Hitting transbrake by mistake

[kod99]

I was wondering what would happen if you hit the transbrake button by mistake while driving in the pits? I have a butterfly steering wheel on my dragster and a micro switch transbrake button. While returning to the pits, and turning the wheel my thumb accidently hit the transbrake button. The throttle pedal started to drop toward the floor (I have an SLE on the car). The engine RPM didn't change and I quickly hit the master switch to shut the engine down. What would have happened had I not shut down immediately?

[slowmotion]

I was strapped in going through the staging lanes putting on my gloves. Our lanes curve as the get to the head of staging. I reached down with a glove in my hand to turn and accidently hit the button.
It about jerked my head off of my shoulders as the rear tires locked up. It caught me by surprise. After a second it released and I went on my way.

[johnracer]

I've done that before too. Other than feeling like a goober, no issues.......
Johnny

[kwkracing]

One of my good friends hit the button on accident around 75mph!!! It locked the rear wheels up, Broke the whole back of the engine off and the poweglide came off with it! He skidded to a stop and was safe, just did alot of damage

[curtisreed]

One of my good friends hit the button on accident around 150mph!!! It locked the rear wheels up, Broke the whole back of the engine off and the poweglide came off with it! He skidded to a stop and was safe, just did alot of damage

How did it lock up in high gear?

[TheRabbit]

I've done it several times by hitting it with my forearm while trying to turn really sharp. Mine in 4-wheel drive so it's like running into a wall when it locks down all 4 tires! Makes you look really stupid!
Trans button is also hard to hold onto it while backing up and turning a bunch.
I solved that by putting a toggle switch in line so I just flip it and back wherever I want no more problems!

[kwkracing]

Well i dont know how it happend exactly, but when it was all over he said he accidetally hit the button on the wheel with his right hand. I dont know the fluid flow , but when in high gear possible when the solenoid is engaged it redirects fluid? Maybe it locked 1st and 2nd gear on at the same time? I dunno?

Maybe some tranny guys could answer this? Is it Physically possible to stop the car with the trans by hitting the brake in second? Or did something else happen and he thought he hit the button?

[slowmotion]

Well i dont know how it happend exactly, but when it was all over he said he accidetally hit the button on the wheel with his right hand. I dont know the fluid flow , but when in high gear possible when the solenoid is engaged it redirects fluid? Maybe it locked 1st and 2nd gear on at the same time? I dunno?

Maybe some tranny guys could answer this? Is it Physically possible to stop the car with the trans by hitting the brake in second? Or did something else happen and he thought he hit the button?

I've heard of it happening before. I think it may depend on the brand of brake. I know mine will not work in high gear because it will roll through the beams if you accidently leave it in 2nd.

[curtisreed]

Well i dont know how it happend exactly, but when it was all over he said he accidetally hit the button on the wheel with his right hand. I dont know the fluid flow , but when in high gear possible when the solenoid is engaged it redirects fluid? Maybe it locked 1st and 2nd gear on at the same time? I dunno?

Maybe some tranny guys could answer this? Is it Physically possible to stop the car with the trans by hitting the brake in second? Or did something else happen and he thought he hit the button?

Does he shift into neutral at the end of a pass?

[TopspeedLowet]

I use a th400 that coan sells called a big dog with a reverse valve body. I have had thoughts of what may happen if I accidentally activated the brake during a run because I do not use a delay box to break the circuit after activation, so the whole run is with the switch hot on the wheel. Craig, at Coan told me that there valving set up ( and I am sure most others as well) the brake activation will dump the oil pressure to the forward clutch pack and torque converter while in third gear if accidental activation occurs. He said that if under full power, you will torch the forward clutch pack with the pressure loss that the brake activation will cause. I use to turn off the power switch between the 2/3 shift back when I ran 8.00 Et quarter mile times. When I started going faster I did not have the time to turn off the switch between gear changes. Steering was more important and that is why I asked Coan (what if)
You were asking about in the pit's in first gear, well the brake works in first so if you had enough rpm in first an activated it I believe you will know why the scatter shield on the top of the trans. It will explode when the gear set comes to a sudden stop with lots of rpms in first. At a very slow speed, the gears are not going fast enough to explode like it would at the end of the 60' under full throttle if you reactivated it in a run while still in first gear.

