I have done a search and it seems that not many people here run MT ET drags so I couldn't find any good info on them. I myself wanted to try out the new ET drag radials everyone seems to be raving about, but someone near my house was selling a set of almost new 26x10.0-15 ET drags for really cheap so I really had no choice

What I wanted to know is, am I going to need tubes for the tires? What about rim screws??

Also I am buying a pair of rims 15x10, if I'm not mistaken the bolt pattern is 5x4.75", and the correct backspacing is 7.5" in the rear for a 4th gen?

Anything else I should consider?

 

15x10" 7.5" backspace, 5 x 4.75" bolt circle is correct for a 4th Gen... With the Welds, on a 4th Gen, some grinding of the brake caliper fins is required... what year is your car, because the brakes are different on the LT1 and LS1 4th Gens.

I ran the ET Streets and Hoosier QTP's tubeless, with rim screws... no problems. I wouldn't go under 14psi or so without the tubes. For ET Drags, I run tubes and screws. Never tried them without the tubes. Adds an awful lot of weight . But now that the car is setup for a 5,000rpm flash stall, with a 300-shot of nitrous off the line, the last thing I want to do is lose a tire.....

 

The car is a 1994 Z28. I am interested in a set of centerline wheels (telstars). I didn't know that 15'' rims require some grinding of the rear calipers to fit, I'l keep it in mind.

Ok I guess since my power levels are no where near yours and I don't think I will be running them much lower than 15 psi, maybe tubes are not necessary?

One more thing I wanted to know. The person who I bought these tires from strongly recommended getting a line lock kit. Would that be a good idea? It's going to be my first time running sticky tires at the track.

 

If you have a 6 speed, then a line lock is a good idea. I just installed mine last weekend.

 

Ok I just checked centerline's site and it seems that they don't make telstars in 15x10 with 7.5 BS, they only have 5'' BS. Should I buy those even though they will stick out from the side fender or would it be ok to buy the 15x8's even though my ET drags are 10" tires?

And I'll pick up a line lock kit then also before going to the track.

 

Centerline now makes a 15x8 Telstar with 5.5" backspace - you can find them at Summit Racing. You are correct that they do not make a 15x10 Telstar with 7.5" backspace. The 15x4 and 15x8 Telstars require no grinding on an LT1 car.

It is not recommended to run the 26x10.0x15 ET Drag on a 15x8 rim. You'd have to go with the 26x8.5x15 ET Drag or the 26x10.5x15 ET Street (which is what I'm running on my Telstars - no tubes). Or you could go with the 275/50/15 ET Street radial.

I definitely recommend a line lock if you spend anytime at the track doing burnouts.

Joe

 

It looks like I'm going to have to go for a set of welds...

 

I was just wondering though why it isn't recommended to run the 10" ET drags on a 8" wheel? I guess it's just because the tire will not wear evenly? Could this be a safety hasard?


And why is it ok to run a 10" ET street on a 8" rim but not the ET drag??

 

Mickey Thompson recommends that the wheel width be no more than 1" less than (or more than) the tread width of their drag tires. The 26x10-15 ET Drag has a 9.6" wide tread, so you need a rim width of ~8.5 - 10.5". Can you get away with an 8" rim.... who knows? Apparently the engineer who designed the tires assumed you would use a wider rim. A drag tire relies on the sidewall to "ripple" in order to provide the maximum contact patch between the tread and the track. I would assume you get the best footprint with the recommended rim width.

The ET Street size is 26x10.5-15. It only has an 8.3" tread width, so it will fit on a wheel from 7.5 - 9.5" wide.

 

Ok well I picked up the tires and have my line lock kit installed, just waiting to find a good deal on a set of 15x10" weld wheels.

I was just wondering if these tires have a 'lifespan' in otherwords an optimal time in which I should use them? Or can I just throw them on whenever? I was talking to a friend who says that with the years, the compound on drag slicks weakens, so it's not a good idea to wait to long before running them. I bought them used beginning of the summer, the previous owner had them one year already and now this summer they haven't been used yet.

 

ET Street Drags (not radials) 26x10.5x16 @ 30psi on my stock 16x8 rim. no tubes. ran 5 consistent 1.8 60ft's on them about 4 hours ago.

 

Wow I had no idea they were also effective inflated to 30 psi?! How old are your tires btw?

 

30psi? I wouldn't even run them that high on the street. My experience is that you start about 16psi, and start to drop them until you get the best results. I learn something new every day.

 

has anyone here thought about whats gonna happen when he launches his nice 7.5 rear axle on those things?
i think i would worry about building a rear axle that can handle the power before i would worrie about a line lock. my friend destroyed his rear axle in his 95 and he was running the bfg drag radials on a stock car.


just my opinion though, good luck on this.
jim

 

Beginning of this season I picked up a spec stage 3 clutch, Spohn HD driveshaft, and moser 12-bolt (33 spline, heavy duty posi, Performance cover, etc..) because I knew I was going to run slicks at the track from now on.