wheel stand???

fonteyn87

New Member
Joined
May 5, 2010
Newbie here....about how many horsepower does it take to get the front wheels off the ground?
 
After reading..

Newbie here....about how many horsepower does it take to get the front wheels off the ground?

your other post on "twin turbos", and now this, it sounds like it's time for the "flag" to come out....
 
Newbie here....about how many horsepower does it take to get the front wheels off the ground?
Not much really. I do it all the time with my 2.5 ton floor jack. I give it about 5 good grunts and they both come up. They stay up too.
 
Not Much!

A good floor jack will usually accomplish this with proper placement and just a little effort on the users part. Get a GOOD quality jack and you could probably do it with one hand.:p To get an accurate horsepower rating would be difficult because of the "human" factor and the use of actual "horses" would not be required.:biggrin:

But seriously............there is more than just "horsepower" involved. Suspension and traction probably play bigger roles than just HP! Welcome to the site!:) Do lots of reading and check out the "search" fuction while researching. The forums are full fo good information and an occasional smart A$$.:)
 
I've also found 2,000 lbs in the trunk and a good ole' 4000 rpm neutral drop gets it done as well.
 
wheelies only slow down your forward momentum. instead of pushing the car forward, your pushing it up. properly dialed in suspension will not wheelstand near as high as slop suspension. What are you looking for? cool factor?
 
Actually, torque is what makes that happen. Horsepower is a calculation of torque over time. :)
 
wheelies only slow down your forward momentum. instead of pushing the car forward, your pushing it up. properly dialed in suspension will not wheelstand near as high as slop suspension. What are you looking for? cool factor?

ya our 9 sec street car doesn't pull the wheels .. really disappointing :p BUT I do agree to the "cool guy" look :biggrin: Just not us .
 
Lets do the math:
Ex. 3000lb car that has 50/50 wt. distribution and produces 400 ft. lb. of torque. The car has a Powerglide with a 1.82 low gear and a 4.88 rear gear.Torque multiplying factor is 2:1 (normal for a stock converter). Center of gravity is 19" and the whee base is 108"

Will the car wheel stand? First find the Drive Wheel Torque:
1) DWT= (engine torque x converter multiplication x first gear ratio x rear gear ratio x .85 (accounts for friction loss))
400ft lbs. x 2.0 x 1.82 x 4.88 x .85 = 6039.488 ft lbs (lets call it 6040)

2) Need to now know drive wheel thrust: wt.= DWT/TRR (total rolling radius)
The car has a 32" tall tire so we take half the diameter 16/12 = 1.33ft
wt= 6040ft lbs./1.33ft. = 4541.35 lbs. So we have 4541.35 lbs. of force pushing the car off the line.

3) G-force applied= WT/car wt. G-force = 4541lbs./3000lbs. (Car wt.) = 1.51G's

4) Longitudinal wt transfer =
Vehicle wt. x Center of Gravity height x G Force/wheel base
3000lbs x 19 inches x 1.51G's/108WB = 796.94
So now we know that we have 798.94 lbs. of weight transfer from the front to the back; the car is 3000 lbs and has a 50/50 wt. distribution which is 1500 lbs on the front. With a weight transfer of 796.94 lbs we can predict this car will not wheel stand. I learned this at a Dave Morgan suspension class.
Jeff (I definitely have too much time on my hands. I need a 12 step program immediately)
 
gears+stall+traction+several hundred pounds of weight in the back of the trunk= wheel stand.
 
Lets do the math:
Ex. 3000lb car that has 50/50 wt. distribution and produces 400 ft. lb. of torque. The car has a Powerglide with a 1.82 low gear and a 4.88 rear gear.Torque multiplying factor is 2:1 (normal for a stock converter). Center of gravity is 19" and the whee base is 108"

Will the car wheel stand? First find the Drive Wheel Torque:
1) DWT= (engine torque x converter multiplication x first gear ratio x rear gear ratio x .85 (accounts for friction loss))
400ft lbs. x 2.0 x 1.82 x 4.88 x .85 = 6039.488 ft lbs (lets call it 6040)

2) Need to now know drive wheel thrust: wt.= DWT/TRR (total rolling radius)
The car has a 32" tall tire so we take half the diameter 16/12 = 1.33ft
wt= 6040ft lbs./1.33ft. = 4541.35 lbs. So we have 4541.35 lbs. of force pushing the car off the line.

3) G-force applied= WT/car wt. G-force = 4541lbs./3000lbs. (Car wt.) = 1.51G's

4) Longitudinal wt transfer =
Vehicle wt. x Center of Gravity height x G Force/wheel base
3000lbs x 19 inches x 1.51G's/108WB = 796.94
So now we know that we have 798.94 lbs. of weight transfer from the front to the back; the car is 3000 lbs and has a 50/50 wt. distribution which is 1500 lbs on the front. With a weight transfer of 796.94 lbs we can predict this car will not wheel stand. I learned this at a Dave Morgan suspension class.
Jeff (I definitely have too much time on my hands. I need a 12 step program immediately)

This is the type of math word problem I wish they taught back in school ;)
 
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