I can't get no traction

ZeroLink

New Member
Nov 7, 2009
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I have 4.10s and the basic bolt-ons. It's like 303rwhp. I have BMR LCAs, UCA, and Panhard bar. I also have 285s in the back. When I nail it in 1st, 2nd or sometimes 3rd, it likes to get sideways. No matter what I try I lose traction. Any speed below 40mph or so. The traction control makes absolutely no difference. Anyone else have this issue? I know some of you guys are putting down way more than me.
 
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I have 4.10s and the basic bolt-ons. It's like 303rwhp. I have BMR LCAs, UCA, and Panhard bar. I also have 285s in the back. When I nail it in 1st, 2nd or sometimes 3rd, it likes to get sideways. No matter what I try I lose traction. Any speed below 40mph or so. The traction control makes absolutely no difference. Anyone else have this issue? I know some of you guys are putting down way more than me.

I know Ford factored in a little wheel spin with the traction control. It must vary a little from car to car though. My t/c is immediate, just shuts the whole thing down instantly and violently. If it's not wet out I just run with the t/c off. Your car must be on the opposite end of the slippage spectrum than mine.
 
Auto or manual trans? Since installing a brenspeed tune my car with an auto spins hard into second then barks into third. If has gone sideways (too much) into second before. Gotta pay attention when at full throttle for sure.

patrick
 
Auto or manual trans? Since installing a brenspeed tune my car with an auto spins hard into second then barks into third. If has gone sideways (too much) into second before. Gotta pay attention when at full throttle for sure.

patrick

yea, was gonna say that. High performance car, can't drive it like a 4 cyl auto POS. It can bite you, but it does keep you on your toes. I like that in a car, a bit of danger. The good kind of danger, danger from power, not the bad kind of danger, you know, no brakes, stuff flying off, smoke screens, doors falling off,,,,, hahaha
 
I have 4.10s and the basic bolt-ons. It's like 303rwhp. I have BMR LCAs, UCA, and Panhard bar. I also have 285s in the back. When I nail it in 1st, 2nd or sometimes 3rd, it likes to get sideways. No matter what I try I lose traction. Any speed below 40mph or so. The traction control makes absolutely no difference. Anyone else have this issue? I know some of you guys are putting down way more than me.

do you sing; "I CAN'T GET NO, satis-TRACTION. I CAN'T GET ME NO" ,,,,,, hahahahaa
 
Yea the traction control is worthless. NEVER shuts the car down at all, it just keeps going.
The car is a manual and Bamachips Tuned.
As for driving a car like this, I am no stranger to that. I have drag raced, road raced, etc for years. I have a 95 Cobra with a built 331 and NA 400rwhp. The back end always wants to go first on that thing. So I know how to keep it back there, I guess I just hoped that the S197 would have been a bit more refined than a 78 Fairmont chassis, especially with LCAs, etc. And I know the origin of the S197 being Lincoln and all. I guess what really bugs me is when the original owner took me for a ride when I was looking at it, on the 1,2 shift the rear kicked a little and went right back where it belongs with no indication of spinning. TCS was off. I have tried to vary my style of shifting, everything. Can't get it to go. Maybe I am still getting used to it? Did anyone else feel they needed to get used to this car vs. an older Mustang? Thanks ya'll.

LOL that's song that keeps going through my head!
 
Mabye get a better differential, like an Eaton Tru-Trac or an Auburn. You could also try going to the 555 Drag Radial, they supposedly have decent treadwear and will have better grip. I doubt you would want to go back to a higher rear gear, but it might be something to do as a last resort.
 
Run a DR and feather the clutch a bit more on the launch and it will help drastically! A buddy of mine has a manual '07 with 399 RWHP N/A with DRs and it sticks pretty darn good:nice:
 
I hadn't thought about a diff, maybe I will since who ever did my 4.10s left and unbelievable amount of backlash. It clunks with every shift. And yes I certainly don't want to step back down in gearing (numerically.)

Thanks kooldawg. I really don't have an issue getting it out of the hole. Like you said, I feather it a bit and it jumps out. It is the 1,2 and 2,3 shift that are the problem. That and when I nail it from a punch in 2nd or 3rd.
 
I hadn't thought about a diff, maybe I will since who ever did my 4.10s left and unbelievable amount of backlash. It clunks with every shift. And yes I certainly don't want to step back down in gearing (numerically.)

