Nitromater

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What's with this new reverser thing?

Sounds, by the way that Capps described it, almost like a lockout like on the 2 speed shifters.... Push the reverser lever forward, hold forward, engage lever/button, continue to push reverser lever forward to the stop... Car is now in "true neutral"
 
Just a hunch from your description that the reverser now has a true neutral
to prevent accidents like Troxels last year when the engine fired up being pushed by the four wheeler.

Sounds, by the way that Capps described it, almost like a lockout like on the 2 speed shifters.... Push the reverser lever forward, hold forward, engage lever/button, continue to push reverser lever forward to the stop... Car is now in "true neutral"
 
The neutral has been around for a while, it came about when the clutch packs started welding themselves together, and they couldn't get the cars off the track...
 
No every big show nitro car has to have them. On the top fuel car that has a rob Moore reverser there is a lock out you pull that puts it in neutral. This way if the clutch is welded together when the safety safari pushes you off the track the motor isn't turning over and could fire.
 
All TF and FC (and others) reversers have had a neutral position for some time. It is a spring loaded pin that needed to be pulled in order to engage (actually release) the reverser planetary into a true neutral position. What hey have added is the ability for the driver to put the reverser in neutral by using a small air cylinder incorporated into the pull pin to disengage the reverser while still maintaining the manual operation of the pin. Sounds complex, actually it is quite simple. This allow the car to be pushed off the track without the engine spinning in the event the clutch has 'welded' itself together. Thus helping to eliminate an unwanted restart if any unburnt fuel remains in the lines.
 
Sounds like Wilkerson is a big fan of the new setup! /sarc :D
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the car wasn't allowed to run if the driver couldn't get the thing in reverse. Like what happened to Force @Reading 2010.
 
The button on the side of the reverser had to be pulled out and most of the time the car needed to be rocked back and forth to get the reverser into reverse. Then you had a true neutral and wouldn't have any chance of a Troxel incident. The problem was that the driver needed to unbuckle his/her seatbelts to reach it. Now we have an air powered solenoid that pops the button out for us by flicking a switch we can reach in the cockpit. Then all you have to do is get the car rocked back and forth a bit, stick it in reverse, and it's in neutral. I talked to Timmy after the first round and it sounds like the switch got accidentally pushed (maybe when he got strapped in?) and then after his burnout, when he put it in reverse, it went into neutral.
 
The button on the side of the reverser had to be pulled out and most of the time the car needed to be rocked back and forth to get the reverser into reverse. Then you had a true neutral and wouldn't have any chance of a Troxel incident. The problem was that the driver needed to unbuckle his/her seatbelts to reach it. Now we have an air powered solenoid that pops the button out for us by flicking a switch we can reach in the cockpit. Then all you have to do is get the car rocked back and forth a bit, stick it in reverse, and it's in neutral. I talked to Timmy after the first round and it sounds like the switch got accidentally pushed (maybe when he got strapped in?) and then after his burnout, when he put it in reverse, it went into neutral.

After that happens, is there any way possible to get it back into drive?
 
Sounds, by the way that Capps described it, almost like a lockout like on the 2 speed shifters.... Push the reverser lever forward, hold forward, engage lever/button, continue to push reverser lever forward to the stop... Car is now in "true neutral"

There is no "2 Speed" shifter on a AA fuel car. It has forward and reverse. In forward, the reverser is basically a coupler, and in reverse it is gear reduced.
 
There is no "2 Speed" shifter on a AA fuel car. It has forward and reverse. In forward, the reverser is basically a coupler, and in reverse it is gear reduced.

Yeah, I know this Bross... That's not the two speed I was talking about in reference to my comment. I was talking about the two speeds you find in the other 90% of drag racing vehicles that are required to have a lockout...

I'm also old enough to remember when AA Fuel cars DID have a two speed. WITH a lever. :D
 
That's funny I'm old enough to remember direct drive, no reverser, and no starter and the T/F cars were 1000lbs lighter and 100mph slower.
 
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