Bruce

[hammertime]

I've hit the button in a buddies car at about 100mph in low gear, button was close to the edge of the indy wheel talk about stopping in a hurry !!

Its not possible to go on the brake in 2nd gear unless its a high gear only brake ... which is VERY uncommon but they do make them

[Tod74]

I've hit the button in a buddies car at about 100mph in low gear, button was close to the edge of the indy wheel talk about stopping in a hurry !!

Its not possible to go on the brake in 2nd gear unless its a high gear only brake ... which is VERY uncommon but they do make them

Did you crash? You are alive so I guess it could have been worse...

[hammertime]

I've hit the button in a buddies car at about 100mph in low gear, button was close to the edge of the indy wheel talk about stopping in a hurry !!

Its not possible to go on the brake in 2nd gear unless its a high gear only brake ... which is VERY uncommon but they do make them

Did you crash? You are alive so I guess it could have been worse...

I did not .. not to sound like a pro but someone that hadnt been crossed up before in a digger would of slapped a wall that day

I felt horrible being it wasnt my car until we figured out what is was.. and then i found out the lockout was off on tbrake in box

[kod99]

I've hit the button in a buddies car at about 100mph in low gear, button was close to the edge of the indy wheel talk about stopping in a hurry !!

Its not possible to go on the brake in 2nd gear unless its a high gear only brake ... which is VERY uncommon but they do make them

I am not as concerned about hitting the button during a run as it is far enough away from my thumb. My main concern is while in the pits. Sometimes a guy has to make a few forward and reverse moves to get parked and, I worry that, if I accidentally hit the switch while in first gear, the car would begin it's launch sequence. I did hit the button accidentally once and realized it when the gas pedal dropped to the floor. I shut the car down real quick. My box is set to launch 1.02 seconds after releasing the button. That's not much time if a guy doesn't realize right away that he accidentally hit and released the transbrake button.
It does sound like it can't happen in second gear, so maybe I should always be in second in the pits instead of first.
You would think, if it was possible to accidentally "launch" the car in the pits, you would hear of it happening once or twice.

[TheRabbit]

If you hit it by mistake just wait for it to release. I wouldn't put it in 2nd driving around.

[hammertime]

I've hit the button in a buddies car at about 100mph in low gear, button was close to the edge of the indy wheel talk about stopping in a hurry !!

Its not possible to go on the brake in 2nd gear unless its a high gear only brake ... which is VERY uncommon but they do make them

I am not as concerned about hitting the button during a run as it is far enough away from my thumb. My main concern is while in the pits. Sometimes a guy has to make a few forward and reverse moves to get parked and, I worry that, if I accidentally hit the switch while in first gear, the car would begin it's launch sequence. I did hit the button accidentally once and realized it when the gas pedal dropped to the floor. I shut the car down real quick. My box is set to launch 1.02 seconds after releasing the button. That's not much time if a guy doesn't realize right away that he accidentally hit and released the transbrake button.
It does sound like it can't happen in second gear, so maybe I should always be in second in the pits instead of first.
You would think, if it was possible to accidentally "launch" the car in the pits, you would hear of it happening once or twice.

you should never be in 2nd in the pits ....

only time that car should be in low gear is when your going to stage :D

[curtisreed]

you should never be in 2nd in the pits ....

only time that car should be in low gear is when your going to stage :D
:?: :?: :?:

[hammertime]

you should never be in 2nd in the pits ....

only time that car should be in low gear is when your going to stage :D
:?: :?: :?:


just for the very reason we are talking about .. transbrake will not come on in second and NO reason to be in 1st

[zipper06]

I'm a little confused here. My trans has an electric shift valve body, and you have to push the button to back up. But if you are in low gear, it doesn't change the throttle peddle at all. In other words unless you step on the gas the rpms never change. Must be the way the MSD is wired that causes this to happen. My trans brake button will come on anytime i push it however it does not lock up in high gear (PG) I did have a manuel turbo 400 that would come on and i did accidently hit it one time, it wasn't funny at about 100 ft. out. That why i now have my trans brake button behind the shifter and no where close to the steering wheel.

