Traction Action

Hiya,

Well, the good news is we fond a new strip to play on at US 36 Raceway near Osborne Missouri only a 100 mile trip! Yay!

Anyway, this strip is slipperier than snot through a goose. I think they season the asphalt with Crisco Oil and coat it with apple butter just to give it that just dragged on look.

Well, we decided that it's either that or Topukea so we're going for the trail Of Smears.

So, we are getting traction bars for our coil spring 8.5 chevy rear end.

The question is,

How much air gap is between the snubbers and the frame? Keep in mind these traction bars are adjustable? :whacked:

I remember on those type of suspensions a advantage of aftermarket trailing arms to improve traction.For traction bars,I would set them different for the street over at the track.

Mount a videocam up under there so you can see what the pieces are doin'.

all your control arms all have rubber bushing like stock ? if so i would think for the track not much of any air gap. for the street /strip cars i use a hard plastic or make up new out of aluminum. but thats me .you may want to look in to the energy suspension stuff and box the stock arms if not box. thats the start of it

I looked up aftermarket trailing arms for him in Jegs and Summit.Man the pricing got scarey in a hurray.Don't know if they are special length for lift or not.So the suggestion to have those stock ones box welded seems to be the cheapest way to go if not for nothing strength.

IMO the old style ladder bars that Comp Engineering and other companies used to make are going to be a whole lot more consistent then a traction bar. The launch is much more consistent and can easily be tuned in with a pair of shocks on the rear that have adjustable rebound. With a big heavy, long wheelbase car the added leverage of a longer bar will also aid in weight transfer!

car is a stock 4 link why not make that work? i seen sleeper cars run with this set up in the 11s ez

Main reason, it's a slippery track---going to take a long bar and good shocks to make it a consistent car. Reinforced stock bars or aftermarket lowers work great on a good track with some Thundertrack sprayed out a couple hundred feet or so, but slippery tracks take a bit of help to get a consistent bite. Many years ago I ran a '67 GTO on a similar slippery track, long bars and light rebound shocks worked great.

there is more then one way to skin a cat as a loose track yep not sure on the apple butter deal. i have a 632 in a gto that can hook on the street and pull tires up and off the road not to bad.i seen a way over srayed delta 88 run 11s stock mount points stock rear end . at ubly that was not the best track at that time

Hiyall,

The traction bars we were thinking of are Competition Engineering "C 2111". On the Summit Racing site they are $249. Bout the same price at our local speed shop too. We'll hafta empty out the kids college fund but that's OK since we got no kids yet.

The stinking four links are old rubber stocks so as soon as I can find if urathane ones exist we'll change em.

The problem is that the launch is screwey since the rear end hops like a deranged bunny rabbit. Tries to shatter the rear window loose. We did allwe could do with the tires I.E., let all the air out of them. but they still squeal off the line and between 2-3rd gear lets out one last squeal. If I hit the spray too early then I loose all traction and well, I hang my head in shame. I just can't think of any other fix other than the traction bars. Hopefully it will at least stop the wheel hop.
If they work I can hit the nitrous in second gear. That would be fun. Otherwise I loose too much time.

I've got to get consistent launches or I may as well not even bother. Then I shall perish without a wimper.

yep you will help your self alot to get the old rubber bushing out .making a call to energy suspension and see what they have if not find the old man in town that owns a lathe you can make up bushing

Hi Pat McCarthy,

At first I didn't think messing with those old links would do any good but the more I got thinking, The more it made sense. If those links were tight then they would do the same as traction bars. But OK, so I find something that works in their place.

But, I still got to qualify on Saturday. What to do...

Now, I hafta admit I have air shocks on the car. Someone told me that they are a no-no for drags.

What if I replaced them with drag shocks?
Would they also help the traction?
I really need to get a grip....

Shocks are often the most overlooked part of suspension, and probably the most "tuneable" part you can add to it!!!!!!

Slippery tracks, or tracks that you just flat overpower require a shock with adjustable rebound.....As the day warms up, the rebound needs to be softened up to maintain the grip! What works in time trials in the morning with a 75 degree track isn't going to work in eliminations that afternoon when the track temps is 115 degrees! Shocks are the easiest way to keep the suspension dialed in to track conditions. Some 90-10 "easy up" shocks on the front will help a lot, too! When you're doing bushings, some urethene bushings in the front (with a grease zerk added in) will really free up the front suspension movement and help with weight transfer!