Thanks kooldawg. I really don't have an issue getting it out of the hole. Like you said, I feather it a bit and it jumps out. It is the 1,2 and 2,3 shift that are the problem. That and when I nail it from a punch in 2nd or 3rd.



are you sure its how they set the backlash thats giving you the clunk? a majority of these cars have a clunk because of slop in the drivetrain, mine is mainly noticeable when nailing the gas from a roll, or on shifts. or over bumps.

and also, get a decent set of drag radials you'll be set. don't get the nitto drag radials. i have pretty much the same set up as you and my nittos [325/50/15 with about 18 psi in them] i completely mutilate until they get hot, and it takes them forever to get hot. i hook better with the stock tires when these are cold. it makes things more exciting, but no good for racing.

this february i'm going with a set of 275/50 or 275/60s, depending on if i go thru with what i want to throw on this christmas will tell me how tall i go with.

i've heard great things about mickey thompsons drags, which i will most likely be going with.

i've heard the bfgs are decent, mixed reviews on those.

and i've heard a few different things about m&hs. i was thinking them, but alot of people say that m&h run skinnier then most tires.

i figured the nittos last the longest so thats what i went with. the only thing i liked about the nittos is when they were spinning i would leave marks shifting into second gear that looked like a steamroller was doing a burn out.

with the stockers i'll shift into third and it'll get sideways on me, but in second gear it'll just spin em but still keep up momentum. it got to the point that with the nittos i would shift into second and it would just basically slow down and just smoke the tires up, until i let off the gas so it can pick up the pace again.
 
I hadn't thought about a diff, maybe I will since who ever did my 4.10s left and unbelievable amount of backlash. It clunks with every shift. And yes I certainly don't want to step back down in gearing (numerically.)

Thanks kooldawg. I really don't have an issue getting it out of the hole. Like you said, I feather it a bit and it jumps out. It is the 1,2 and 2,3 shift that are the problem. That and when I nail it from a punch in 2nd or 3rd.

does your tune have the traction control permanently disabled ? Maybe it's why yours doesn't work at all ? You mentioned a Bama tune.

as for the backlash, with the 2 piece driveshaft all these cars have alot of slop in the driveline. A 1 piece driveshaft fixes alot of it.

A better diff won't help it from going sideways during hard shifts. If it's going sideways it's doing so because you are getting traction to both tires.

Short wheelbase, quite a bit of power for the weight and an uneven surface or your front wheels not pointed straight while powershifting will always result in being sideways. Stickier tires will help though.
 
damn I never had those issues except in bad weather and I have a 3.55 diff. Maybe my lousy clutch has something to do with it.

That's odd about the noise though I would have thought that a one piece DS would eliminate some of the extra noises caused by drivetrain lash on the car.
 
So I put a 1 piece driveshaft (Shaftmasters) in to try and get rid of the clunk. While I had the shaft out I had the parking brake on and the pinion would rotate both directions a 1/4 inch. It is really loose. So unfortunately it's backlash. But the driveshaft did tighten things up, it still has an amazing effect on the car overall.
And I thought about the tune shutting off the TCS but would I still get the warning light on the tach if it was off? Because I get that, as if I didn't know I was spinning.
Yea I pretty much boil the tires, I don't keep up the momentum. So stickier tires I guess it is then it sounds like. I really appreciate all the advice.
 
So I don't have adjustable LCAs but I do have an adjustable UCA, shouldn't that really do the same thing? But I thought the pinion angle wasn't for traction but for taking the stress of the u-joint on the driveshaft. Currently the pinion is -2.5°
 
So I put a 1 piece driveshaft (Shaftmasters) in to try and get rid of the clunk. While I had the shaft out I had the parking brake on and the pinion would rotate both directions a 1/4 inch. It is really loose. So unfortunately it's backlash. But the driveshaft did tighten things up, it still has an amazing effect on the car overall.

ah, so you've already gone this route and checked the lash.


And I thought about the tune shutting off the TCS but would I still get the warning light on the tach if it was off? Because I get that, as if I didn't know I was spinning.
Yea I pretty much boil the tires, I don't keep up the momentum. So stickier tires I guess it is then it sounds like. I really appreciate all the advice.

the t/c light part I can't answer as I don't know. I'd go to Bama and ask. I would think if the tune turned off the t/c it wouldn't have an effect on the simple light from the switch.
 
LCA relocation brackets change where the LCA connects to the axle. They don't change the pinion angle. When the car squats under hard acceleration, sometimes the LCA's angle up at the axle end.This can tend to take weight off the tires, and make more spin. If you have enough angle down at the axle end of the LCA, you can actually make the back end rise (planting the tires) instead of squatting when you get on it. This mostly applies at launch though, so i'm not sure if it would do anything for rolling tire spin.