Drag Racing Discussions > Front Engine Dragsters
negatives of FED as bracket car?
Curly1:
Plus a FED is flexible and the chassis will not last for as many passes as a stiffer suspended car. Note we are not talking about a short, slow FED here. When you start running low 5's or faster then you need to get that chassis to working or suspension. An altered, a door car, funny car or even suspended dragster has a stiffer chassis and will last much longer. With all of the flexing a 225 inch FED has it going to break uprights, welds and stuff. And if it does not flex it probably is not going to work good. On a fast car it is hard to get chassis, tire, weight balance and everything working together right. Tire selection on a suspended car is very forgiving. On a FED it is not and I do not I do not know about you but I do not have $750 a pop to try 10 different tires to find right one that works. The MT 3074 tire was best tire ever on my altered. Does not work good on dragster at all. Same rear gear, same motor, same transmission and almost same weight yet does not work good. Luckily I have a good data logger to help me narrow down the problem.
I also agree the FED is cool and while RED 4 link dragster may be best tool for bracket racing I have no desire what so ever for one.
You can bracket race a FED but you will find it is much more of a pain in the tail. Unless your car was running something like 6 in the 1/8 mile or slower. The faster you go the harder it is going to be to make it work (unless you know someone who has already got a really good combo and closely copy it) even then they are not the same. My altered was just as fast and it was fun and easy to bracket race and I did not need any help to do it. My dragster is a whole different animal and I do not bracket race it. Too much of a pain and no fun. I think you will quickly tire of bracket racing it. But to answer your question. Yes, you could.
dreracecar:
--- Quote from: Curly1 on July 04, 2019, 07:24:38 AM ---Plus a FED is flexible and the chassis will not last for as many passes as a stiffer suspended car. Note we are not talking about a short, slow FED here. When you start running low 5's or faster then you need to get that chassis to working or suspension. An altered, a door car, funny car or even suspended dragster has a stiffer chassis and will last much longer. With all of the flexing a 225 inch FED has it going to break uprights, welds and stuff. And if it does not flex it probably is not going to work good. On a fast car it is hard to get chassis, tire, weight balance and everything working together right. Tire selection on a suspended car is very forgiving. On a FED it is not and I do not I do not know about you but I do not have $750 a pop to try 10 different tires to find right one that works. The MT 3074 tire was best tire ever on my altered. Does not work good on dragster at all. Same rear gear, same motor, same transmission and almost same weight yet does not work good. Luckily I have a good data logger to help me narrow down the problem.
I also agree the FED is cool and while RED 4 link dragster may be best tool for bracket racing I have no desire what so ever for one.
You can bracket race a FED but you will find it is much more of a pain in the tail. Unless your car was running something like 6 in the 1/8 mile or slower. The faster you go the harder it is going to be to make it work (unless you know someone who has already got a really good combo and closely copy it) even then they are not the same. My altered was just as fast and it was fun and easy to bracket race and I did not need any help to do it. My dragster is a whole different animal and I do not bracket race it. Too much of a pain and no fun. I think you will quickly tire of bracket racing it. But to answer your question. Yes, you could.
--- End quote ---
I have had to repair more RE chassis for uprite breakage then I have had to for the FE chassis, its not the motor placement/flex, but overall chassis design that causes the problems.
Bracket racing is all about having a good reaction/light and consistency FOR THAT DAY. Dial-ins can be changed throughout the event, so what the driver is strapped into, does not matter. I can show you 50+ time slips of my blown alc FE dragster (no suspension) with 1.09 60' times and never had to weld the uprites back in. but again Ive never had to race on a track with a crappy shutdown area, Id rather pack up and go home then to kill the car
Curly1:
There are a lot of tracks around here with rough or short shut down areas. Not worth crashing the car. My dragster is actually much stiffer than it was originally and still very flexible and it does not take much to make it bounce in the shut down due to flex. In fact some of the tracks I raced in my altered never even thought of the shut down area or noticed how rough it was. Same track in my dragster was a handful. Using parachute helps but who wants to do that every time?
wideopen231:
First I am not arguing the negatives posted,input is why I started thread.
On the seat belts.I have done cpl test fit deals and get them pretty dang tight and I am firm believer in tight belts.I do have belts where you pull up to tighten lap belts which maybe difference.
Loading wise I do not see where FED is any different from any other 225" car.If issue is with dragging especially on stupid beaver tail crap all trailer(most) come with.I will be doing away with that as soon as I can get to where I can build what I want instead of buying something that is just a get me by.
As for the ET part .This thing will be 4.70 1/8 or less.If not I will be redoing a bunch of stuff. I do not expect it first it but should be by hit number 3.LOL I figure with close to 1000 hp and around 1625 lbs that is not a unreasonable expectation.If anything it should do better.
If not for challenge of getting it tuned to work like I want I would not have built it. I am just thinking maybe you fellas with lots of FED experience will have more insight to these than the guys who run those boring everybody got same car things.Not that they do not work great and probably smart way to go, I believe you can always do it different and do it just as good or better with work.
Curly1:
I also agree with very tight seat belts but that is on any car I drive.
As for consistency my dragster is good now that I have got most of the bugs worked out. The problem is the shut down area on most tracks that is not an issue with all the other cars I have drove.
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