Weak Link in Drivetrain

[RET_COP]

I plan on one upgrade this winter and my thinking was my drivetrain. I have a McLeod street pro clutch steel flywheel, Tremec 3550 and 28 spline stock axles Ford Track-Lok. I probably have about 500FWHP. Where is my weak link? I was thinking on an axle upgrade either 31 spline of 28 spline Moser/Strange. I understand street tires are like a fuse but if I did get sticky stuff...What are your thoughts?
Lou

[YerDugliness]

Is your rear end a Ford 9"? If so, I would certainly not think it is the weak link in your drivetrain, especially with the light weight of a Cobra replica, so despite the greater reliability of the Moser/Strange parts , what else do you gain? The Ford 9" is quite reliable in stock form, do you need more?

How about a lighter flywheel? It will allow your engine to rev up more quickly, giving greater acceleration. With 500 FWHP, you can't be hurting for torque in a car this light, so you can give up some of the torque that is gained with the heavy flywheel and let that engine GO !

Cheers!

Dugly

[RET_COP]

Dugly I should have mentioned an 8.8. Lighter flywheel hmmm interesting I read a discussion about this a while back.

[Hotfingrs]

There are 1000 horse Mustangs running 8.8's and living. If they are built right you shouldn't have any problem with it. It's hard to say where the weak link will be, if any. My thoughts are, run it until something breaks, then you know. Otherwise your just throwing money away, because you don't know if it truely needed upgrading. You could scribe a line the length of your axles, and periodically check to see if the line is straight or starting to twist, then you know that the axles need to be upgraded. All that being said, I don't think you'll have any problem with the 8.8

[mdross1]

Originally Posted by Hotfingrs

There are 1000 horse Mustangs running 8.8's and living. If they are built right you shouldn't have any problem with it. It's hard to say where the weak link will be, if any. My thoughts are, run it until something breaks, then you know. Otherwise your just throwing money away, because you don't know if it truely needed upgrading. You could scribe a line the length of you axles, and periodically check to see if the line is straight or starting to twist, then you know that the axles need to be upgraded. All that being said, I don't think you'll have any problem with the 8.8

I agree especially since the car is already on the road.The day you decide to assault the drag strip on a regular basis then maybe you should consider a 9" otherwise paint that line on your current axles.

[undy]

The TR3550 and 28 splines axles are your weak areas, IMO. I've got a 9" rear and had 28 spline Currie axles in it. Upon inspection both axle ends had a significant twist, one almost to the point of twisting the end off. I went with a set of Dutchman drop-forged 31 spline units. Dump the 3550 too and get a TKO600. If you ever get a good set of sticky tires it'll be toast.

[RET_COP]

What is the lightest steel flywheel I could get? I always thought 10lbs. flywheel per 1000 car weight a good ratio. So aluminum for road racing and steel for drag racing? how about best overall?
Lou

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by RET_COP

What is the lightest steel flywheel I could get? I always thought 10lbs. flywheel per 1000 car weight a good ratio. So aluminum for road racing and steel for drag racing? how about best overall?
Lou

Maybe the other way around? The steel flywheel will have more stored inertia, which would be important in getting a drag-racer off the line, whereas the aluminum flywheel would offer the ability to rev faster for a car which was already in motion, the road racer.

I often wonder if there is a "middle road", one or the other in the middle of the weight range. If I had a choice of material for one in the middle of the weight range, it would be steel for the durability factor. One could have a steel flywheel machined to reduce weight, I would guess...but, that's just a guess, so I'm hoping to hear what others have to say about the issue.

Cheers!

Dugly

[StreetSnake]

Weakest link?...uh...the smoking tires. Don't spend the money if u don't have too.

[Dwight]

I have 402 rwhp with an est 500 flywheel.

I have done a lot of burn outs, lots. I love lighting up the tires.

8.8 with 28 spline Mosler axles and G-Force tires.

Tires are the weak link and should be.

If you are drag racing then drag radial or street drag radial tires are a must. Then you will need stronger axles, driveshaft, etc.

But like Hot Fingers said "run it until something breaks, then you know"

and he should know, he has broke a lot of parts.

Dwight

[itstock]

Breaking at the track is never fun. It's costly, time consuming, and unsafe. Given the chance of upgrading while the car is down, I see no reason why one shouldn't.

But if you are sticking with street tires, and don't plan on dumping the clutch with sticky tires at the track, I see no reason why you would put in 31 spline axles. I'd be more concerned with your 3550 at this point than I would the rear. Again though, if you aren't constantly power shifting or dumping the clutch, it doesn't need replacing.

[tirod]

Whether aluminum or steel, make sure a flywheel is rated for the punishment - and there's a safety scatter shield in use.