Hiya Dave,

Well, I went and done it.

I just ordered 2 adjustable drag shocks and 2 variable rate coil springs from Summit racing. The old springs were well, old which is why I had the air shocks in the first place.

I allready put urathane bushings in the front control arms and the sway bar. I have gas shocks in the front .They'll hafta do for now.

The next chore will be to find bushings for the rear links at least.

But i'm hoping for favorable grip on Saturday. I hope I did right.

Shocks are important, the worse the track conditions the more important they are!

I looked at the aftermarket trailing arms on Summit Racing and after looking at the prices I need to change my underwear now.

I can just change the bushings, they seem to have some selection. Question is, do I put in solid ones or urathane bushings? I still hafta drive the cat to work as it's still our only ride. But solid ones may be as good as traction bars.

I bought a cheap wire feed flux welder at Harbor Freight. But i'm not sure if I can weld on that thick metal. If so I can box my own arms and save a few bucks we don't have anymore.

How about I cradle solid rods in the pockets and hose clamp them ... nawww guess not.

Since it is still the daily driver, do the urethane. Boxing the arms should be a good project to practice on. Metal is thick enough to get good penetration even with a small welder. Just practice on some similar thickness material BEFORE you do it for real. Once you're confident that you can run a decent bead, go for it!

Yeah, the flux welder seems to be a good deal, I ddi my quarter fenders with one similar.Well, I suppose i'll find out soon if I can weld a decent bead cause i'm going for it!

Well, the shocks came Yay! Now I got some new stickers to put on the car.

However, when I opened the box the shock said "Drag racing only Not for street use." Now, how am I suppose to get to work if I can't use the car? Does it mean the shocks will blow up on the street? my mechanical recurve kit said the same thing and it's produced no adverse effects. It looks to me like a plain old fashioned shock. Can someone advise me on this before I get em greasy and can't return them?

Also, in the event I can street strip em anyway, what adjustment should I use?

R=50/50
F=40/60
XF=30/70

The first numbers are is compression, How much the shock drops, Of course the second is extension, how much the shock returns. At the beginning of the event I have terrible wheel hop. After that the tires slip all night.

I don't have front shocks yet. They are just replacement gas shocks I bought. I don't know it's ratio.

Also, I'm changing the rear coil springs on the rear to a variable rate "Load Carrying" spring that gets stiffer as the car rear drops. That's so I can pull trailers if I had one. This takes the place of the air shocks i'm taking off. I might even block up the springs with spacers as well. I donnou, I want enough room to put the Mickey Thomsons in I don't have yet.

Well, i'm not going to do anything until I know something. But I must be race ready by Saturday if i'm gonna be in a series this year.

PS, Hey, I can take out my back seat for racing now! no tools required just lift em out like a dead pizza! They interlock and are perfectly safe for passenger use. It's the best of both worlds. I can have em in for accidents or kids are be accident free for racing. I thought I was a genius for figuring this one up but who am I kidding? You can take seats out of minivans too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Good Wrench

Well, the shocks came Yay! Now I got some new stickers to put on the car.

However, when I opened the box the shock said "Drag racing only Not for street use." Now, how am I suppose to get to work if I can't use the car? Does it mean the shocks will blow up on the street? my mechanical recurve kit said the same thing and it's produced no adverse effects. It looks to me like a plain old fashioned shock. Can someone advise me on this before I get em greasy and can't return them?

Also, in the event I can street strip em anyway, what adjustment should I use?

R=50/50
F=40/60
XF=30/70

The first numbers are is compression, How much the shock drops, Of course the second is extension, how much the shock returns. At the beginning of the event I have terrible wheel hop. After that the tires slip all night. .

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Sounds like the usual "disclaimer" stuff to me as they are giving you 3 different settings! The 50/50 should be for street use, the others for the track. DON'T forget to reset them when changing the cars use! Of course, ymmy, imho, fwiw, yada yad yada.. :LOL:

I think I figured out why those drag shocks ain't for the street. I just realized that they have no dust covers,so the piston rod is exposed to the elements. Well, I guess I hafta WD-40 it on occasion. After my butcher job on the inside the car FEELS lighter even Mrs GW thinks so.

Them trailing arms don't need replacing. There's reinforcement halfway up the bottom ones for that sway bar they have in. Sooo, just bushings I guess.

So, I guess i'll find out Saturday if I did right.