You're Staged. Your engine's rpm climbs. The Christmas Tree begins to flash. In the wink of an eye your tires plant hard. It's taken months of fine-tuning your Chevy's suspension for optimum bite. But have you checked everything? Sure, your slicks are soft and sticky after a burnout, but are they twisting on the rims? With the force applied to tires designed to enhance dragstrip performance, the tire can often rotate from its original position.
The solution to keeping them in the same location they were in when they came off the tire-mounter is to pin them to the rim. With a few hour's time, a Moroso wheel-rim screw kit, and some common tools, you can ensure that your slicks will stay where you put them. To show how easy this is, we've outlined the basic steps of drilling your rims and included a cool tip to make sure the hole placement is symmetrical. Here's how it's done.
The Moroso kit includes 35...
The Moroso kit includes 35 grade-8 self-tapping ¼x¾-inch steel fasteners. We got ours from Summit Racing for $11.95.
With a sheet of newspaper,...
With a sheet of newspaper, a drill, a 13/64-inch bit, a felt-tip pen, and scissors, you have everything necessary to begin making symmetrical marks to drill through.
Place the rim on top of the...
Place the rim on top of the newspaper and scribe a mark around the edge...
...and simply cut along the...
...and simply cut along the line to make a complete circle.
Fold the cut-out paper circle...
Fold the cut-out paper circle in half and repeat the folds two more times so you have a pie-shaped piece.
On the folded newspaper, make...
On the folded newspaper, make one mark at the halfway spot between the two corners. For accuracy, measure the distance across and divided by two. Then pierce one hole through the paper at this location.
Unfold the paper and lay it...
Unfold the paper and lay it on the rim. Make marks at each hole around the rim with the felt tip pen and then flip the rim over and repeat.
In preparation for drilling,...
In preparation for drilling, apply a center punch to each of the eight pen marks on the rim. Repeat this procedure on the other side of the rim.
Mount the tire. After tightening...
Mount the tire. After tightening the Moroso wheel-rim screws (with a 3/8-inch socket) into the tire's bead, you're ready for action. The screw is long enough to pierce the tire bead but not pass all the way through. Screws that are too long will cause air to escape, even when tubes are used.