2000 Dodge Dakota R/T Build Thread

[Okiespaniels]

Originally Posted by ramthis9501 I've watched a RCSB Hemi run around a 15.2 before.

I've seen that listed here as well. What's your best time/mph Colton?

Edit: on street tires...and vehicle weight. I can probably find that but dragstips usually have a scale.

EDIT #2 Never mind...I found what I wanted.

[Matt]

i've seen them run 14.6 in noble

[Okiespaniels]

Colton, Based on your vehicle curb weight which I've figured is around 4200 lbs...

and using my handy/dandy hp calculator I come up with 268 rear wheel hp...based on trap speed and weight. Remember this is rear wheel hp, which is about 15% less than flywheel hp

Re figuring vehicle weight with rear wheel hp...your actual et should be about 14.57.

Now this is based on your last slip I found on page 6. I can see your 60 ft time is like 2.12 seconds...If you could hook that Dak up and get your 60 ft into the 1.6 range you'll be pretty quick. Getting rid of that open rear will go a long way to doing that.

Lest we cast further dispersions on how quick or slow something is...I'll take another truck where the info is easily researched.

Young Timmy has all his specs right on his sig...and using the same calculator with curb weight at 5120 lbs and tap speed of 97.82 mph rear wheel hp is 374 hp. Very impressive, but (and Tim knows this) he's not getting it to the ground. Using the other equation of curb weight and hp his et Should be 13.93...

The Dakota simply gets it done by weight. Coltons truck weighs a good 700 lbs less than a RCSB and probably has better weight distibution.

This is not pagan magik voodoo, just some simple applied engineering.

You can use this page... http://www.race-cars.net/calculators/et_calculator.html

Or for a bit more fun...http://www.ajdesigner.com/phphorsepo...horsepower.php

[Matt]

i bet colton is closer to 4k

[Okiespaniels]

Weight on various Dakota sites suggests weights around 4130- 4170 ish depending on the post and without driver. So 4200 is pretty legit.

[ramthis9501]

With me in it and with the street wheels and tires, it weighs 4030 lbs. That's also with the tonneau cover, which easily weighs 150ish. But I've decided to leave that on because it helps the tires bite. Once I get my suspension worked out, my 60' times will improve, especially with the et streets. New shocks all the way around will be coming next after the fan. It's all about the launch. If I can get it to hook, I'll be seeing mid 14's easy.

Weighs about 3900 lbs empty.

[Okiespaniels]

Originally Posted by ramthis9501 With me in it and with the street wheels and tires, it weighs 4030 lbs. That's also with the tonneau cover, which easily weighs 150ish. But I've decided to leave that on because it helps the tires bite. Once I get my suspension worked out, my 60' times will improve, especially with the et streets. New shocks all the way around will be coming next after the fan. It's all about the launch. If I can get it to hook, I'll be seeing mid 14's easy. Weighs about 3900 lbs empty.

Ok...makes your RWHP about 258 and your actual et about 14.56. Running with a Hemi truck is viable becaue of your hp/wt ratio, and that it's harder to tame all that extra torque.

[ramthis9501]

Al, I wanna make a point of that calculator real quick. I highly doubt it takes DA and track conditions into play. I would bet that 14.56 would be in the perfect environment, which is almost never the case here in Oklahoma. Now I'm planning on running again in November, so maybe by then with the cooler temps, I'll be running the better numbers

[Okiespaniels]

Well you must remember that these caculations take hard info into consideration. However I have plugged a couple three of my old cars into the equations and the results are quite accurate. Not only do the times agree with the ets but the corrected ets very close.

Example: One '74 Roadrunner, 3800 lbs runs best of 14.3 at 102+ mph. 60 ft times are in the 1.5/ 1.6 range...with street tires! 102 trap speed applied to et calculator shows times should be in the 13/3s...this agrees with the old Direct Connection bible. BTW...the person who purchased the car from me swapped 4:30 gears in place of the 3:91s and started running slicks...
At the same track I ran under probably the same conditions the car now runs 13.2s. Coinkydink? I doubt it. The suspension was set up front and rear to run in the 13s with the exception of gears and slicks.

You're running a 2.12 60 ft with an open rear and street tires correct>? The caculator merely states you should be 3 tenths quicker which is not an astonomical figure. Between reaction time and lack of traction you are losing at least 3/10ths of a second.

Again, my old 'runner is running 1.6 60 ft times with nasty old fiberglass belted L-60/15s I'll give you 2 tenths because your truck is about 200 lbs heavier with driver. That still leaves 3/10s...which on my car I'll contribute to suspension and a sure grip rear end.

If you run your car again with street tires, try to count how many seconds you hear squeal when you leave and deduct about a tenth for every 2 seconds.

EDIT.... Yes your truck will make more power when it's cooler. But the track surface will be cooler too, and if you can't hook up now, you may be slower.

[ramthis9501]

Got the fan installed today. This thing is claimed to move 4000 cfm of air, which sounds kind of ridiculous but it definitely moves a lot! Already noticed a difference in the way the engine temp runs. Used to get hot idling, now it's staying right at 180-185!