires balanced, on the rims and with Inner Tubes in them, if you are using Inner Tubes. You should also have the Front end of your Race Vehicle Aligned.
