Throughout the season, things can go wrong unexpectedly. These problems cause loss of points and loss of money, both from fixing the problem and from loss of prize money. So, it is in our best interest to try and find potential problems before they become major headaches.
When we break a part, many times we break other non-related parts too. If the right front ball joint breaks, we could impact the wall and break a RF shock, control arms, etc. The damage goes well beyond the initial part failure. So, we need to find those “about to break” little problems before they become major problems.
Here is a list of some of the areas where things can go wrong that could cost you a good run or even a race win. We will provide some hints on how you might avoid some of these problems. The top racing jinxes, in our opinion, are:
Tire Preparation
Stagger changes that happen during a race can be a problem. Get to know the particular tire you race with. Each brand and product number of tire has its own characteristics for growth related to your car and the track you are running on. The choice in new tire sizes must be made by knowing how much the tires on each side of the car will grow.
Practice is the time to evaluate the tire growth situation. The tires on both sides will grow due to elevated temperatures and the increased pressures that go along with a hotter tire.
The right sides will gain more temperature and pressure than the left sides and therefore the sizes on the right side should grow more.
How much they grow is dependent on many factors, some of which are: a) having the correct stagger to begin with, b) having a balanced setup, or not, c) using dry air or nitrogen, d) the structure of the tire as well as the particular production batch, e) and believe it or not, how hard you run the car.
A Hung Suspension Spring
This is very simple and straight forward. When you jack up the car, the spring has an opportunity to hang in the lower control arm, in the case of a big spring car, or hang in the shock with a coil over car. This can happen in any type of race car from a stock class bomber to a sophisticated formula car and even in the Cup series.
If this happens, it will change your weight distribution dramatically. There are several ways to help prevent this from happening. First and foremost is to limit the suspension travel in droop from where the wheel is at ride height.
With a big spring design, the spring can rotate to where the open end of the coil spring will not be at the proper place within the lower control arm spring pocket. This will affect ride height and the weight distribution causing the handling to go south on you.
Bad Differential
I have seen many teams chase their setups all season long when the real problem had more to do with maintenance. With a Detroit locker type of differential, the springs that do the job of locking both axles up upon acceleration can and do get weak as time goes on.
Excess heat in the rear end will accelerate the process. When they do lose their tension, the axle that the bad spring is supposed to lock up will not. This leaves you with a car that drives off one rear tire and exit performance will definitely suffer.
Specialty rear differentials sometimes use aluminum gear sets to help distribute the forces between the rear wheels. These need to be inspected and possibly replaced as often as necessary to ensure that there will not be a failure. Consult the manufacturer to obtain a proper maintenance schedule for your product.
Ignition Wire Problems
Worn ignition wires can end your night in a hurry. It has happened to the best of teams. Inspect all of your wires after each race. Trace where they go and if they are routed through sheet metal, be careful that they are not rubbing to where they will short out. Look for loose connections and loose nuts.
If you crimp your wire ends, you will eventually have problems with the wire falling out or breaking off. The best way to connect a wire is to solder the wire to the connector and cover that with an inch or so of shrink wrap.
Belt Alignment Problems
How many times have you seen or heard of a team experiencing loss of oil pressure or cooling due to a broken or thrown engine belt. Most of these occurrences can be traced right back to a miss-alignment in the pulley system.
It doesn’t take much of a bend in a belt to cause it to de-pulley and come off. The solution is to inspect the alignment of the belts on all pulleys on the engine. Use a straight edge and lay it against one pulley to see how that one lines up to other pulleys. Don’t necessarily trust your eyes because often the problem lies out of your eye site.
Sources:
AFCO Racing
www.afcoracing.com
800-632-2320
Allstar Performance
www.allstarperformance.com
269-463-8000
Coleman Racing
www.colemanracng.com
800-221-1851
Day Motorsports
www.daymotorsports.com
800-543-6238
Design Engineering Inc DEI
www.designengineering.com
800-264-9472
DMI / Bulldog Rear Ends
www.diversifiedracing.com
717-397-5347
Frankland Racing
www.franklandracing.com
888-873-2736
Intercomp Racing
www.intercompracing.com
800-328-3336
Harbor Freight
www.harborfreight.com
800-423-2567
Integra Shocks and Springs
www.integrashocksandsprings.com
800-472-3464
Jones Racing Products
www.jonesracingproducts.com
610-847-2028
Landrum Performance Springs
www.landrumspring.com
(574) 353-1674
Optima Batteries
www.optimabatteries.com
QA1
www.qa1.net
800-721-7761
Quick Performance
www.quickperformance.com
515-232-0126
PitStopUSA
www.pitstopusa.com
866-722-3432
RE Suspension
704-664-2277
www.resuspension.com
Rod End Supply
www.rodendsupply.com
800-284-2902
Smileys Racing Products
www.smileysracing.com
866-959-7223
Speedway Motors
www.speedwaymotors.com/CT715
855-313-9175
VDL Carburetors
www.vdlfuelsystems.com
251-443-5990
Wilwood Motorsports
www.wilwood.com
805-388-1188
The post Preventing Late Season Failures (Part One) appeared first on Hot Rod Network.