Ouch, dragstrip carnage

Bullitt

Bullitt

Packin' Heat
Founding Member
Jan 13, 2000
2,743
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47
Houston, TX
#1
Made a trip to Houston Raceway Park the friday after Thanksgiving to hopefully get some new quick times on my new Nittos. Unfortunatelly, I broke the car instead... Evidentally they hook a lot harder than my BFG DRs did, even though my 60fts weren't quite as quick :shrug: They broke on a 5k RPM dump launch. Car had been bogging on 4k launches, so I decided to up the ante...

Anyways, busted the left side axle and what appears to be a cracked bearing support in the diff (not to mention the busted off axle inside the diff).

Most distressing thing of the whole night was the car was WAY off pace (13.20s instead of the usual 12.80s). Of course I wasn't driving well, nor was the weather good, but still frusterating.

Guess it's time for some Moser axles...
 

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#4
That sucks that your car broke. :( Look on the bright side, if you lived here in Minnesota, the car would be stuck in storage.

Specs on the rear that you broke? And what are you going to buy? :nice:
 
#5
axle is out of a '79 Versailles. the axles themselves were slightly bent (i assume from the junkyard), but i didn't think they were bent enough to break. guess 5 years of fatigue got to them...

center section is from Currie Enterprises, all the parts were new when it was installed 5 years ago. i can't remember the specs on the diff... probably going to see if i can get an upgrade for 31 spline if the price is reasonable.
 
#8
update:

BAD news. took the center section to a performance shop here in town. evidentally EVERYTHING is trashed except for the gear set itself... I haven't actually looked at the parts myself, but needless to say I'm pretty ticked.

since when does a 400HP car with 20k miles (150 drag strip passes and never had a 60ft faster than a 1.90) blow up a 9" rear end? i mean seriously! and it's not like it's a stock 3rd member either, it's from Currie, supposedly the best in the business!!! I have yet to call them, but I hope they are going to do something for me cause I expect a lot more out of a $900 center section!
 
#9
Wow, that sucks. There are just a few parts of a performance car that you kind of count on being bomb proof, and a Currie 9" is one of them. Hope you can get some free stuff out of 'em. :nice:
 
#10
Hey Jeff. You probably won't remember me but I met you one night at the track in Navasota. I was with a bunch of my younger friends that were attending A&M at the time.

Anyway, I am sure I have an extra carrier housing out in the garage and I have all the tools for setting up rearends....I do them for everyone around here. If you make your way to Houston over the holidays I can help you out. If the axles in a Granada are the same lengths you can grab one of those and I can machine the flange down for your rotors if need be.....my buddy has a machine shop.
 
#11
Ronstang said:
Hey Jeff. You probably won't remember me but I met you one night at the track in Navasota. I was with a bunch of my younger friends that were attending A&M at the time.

Anyway, I am sure I have an extra carrier housing out in the garage and I have all the tools for setting up rearends....I do them for everyone around here. If you make your way to Houston over the holidays I can help you out. If the axles in a Granada are the same lengths you can grab one of those and I can machine the flange down for your rotors if need be.....my buddy has a machine shop.
Click to expand...

Dangit Ron, what is it gonna take to get you to move up here? :D
It's just like Houston only alot less humid. :p
 
#12
66 BLAKE 96 said:
Dangit Ron, what is it gonna take to get you to move up here? :D
It's just like Houston only alot less humid. :p
Click to expand...

If you bring things here I can help you too. I always help out the younger guys whenever I can, all part of the passing on the legacy type of thing.....especially since I have no children. I like it in Houston so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon but if you are in the neigborhood then I will do what I can.

BTW Jeff.....sorry I didn't read about the Currie built $$$ carrier at first, but I can get you back on the road for now if you just want to be able to drive the car as stock 9" carriers will not hold up to slicks....ask me how I know...hehehe.
 
#13
Ron,

thanks for the offer man. I'll be going to look at the disassembled parts on Monday as the shop closed early today.

the quote for just parts from my shop is $1515 (including new axles, bearings, etc) from Currie to match what I've got now, except for upgrading to 31 splines. I'll have to talk to them personally though to see what they have to say about it...
 
#14
Wow.... that's jaw dropping Jeff...

Keep us up to date with what's going on man. I'm very interested.

-Tim

-=It's too bad people like Ronstang don't live anywhere near New England. Cash buys wisdom here, no one is willing to just help.
 
#15
i have the versailles rear in my mustang as well and broke the stock axle with a 289 that i used to run with slicks and a full spool. believe it or not i didn't break the axles while launching at 6500 rpm's at the track, instead it broke while making a sharp turn in a driveway at slow speeds.

i replaced the axles with a set of moser 31 splines and have not had a problem even with a 427 windsor stroker that runs low 11's.
the housing case cracked before the axles.


as far as the currie unit failure,could it have failed due to a piece of the axle jamming it up?
 
#17
Jeff,

That estimate from your shop is outrageous. Did your locker bite the dust too? Somehow I doubt that from the pictures but if you get down to Houston we can take it apart and make a judgement. I can even chuck it up in the lathe and check the runout to make sure it wasn't damaged. Get in touch with me before you drop any cash. My AIM and YIM are in my profile if you want to chat. I'm sure we can get you back on the road a lot cheaper. I have to do Scott Weatherford's carrier soon as we broke two teeth off the ring gear at HRP so maybe we can do them the same day.

Let me know.
 
#18
yeah, i agree Ron. I only paid 900 for the COMPLETE center section brandnew from Currie, so adding in 300 bucks for new axles, that's no where near that quote.

I actually know Scott Weatherford, good guy!

I'll be in touch with ya next week. Thanks!!
 
#19
There was probably nothing wrong with the Currie unit until you trashed the weak axles. Even the best center section can't stand up to shards of steel being ground up in it. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 
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