JMO

Zip.

[hammertime]

I'm a little confused here. My trans has an electric shift valve body, and you have to push the button to back up. But if you are in low gear, it doesn't change the throttle peddle at all. In other words unless you step on the gas the rpms never change. Must be the way the MSD is wired that causes this to happen. My trans brake button will come on anytime i push it however it does not lock up in high gear (PG) I did have a manuel turbo 400 that would come on and i did accidently hit it one time, it wasn't funny at about 100 ft. out. That why i now have my trans brake button behind the shifter and no where close to the steering wheel.

JMO

Zip.


Zip he has a SLE and they loose all pedal when transbrake is applied and then go full throttle when transbrake comes on. The best way to make sure it doesnt go full throttle is just pull back on the pedal when it looses feeling (unless you have one that keep pressure down to the floor because some do this). The best saftey is to make sure you just have it in 2nd gear the brake should no engage this way.

[curtisreed]

you should never be in 2nd in the pits ....

only time that car should be in low gear is when your going to stage :D
:?: :?: :?:


just for the very reason we are talking about .. transbrake will not come on in second and NO reason to be in 1st

Ok, the way you wrote it the first time is what confused me. Never in 2nd in the pits only in low at the line. No gears left that way if its a pg. :)

Curtis

[hammertime]

you should never be in 2nd in the pits ....

only time that car should be in low gear is when your going to stage :D
:?: :?: :?:


just for the very reason we are talking about .. transbrake will not come on in second and NO reason to be in 1st

Ok, the way you wrote it the first time is what confused me. Never in 2nd in the pits only in low at the line. No gears left that way if its a pg. :)

Curtis
sorry was typing in a hurry there

[curtisreed]

My problem is I can type faster than my brain can work sometimes. :D :D

Curtis

[kod99]

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't want to "bump" into anybody in the pits or the staging lanes.

[tazracing]

If the transbrake is hook up right it will only come on in low gear so if you hit at 150 mph i would hope your in high gear.

[outlaw28]

Ok i have just heard about something i do not know about so i have to ask and hopefully get a awnser ? What is this product that takes the pedal to the floor when the transbrake is activated and not bring the rpms up until the transbrake is released ? Or how does it work and where do you get it?

[Tod74]

Ok i have just heard about something i do not know about so i have to ask and hopefully get a awnser ? What is this product that takes the pedal to the floor when the transbrake is activated and not bring the rpms up until the transbrake is released ? Or how does it work and where do you get it?

"starting line enhancer" I don't know if it is a actual device of it's own..but it is a feature in some delay boxes. They use them with a throtle stop . Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[curtisreed]

Ok i have just heard about something i do not know about so i have to ask and hopefully get a awnser ? What is this product that takes the pedal to the floor when the transbrake is activated and not bring the rpms up until the transbrake is released ? Or how does it work and where do you get it?

It is called a "starting line enhancer" as Tod wrote. It's an air cylinder that connects the throttle to the carb. Your delay box allows you to hit a button and the cylinder extends so your foot is on the floor and the engine is at an idle or just above. It can go to full throttle in two different ways depending on what type of racing you are doing. If you are pro tree racing it will open the throttle when you activate your transbrake, or if sportsman tree it will go full usually .8 of a second before the transbrake releases.

It really makes it easy to stage and concentrate on the tree using one.

Curtis

[outlaw28]

Thanks guys for the input i will have to check on this dont think my sanction will let me run this ?