I know this is a newbie question but as far as drag slicks go i guess I am.I just received a set of 28x9x15 m/t et drags from a friend with only a few passes and tons of tread left.He mentioned and I heard before that the 28"tire could kill my gear.Which I`m assuming makes my 3.42 a numericly higher(but closer to a 3.08 lets say?)Is that what they`re talking about?I got the tires for free without asking or implying just said he wouldnt use them on his 55.Hes pretty much given up racing cause of age but still has plenty off bad a$$ cars.I guess I should have asked him but I was so excited he gave them to me I threw them in the back of my truck as fast as I politely could.Ive been wanting some for awhile but something always came up I had to spend money on.So how big a differance will the taller tires make.Anyway I searched and only found a couple threads that didnt really explain.Sorry i`m uneducated here.

Run'em and have fun. I switched from a 26" to a 28" and didn't really seem to hurt anything with my combo.

Just curious cause I`m not making a a whole lot of power.Didnt want to kill my time .I did barrow a set of 28`s before and noticed my 60` was about the same as when i had a 2.73 and had a good launch with no spin.Both in the 1.9`s.Thats the main reason I wonder.

the mt 28x9 is only 27.3 tall, if that makes you feel any better. my car picked hafe a tenth in 60 feet changing from a 26 to a 28. good luck and have fun

Don't expect used slicks to have great traction. They'll be better than street tires but used slicks are usually sold off for a reason if there's still rubber on them. They're probably old and dried out and don't hook up as well as a new slick so the owner sells/gives them away and buys new ones. If I had a good tire sponsor, I'd get new slicks every year if I could. I've got 2 years on my current slicks but won't make it though all of next season on them. 100-200 passes and they're completely worn out.

Run the taller tire. If performance drops off, upgrade to deeper gears. A tall tire gives a longer footprint on the ground. A single point on the tire will stay in contact with the ground longer which will improve traction compared to a short tire. To be geared properly for 1/4 mile racing, you want the shift light to come on at or just before the finish line while in high gear (not OD).

I started with a 26" tall slick and 3.27 gears. After numerous gear and tire swaps over the years, I'm now up to 32" tall and 4.86 gears and still shift at roughly the same RPM. Actually, in the early days, I was shifting at 7000. I shift my current engine at 7500.

Factory tires are roughly 26" tall. Putting 28" tall tires on the car will change the speedo calibration. Because the taller tire will have less revolutions per mile, the speedo will say you're going slower than you really are.

You normally want to run the tallest tire you can, has a larger footprint. If you find the car is bogging a little put some more air in them. I run Hoosiers now, and when I ran a smaller tire I found they liked more air than most guys run.

They are used but only have a few passes on them.He said they are a couple years old but you can tell they still have plenty of tread left.Cant you look in the little holes to tell?If so they`re barely used at all.And I was planning on using them anyways cause I new they had to be better than my street tires and what the hall they`re free.Thanks for all the replies guys.Now I just got to figure out why my panhard rod broke and get a new one.Got it off e bay like 4 years ago go figure.Stock one lasted almost 20 years.

The age factor still applies to a drag tire no matter how many passes it might have. If it's old, the compounds will have dried up and the tire wont work as well as new. At your power level though, you'll be fine. Even with mine being 3 or 4 years old now, they still work decent enough for me. I'll probably end up getting new ones next year.