Hey, guys, great thread on parasitic drag from the 3rd member. I believe this will help lots of others out there who either haven't thought about it or knew about it and didn't know what to do. As for me, I have about a half dozen 9" housings and just about every conceivable 3rd member ratio to pick form, so, the extra cost of changing is just not in the budget (Tim will just have to make more power!).
Bill, good point about the synthetic lube. I do run synthetic in the t-10 trans and diff now. I think I remember Karol Miller saying that he changed the trans and diff to straight 30wt up on arrival to the events and then changed back to 90wt to drive back to Texas. I will be changing to a T-5 and I'll have to check, but I think it uses auto trans fluid. Perhaps there is a synthetic for that light of weight too.
The ring and pinion sets I use are NASCAR take-offs. The sellers list them on Ebay as "polished". When I get them they are extremely smooth and look just like chrome. I don't know if they are just polished or have one of the treatments that have been mentioned before.
Good job on the thread guys. Let's keep it going.............
By the way, I have spent many hours internet searching, talking to techs at IFS manufacturers like Heidts, and bending the ears of other Bonneville car builders to determine the best caster range for the Comet. Straight axel users like 15 degrees or more (positive of course) while IFS users are all over the map (there are racers with +3 to +9). I rolled the solid axle back 8 degrees in the race truck, but big time bumpsteer kept me from knowing if 8 degrees was enough. The best advise for the Comet seems to be to set the rake of the frame and body at 1 percent (1" rise in 58") for best aerodynamics (NASCAR numbers), rotate the crossmember about 5 degrees positive from the horizontal ground (not the frame) and then do the final settings with the top A arm adjustments.
Here we go.................
Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)
BurnsRacing981@gmail.com