I cant prove it to you this time of year, but can share my experiance on that.To me there is nothing more irritating than watching crew member jack with wheelie bars at starting line. There's absolutely no reason why they cant do that in the pits especially pro teams that are pitted on pavement. Prove to me I'm wrong somebody!!!
That's why we do it at the starting line or very close to it. The tracks we run at are not laser flat.Ground isn't level in the pit area or staging lanes 99.9% of time.
.on top fuel car we use either skid blocks mounted to the frame that are changed depending on track conditions or you use the bar depends on team and crew chief.....we do it to get wheel speed so it will only squat on the tire so far before it basically jumps back up on tire....skid blocks for some teams are in 10 or 15 thousands increments so an inch is a ton
That's why we do it at the starting line or very close to it. The tracks we run at are not laser flat.
Rick
I think Del Worsham explained the importance of setting the bars in an article awhile ago. Pretty amazing actually. Not sure why it bugs you Jesse. Lifting the bodies on Funny Cars before a run must really make you crazy! (Just messin’ BTW)
In the 18 years that I have been involved in running our blown '57 Chevy (7.60 index andt as quick as 7.24) we have only adjusted our wheelie-bars maybe 5 times. Adjustments are made by making sure the tire roll out is even (+/- 0.0625") by stretching the smaller one with more tire pressure. This is done in the morning in the pits and the extra air is released in the staging lanes. If more adjustment is needed, we will move a 4-link bar (usually the upper right-hand bar). Other than that, we trust our experienced driver to drive the car and give us feedback with what he wants.
Granted, we primarily race at Famoso Raceway which has been laser flatten and is always prepped like a national event. If we go to other tracks like Fontana, then we have to think more about how to grip the track. But we don't have an issue with going straight.
I ,urnI think Del Worsham explained the importance of setting the bars in an article awhile ago. Pretty amazing actually. Not sure why it bugs you Jesse. Lifting the bodies on Funny Cars before a run must really make you crazy! (Just messin’ BTW)
You can always get a calibrated tape measure. Yes, these things do existIt's interesting how the wheelie bars have changed over the years. I watch the Pro Mods on computer a lot and you always see a crew member adjusting the bar, using a tape measure. And that begs a question. Why use a tape measure? Wouldn't there be a more accurate way to measure how high or low you want the bar? Also, what is the difference between running one long bar and running 2 bars? So would one bar work better on a solid mounted rear end and 2 bars on a suspended rear end? Just askin' cuz I think it's interesting to see how teams do things on various cars.
Haven't adjusted our wheelie bar in 5 years.