Transbrake Problems= HELP NEEDED

[superprohero]

I have a GM TH350 with a Hipsters transbrake. When staging the truck on the starting line the truck wants to rock back and forth(front to rear) when engaging the transbrake. As you might guess this creates havoc on the staging beams not to mention cutting a decent light! I followed all of Hipsters instructions to a tee.
Could it be I didn't do this step properly>>>>10. Flat file case at the valve body area. No low spots allowed!<<<
I'm hoping someone here has had this problem and can tell me what they did to correct it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



http://www.superprohero.com

[500]

Call Hipsters.

[AWP9521]

My Mustang did that too on the line, I considered it normal due to amount of gear lash in the tranny and rearend. What I did to help stop it was to inch the car into the beams using the Transbrake button with a slight application of the brake and a about a 2000 RPM load on the engine and when staged Slowly released the brake so the car wouldn't move.

[chevytrucks92]

Maybe I'm way out in left field here, but maybe your trans. pump is weak??? I know the backing up (and maybe the going forwards) when you hit the button is a sure sign of a weak pump.

[superprohero]

chevytrucks92, thanks for the advice. You're actually not in left field at all. I stopped by Coans yesterday and they said the SAME thing, weak pump. It does have a VERY weak reverse also. I'm either going to try another used pump or buy a remanufactured pump. I also keep breaking the intermediate sprag but that's typical for a th350. until I can dump $355 for a 36 element sprag I'll have to deal with it.
That's a sharp Vega you got and your times look real good. Vegas rock. I'm running a 406 also, stock rods/crank and flat top pistons with .630 roller cam and Dart Pro1's(2.08). I can get a 1.48 60 ft but the best 1/8 mile is 7.00. Not too happy with that but I like the 60 ft. I just bought a set of Oliver bilet rods and looking for a crank and pistons.
My truck can be seen here http://www.superprohero.com

[chevytrucks92]

10-4, and no problem! Glad to help.

That's a pretty sweet S-10, and I figured you raced an S-10 when you said truck, lol. They are WILDLY popular, lol.

Thanks for the comments about my car. I've never drove it on an 1/8th (weird I know, but where I race the distance is 330 ft.), but hte last time it was at an 1/8th, it ran 6.71 @ 101 mph. That was with a 355 (very stout 355 though, lol). It would run that, or maybe a hair quicker right now as it is.

My 406 is a flat top motor. It has a steel crank, steel 5.7 in. rods, and flat top pistons. Dart Pro1 cast iron heads with 2.08/1.60 valves. I'm not exactly sure what lift cam it has, other then its smaller then a .640. I run an Edelbrock Victor Jr. ported intake and a Holley Proform 750 CFM carb.

I like Vegas as well, lol. We have two, the one in my sig and then a 1976 model with a 302 SBC. It probably weighs 300 or more pounds less then mine (mine weighs 2700 lbs) so it is a little quicker.

My car brings the wheels up as high, maybe just a little higher then your truck in that picture, lol. I actually think yours brings the right up a little more then me, but I bring the left front tire a good 10 inches. And that's leaving at 3400 rpms, lol. Awhile back we left at 4400 rpms (before I started driving) and it brought the tires up so high that when he lifted, the cross member hit the ground! Ever since then, 3600 rpms is the highest we've ever left, lol.

Anyways, good luck on getting your trans. fixed. Have you ever considered going with a Powerglide? The main advantage is you can buy an electric or air shifter, and then you never have to shift gears. Makes it soo much easier, lol, and way more consistant. I mean if you just run the 1/8th mile, then a Powerglide would be fine. That's what I use and I have a 5.13 gear. At the 330 line, I'm just turning 6000 rpms, so I would still have plenty to go for the 1/8th. Its something you might want to consider.

[superprohero]

I've had a couple places just today suggest a PG but at the moment I have just too much remodeling on the house going on and I already spent $101 on a new front pump and drum, then went to Coans and traded the hardened sprag race I just bought for an extreme duty race that set me back another $150!! And then I had to go to the speed shop and buy a new set of CompCam rockers. All they had was 7/16 rockers in sets of 8 so I bought a set of 1.5 and a set of 1.6's for the intake. And of course $50? on 7/16 studs since the Pro1's have smaller studs. It all adds up quick. I broke a rocker last year about the last weekend of the year. It broke at the big end of the track and sounded just like a rod hammering!! It snapped off where I ground it back to clear the springs so the push rod was beating it back and forth so it made quite a racket. All my buddies even thought it was a rod. Blew my mind when I drained the oil and found no metal so I pulled the valve cover and there she was Number one exhaust! Got pretty lucky there I guess.

My ex-Boss? Has a Vega wagon with a high compression 383 that stands WAY up in the air! It's a pretty nice car. Been awhile since he ran it so I forget what it ran.

[chevytrucks92]

It surely does add up quick, lol. Rocker arms are very expensive. Like over $300 a set I believe. Shoot, we gave $300 for a set of valve springs (K-Motion), lol.

Good luck with it though. Tomorrow is race day for me (also graduate college) so I hope the weather holds out, lol.

[oldndragon]

EASY FIX AND CHEAP TOO!! NO MORE ROCKING!

Install a relay in line so when you stage and hit your brakes now engage your transbrake and your linelock at the same time.........your brakes keep you from rocking and you let go your transbrake button your brakes release! Worked great for me! Cheap little relay about $1.00

oldndragon

[SlickVic107]

My powerglide rocks every time. Just reve up to about 2000 rpm before you start to stage. Bump in and set the transbrake. Car won't rock. I the pump may have been weak but give it 6 months it will rock again.