Torqueflite burnout methods?

[Tim_K]

I've got a question about the proper way to do burnouts. Everything I've ever read about it says to put the shifter in manual second and do the burnout. However, every time this is written, it is talking about a transmission with a shift kit, or reverse manual valve body, or something else... just not a STOCK transmission. From the little I've seen on it, with a stock transmission, the thing to do is to use manual low gear, which applies the low/reverse band to keep excessive loads off of the sprag. I assume then that you can either shift up during the burnout, or put the gas pedal in one spot with the trans. still in manual low, and just kind of let off the brakes to roll out of the water, and the tires will slow down and stop spinning as they dry off and get more traction. I know not to let the throttle slam shut to stop a burnout. I've been doing this for years, mostly with slant sixes and 318's and have never had a problem, but I'm wondering if I should start in manual second even with a stock transmission. What do you think?

Incidentally, when I get a new Mopar or put in a transmission, I set them up this way with a stock valve body: crank the line pressure spring to the maximum pressure, with the springs' floor plate almost at the end of the threads. Second, to adjust bands, I read this in an issue of Mopar Action back in '93: use a screwdriver to pry the bands' lever into the 'applied' position, using moderate pressure. You don't have to try to kill it, just take out all the slack. Turn the adjuster bolt so there is 1/4" to 5/16" clearance between the servo and lever where they would normally touch. I normally put pressure on the screwdriver 5-10 times between adjusting, measuring, and re-adjusting. When all is done, it gives a nice, firm shift without using any fancy methods. Totally does away with that inch-pound torque wrench and counting turns idea they print in the Mopar shop manuals. Not as good as a shift kit, but as good as you can expect from a stock transmission.

[DartGT66]

Raising the pressure in the trans is an easy way to make 'harder' shifts. Many shift kits use this method as a part of the cure. However, raising the trans line pressure is one thing that really raises the hp amount that your trans robs from the engine. The only shift kits that do not raise the trans pressure that I know of are the Mopar Performance (actually Turbo Action) shift kits. That's why I use them, they are easy to install, do not require any drilling and work.
I think that with a regular (non manual) valve body ti doesn't matter wether you do the burnout in first second or drive. With the manual valve body you should start the burnout with either second or third gear.

[Christopher]

I always do the burnout in second gear.Now I know on a stock trans,if the lever is in 2,you still are going to start off in 1st,but what I do is just goose the throttle until I feel it shift into 2nd,then really get on the throttle.The other thing that is important is as the car is starting to move out of the water,to ease up on the throttle.I've done it this way and the trans in the Dart has 9 drag race seasons on it and the converter(Turbo Action) is 22 years old,pirated out of the Road Runner we used to race.

[The Dartman]

I always start my burnout in low gear and shift thoughout the burnout into drive. When relying on a stock transmission to shift from low to second, or low to drive, the stock trans shift point may be way too early and cause your car to bog before your rpms come up. This results in you getting stuck in all that burnout box and apron water that's usually everywhere. When in low I let the motor to get to pretty high RPM's (I'm actually a madman in the burnout box ocasionaly hitting 6 grand) then shift 2nd and into drive pretty fast. At this time I let the car carry itself out of the burnout box by slowing releasing the brake pedal.

My Dad's car is a little different because it has a manual valve body and 3.23 gears (he runs low 13's). He has had problems over the years because his combo doesn't like to rap in the burnout box. This causes the tires to slow down and start sticking to the track (even in water) and twists in the box. Since he runs street treaded tires this is unsatisfactory. He has gotten better when he does a burnout this way: Leaves the car in low gear only (does not shift) and gets the RPMS up to about 5000 and holds the car there. After he sees smoke in his rearview mirror, he eases off the brake and mashes the gas to drive out of the water fully.

The last time I raced was actaully the first time I ran with a line lock. This device adds some consisantacy to your burnout and are fairly easy to install. The above procedure is the same for a roll control, but instead of releasing the brake pedal gradually, you release the button and back off the accelorator gradually.

I recomemend my Dad's burnout procedure for novice racers (not that your one) or slower cars (may not be you either).

Besides your starting line reaction time, burnouts are one of the most important drag racing skills you can master. It ranks about dead even with knowing how to play "the game" on the big end when bracket racing.

[TD]

The fact of the matter is that if you come out of the water or let off the gas abruptly and your transmission is in first gear, you stand a very good chance of grenading your transmission the next time you step into the throttle.

That is why I would start my burnout in second gear with or without a manual valve body. If you've ever seen what happens to a transmission when the (one way) sprague gear has been overrun (caused by tire decelaration being slower than the internal transmission decelaration), it would leave a very lasting impression upon you and your transmission mechanic.

[Old hippie]

The big thing here is not what gear you are in when you do the burnout but what gear you are in when you come out of the water that counts. If you come out of the box in first gear with a TF you will hammer the transmission, no ifs, ands, or buts about it so don't. Period! You can start out in low to break the tires loose then go to second imeadiatly. This is the Hippie methiod: Pull into the water box and make sure the tires are good and wet. Set the line lock at 800 to 1,000 psi if you have a brake pressure gauge. If not go by feel. Trans in manual low and blip the throttle to break the tires loose then go to second. Bring motor up to 5,000 and watch for tire smoke in mirror or come out when staging assistant signals. Just as I come out of the box I ease off the throttle a bit but still keep the tires turning til I am clear of the box. Sometimes I will do a dry hop, sometimes not. Ain't lost a automatic transmission with this methiod in twenty years.

The Old Hippie Hisself

[DartGT66]

I used to do my burnouts in first gear before I switched to a manual valve body. I never had any problems, however I used regular threaded tires and they do not bite like slicks. With the manual valve body I have jsut raised the rpm up fast to about 6000 and let it stay there for a second or two, then let the brake go and slowly raise the gas. I drive through the bleach box about a ft. before starting the burnout. This has worked for me pretty well although I still can't get enough traction. The tires I use are 12.5/30/15 M/T ET streets and the rear has SS springs.

[The Dartman]

It sounds like there are several opponants to doing a burnout in low gear.

One thing I would like to mention is that is may be neccesary for some cars to do a burnout in low gear only. My Dad's car is one of those. He runs M/T S/S fully treaded tires and the second the shifts into second gear the car immediatly bogs, twists, or a combination of both. One might say that he isn't in the water far enough, but with treaded tires you CANNOT do a burnout in the middle of the water. This causes water to get everywhere (rockers, quarters) and is extremely hard to get out. The key to doing a burnout like this is that you gradually let out of the gas once you drive out of the burnout box.

One last note about street car burnouts: it is not as easy with a slower street car to do a burnout for another reason (besides lack of HP and treaded tires). This is beacuse on a street car the back brakes have not seen the abuse of doing burnouts on a regular basis. Burnouts really make your back brakes wear out and get out of adjustment at an alarming rate. Properly adjusted back brakes are actually detremental to doing a "big hairy burnout". Since when you trying to hold the car back with the 60% of your front brakes, the back brakes are applying 40% as much braking as the front.

When brakes go out of adjustment from too many burnouts, you then start having trouble holding the car in the beam. Which I did before replacing the rear drums, brake hardware, and I added a line lock to not annihilate my back brakes constantly. My car is pretty hard to hold back with a 4500 stall on the foot.

My dad has been doing burnouts like I mentioned above for almost six years now and over 500 passes with no transmission failure whatsoever.

I don't want to start a heated debate by any means, so I am going to see what my tranny man has to say about this.