Calling Charmer.............

[gsharapa]

Hey Stretch,

I still have a pic of your Red SPF with the big drag radials on the rear. What size were they??????

[jrussell]

Gary,
I think Stretch had 325/50/15's when he ran the Drag Radials, and I wish I had those same tires!
John R.

[Ted Parrish]

Gary,

This is Ted Parrish. I am the guy that bought Stretch's car. I can't remember what size the tires are, but I will look tonight and let you know. They are great tires, by the way. They really grab the road.

I also bought the 17" set of wheels, with Michelan (sp?) Pilot tires. I was very dissapointed in these tires, especially for autocrossing. I now have a set of Goodyear Autocross tires on the 17" wheels, but they can only be used for racing.

I'll let you know the BF Goodrich tire sizes tomorrow.
Ted

[James Baldwin]

Not to hi-jack the thread, but how are your times with that monster engine and drag radials, Ted? I have always wondered what these cars would do if they really hooked up..

Thanks

[Ted Parrish]

James,

Unfortunately, I haven't made it to the local drag strip yet to know what times I can get. I planned to do that last summer, just never made it. I sure love the big engine, though. Zero to 60 is 3.5 seconds, and zero to 80/90 is a lot of fun.

Now if I just could remember to do what I told Gary I would do. I forgot to check the tires last night, Gary, so I've made myself a note to do it tonight.

I attempted to post some current pictures yesterday. Hope you like 'em.

[gsharapa]

Ted,

Thanks I'll be checking Thursday. I think they are 325/50/15s as I remember Stretch wanted 295s and BF Goodrich doesn't make them in that size.

By the way, like your pics. Did you know your trailer use to be mine? I am the one that bought it new and put the SPF and Cobra decals on it............

[Ted Parrish]

Gary,

I didn't know the trailer used to be yours. Can you tell me when you bought it? I'm just curious as to how old it is. Did you ever have the wheels come loose? When I got it all the lug nuts were just barely tight, like 10 lbs of torgue, or so.

I found out the first time I used it to take my car to Hallett to race that my truck isn't heavy enough for the trailer. I had quite an incident on the interstate at 70 mph. It started shaking, then swerving side to side, actually pulling my truck several feet side to side as well. I finally just had to lock up the brakes and let it slide to a stop, which included a 180 degree spin out for both truck and trailer. God must have been watching over me that day, because I didn't even get a scratch on either the truck or trailer. But, I can tell you I don't ever want to do that again. I thought both were going to roll over before I could get it stopped.

And you were right on the tires, they are 325/50/15's.

Do you live in the Dallas area? I'd love to meet you some time. I have a good friend there that I go visit once in a while (he's a friend of John Russell.). Call me some time if there's something going on that I might want to bring the car down for. You can reach me at (405)623-2690 (cell), or (405)495-6226 (Home).

Let's go fast...

Ted

[427Aggie]

Ted,

Hope you are going to make it to Austin in February...it would be great to see you there with the old snakecharmer.

Matt

[gsharapa]

Ted,

I bought the trailer in May of 2000 and Had it for about a year and half and sold it to Charmer. I did the same thing as you on almost losing it but it'not your truck but where you put the car in the trailer. If you have it to far back you can get that condition. Another good idea is to put the hitch equalizer bars on which also makes a big dfference. In do live in the Dallas area (Plano, TX).

We usually go to Tulsa meet every year and although I was there last year I was inbetween cars.....

[Ted Parrish]

Matt and Gary,

Matt, I would love to come to Austin. I'll see what I can work out.

Gary, I have already bought equalizer bars, and a sway bar. I haven't tried them out yet, but I've been told they should fix the problem. I know about weighting the tongue properly for towing, and I think the car was far enough forward. I usually pull in in far enough to set the front down about 2 inches at the trailer hitch.

In either case, I don't think I'll be comfortable pulling at 70 mph again, at least not for a while.

By the way, has anyone out there heard of the 12 mm bolts that hold the rear hub on the lower support arm on the rear axle coming loose, and breaking? I broke one this weekend, fortunately not under heavy application. I thought the car seemed a little "mushy" on launch. In making the repair, I discovered that the other bolt (the one that didn't break) was loose. There is no lock washers on these bolts, and doesn't appear to be locktite on the threads.

I'm going to get some aircraft bolts that can be wire tied with safty wire this week. If I'd been racing when this happened I think the car (and maybe me) could have been destroyed.

Gary, isn't Plano near Flower Mound, or McKinney, Tx?

Ted

[gsharapa]

McKinney,Tx.

I'm off NorthTollway near Parker Rd.