Carl Rossler personally told me never to downshift or shift to neutral when i picked up my trans. He said just to leave it in 3rd, which pretty much feels like neutral anyways. As far as burnout he told me start in 1st or 2nd if possible, then shift to 3rd and rollout, and to not let the tires grab hard.

 

I have always just left my trans in 3rd at the end of a run, get on the brakes, once I am on the return road I put it down into 2nd, but we're talking 10 to 15 mph if that.

Burnout I've always started in 1st and gone to 2nd and rolled out of it easy, this year I'm gonna pull 3rd, and then roll out of it easy after turning the line lock off.

I knwo the tires grabbing hard is not good.... as long as that doesn't happen I don't think you will hurt anything regardless what gear you do the burnout in

 

the best bet is to check with who built your transmission first.

 

I leave the A3's in 3rd, and I downshift to 2nd at the turnoff.

 

We used to have a disply transmission from a big company in the show room. The guy tossed it in "N" the when he went through the traps and the third gear drum went threw the case and half of the dash. Shields do not seem to catch every thing.

When I called the company , and a few others we used parts from, at the time(1994) none of the company's I talked to advised putting them back in "N" after going threw the trap's even with aluminum drum's.

I built him a new trans with what was left over and he raced the rest of the season.

I tend to error on the safe side and I have always gone with that advise

I guess I am wrong but it has been working since then for me.

MADMAN We always need to talk LOL!

 

Mine never had any kind of engine brake action, no matter what the speed or rpm in my TH400 once you let off the gas in 3rg gear it would just go down to idle.

I have shifted through 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the burn out, but it seemed like mine would get on the limiter so quick in 1st gear I just started the burnout in 2nd, then I shifted to 3rd as soon as it was on it's way to 5,000.

I also had a MSD 7-AL3 which had a burnout rev limiter that I set at 6,000 rpm.

 

It really depends on your valve body, some (TCI for example) claim shifting into 2nd after a pass is acceptable. Its on the instructions on their website for a TH400 trans brake valve body if you dont believe me..

Powerglides and TH400s are two different animals, never use first gear or shift 1-2 in a burnout with a TH400 without the intermediate band (99% of RMVBs) and never come out of the water in 2nd.

Powerglide is no big deal shifting 1-2 in the water and depending on the VB its OK to put it in neutral through the lights. Some PG valve bodies have an extra neutral position.

Personally I wouldn't shift into to neutral unless I really had to, if you are spraying water and oil under the back tires it may be wise to get in neutral trying to slow down, but if your shifter isnt designed to do so or you panic and stick in reverse/1st you can cause even bigger problems depending on the trans and valve body.

Lot of bad things can happen trying to do anything at 120mph+, even though my shifter is designed to put it in 2nd and lock there from third and the valve body I have says 2nd gear 'nuetralizes' I wont do it and just leave it in 3rd until the car slows down. I have seen so many bad things happen slowing down at the track it isnt funny, you need to focus 100% on the track and the guy in the other lane instead of farting around with the shifter IMO.

 

Sounds like I am gonna try to start my burnouts in 2nd from now on.

 

Yeah... I know a lot of Th400 guys say dont even do a burnout in first because its so bad on everything... Everyone I know always starts in second.

 

I've always started in first, noone ever really told me to start in 2nd.

Learned something useful on here today, my tranny will probably love me for it!

 

it shocks the tranny on a 1-2 shift spinning. can actually scare up the drum pretty bad.
i killed two trannys pretty quick, and im guessing this is the culprit. ive had my ptc in for over a year now and i beat the living hell out of it.
5k stall on the street and whatnot. tranny is stil kicking and shifting better than new.
(knock on wood now)

 

Mine still shifts nic and hard, I've always got the tires spinnign in 1st, not alot of rpm just enough to get the tires turning and quickly pulled 2nd, and then brought her up to 5500 to 6000, and then just turned the lien lock off and rolled out of it easy.

Video in my sig has it captured.

Next trip, I will try starting the burnout in 2nd the first run, if the car will get the tires spinning that way then I will make it common pratice, and just pull 3rd for a second and then flip the line lock off and roll out fo the throttle.

 

same exact thing that I do... I'm to worried about slowing down to think about downshifting or any of that bullshit.. lol

 

If I can start in 2nd you should be able to, I was running a 33x16.5, it's a pretty big tire.

 

Is this 1-2 spinning shift or starting a burnout in 1st equally destructive to a th350 as opposed to a th400?

 

To be honest, I've never tried. I'm sure if I stab the gas hard enough they will just go up in smoke, I will try it the next tiem I'm out. I always get the tires just turning in 1st then pull 2nd and get on it, then flip the line lock off and pull thru/ease off the gas. Video in my sig the kid caught my burnout and whole run, that's how I have been doing it, but I will try the starting in second, and pull 3rd for a second too.

 

Can someone explain why it's so bad to start a burn out in 1rst gear please? Is it equally bad to launch in 1rst gear or is it because there is more of a load on the tranny launching it's not bad?

 

i was told by several tranny builders that the spinning, then the sudden shock of a shift change can deform the drum.

 

I leave it 3rd, then shift into second on the return road. No problems yet.

 

Ok, just wondering. So I guess having the extra load on it when launching is not as hard on the tranny when shifting? I don't know jack about trannies so I'll just do the 2-3 gear burn out like everyone recomends ...