Front engine digger wheelie bars

[mrmopartech]

Looking for pictures of wheelie bars used on front engine  diggers as we had a minor problem a few weeks ago.After installing a new P/G,with trans brake and new convertor,and doing some regular passes we launch on the trans brake and went straight up.The front wheels from pictures where at least 6-8 feet in the air,and my driver did not pedal the car and well,damage happened big time,wheels are done,front end damage,nothing that 600-1000$ can,t solve.So if you have pictures,send them along to me at:

penstarperformance@gmail.com

thanks,mrmopartech/Scott Preston

[Supercat]

Scott sorry to hear of the damage.
I'm about 250 miles east of you in central Maine.
I'll  try to find some pictures of our bar.
Single wheel triple bar design.

[Supercat]

Scott here are a few

[buickfed]

welcome to the new front end wheelie club. we did this in may at the valley. it went to about 75-80*. my son said he tried to pedal it down. 50 yr old fed chassis just does not like those sudden stops to the ground. $1000 later and now we have 4' of straight pipe on the chassis thanks to dr david beard of n.h.. lol. we should have brought the wheelie bars. who would have thought that a bigger blower would do that..........

[JrFuel Hayden]

3 tubes of CM no tie between the bars to allow some flex, not so stiff it unloads the slicks if you hit it too hard. WB set just 2" off the track.
But best is if you are picking the wheels up more than 3-4" ADD more balast to the front end. I can't tell you how many times I have suggested a racer add 20lbs and they went quicker.
It's all about car balance. I know some Comp Elim racers will move 5 lbs of weight 5".
If you hit the bar hard to unload the rear tires, it's a wasted run.

Jon 

[rooman]

Look at the top of any page here and you can see the bars on Glenn and Anne's car. Roughly 6' long and set at about 2" up just as Jon suggested.

Roo

[Scottmech]

I run no bars, but use a shift timer as a learning device when changing combos.

In beginning, set up shift timer to shift almost immediately, then keep lengthening shift time till front end comes up. Then make changes to car to keep front down (weight, tire pressures, launch rpm, etc...).

[JrFuel Hayden]

Heritage JrFuel is no allowed to run either a timed or RPM controlled shifter, driver controlled shifters only, also no delay or thottle controls.
I guess that's bracket racing, not heads-up racing.
Jon

[tcoupekyle]

What's the advantages or disadvantages of single wheel vs. Double wheel?

[JrFuel Hayden]

I may get a disagreement , but most fast cars I've seen run a single wheel WB, two could cause the car to steer. I've found a flexablr 3 tube set around 2" off track works best.
Now I've seen RED set their WB higher off the track, but they have worked more on moving the ballast around to end up with a better balanced car.

Call if you have anymore questions.
Jon, 805-444-4489 [ SoCal]

[tcoupekyle]

Thanks!

[dusterdave173]

The Neil&Parks site has a great start with a wheel and tube that is perfect start to build your own set  I agree that a single is best--two bars up top one lower-  thing to remember is when you drill holes for length ( height) adjustment make the PRECISION not sloppy--that little wiggle from sloppy hole is enough to steer car--when centering always measure from axle flange or brake rotor--not the tires  about 2 in off the pavement with driver in the car is close--higher and you will just experience wheels up and more violent launch that may upset car

[MikenMpls]

I kept it simple with the McKinney adjuster and did the 3 bar, no brace, 72" long bars.

[gregm784]

We run a 3 point, with a brace, .058 1.125 bar i believe.  It's pretty stout.  Typically i'll hit it for 4", then off for a foot, then i ride it for about 3 feet.  We run right at 2" under the wheel.  It'll float the front end about 2" in the air.


The bar was a little low in the attached picture, or the tire pressure was a little low.  When we drop a 1/2#, we have to raise the bar.  My kid monitors all that, so i don't know how much.  on the flip side, when we go up a 1/2#, it'll fly the front end a little higher because it doesn't wad the tire up so much.

[noslin]

im getting ready to do mine.  concerning the brace, i can see how stiffening up the bar would help get on the tire sooner versus having soft bars.  so, as a discussion point.  if tire is wider then wheel creating soft sidewall with lot of wrap during launch then stiff bar might help out a bit with getting up on tire?   and visa versa if running something like a wheel wider then tire to stiffen sidewall and stiff sidewall tire a softer bar would help to soften the hit as it would be more apt to get on the tire sooner? 

thoughts?

im gonna go .125 wall 1.125 dia @ 5'.  whats appropriate?  some guys run short bars some guys run long bars.  i have read in door-car world with big hp on pm's they will run a long bar.  prob to help soften the hit a bit.

then on that note, more hp longer bar?  so, say 200 mph or 1200 or so hp an hypothetical length of 5ft lets say and if running like A/F or faster then longer bar as those guys are more apt to use stiffer tire.

i guess point being could your 60's improve with a different bar length even though you have it tuned with the bar you have now.  be interesting to see someones logs who has tried different length bars, stiff sidewall with braced bars versus non, and soft sidewall with stiff and soft bars.


anyways, i like this kind of stuff. 

dean