Thread: ladder bars

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Have you had the car on a 4 wheel alignment rack, possible that the wheelbase isn't the same from side to side? Possibly compression too soft on one or both of the shocks?

the pan hard bar is level,, it runs from the drivers side axle furthest point to the passenger side frame,, so it should be plenty long enough,, thinking it is in the shocks and springs ,,, the front end needs to be redone also from the steering box down to the spindles all new shocks and springs will be put in along with every thing else,,, this car will run 100 plus and go staight with out any issues .as long as you do not roll over the tires ...it only does it when you are rolling over the tires through ist and 2nd gear ... then you can lift to get it to stop then get back on it AND IT WILL GO STAIAGHT AS AN ARROW after that ,,, that why i thought it was in my posi unit

I take it you're in Lansing, MI.???? Do you have any circle burner buddies up there that would let you get some scale time? A good set of 4 wheel scales will tell you a lot about how the suspension is "loaded". Wish you lived closer, almost sounds to me like something is loading up one side or the other on the car when you launch. Could be mis-matched springs or the shocks themselves.....Does the car always move the same direction when you launch or ? You could also try moving the shocks and springs from side to side on the rear, see which way the car moves then......

I had a similar deal many moons back.....Turned out to be a pin hole in a tranny cooler line that would spray a fine mist of fluid in front of the right rear tire!!!!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I had a similar deal many moons back.....Turned out to be a pin hole in a tranny cooler line that would spray a fine mist of fluid in front of the right rear tire!!!!

Unbelievable!!!! What are the chances??????

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i can get it scaleld,,, i am going to replace the coil over's and shocks on the rear...i hope it will go away after that and yes it always shoot's to the left ... i will do the whole front end suspension also..tuberlar a arms, springs, shocks ,steering box ,tie rods.. going to put all detroit speed parts on it,, steering box will come from hotchkis

I had ladder bars on my pro street Dart years ago. The chassis was built by S&W racecars. I had a good buddy who worked there and was also a racer. He told me how to setup the ladder bars so the car would go straight. I will also say that to do this the car should be on a drive -on lift not a suspended chassis lift as the car must be sitting on all 4 wheels.
You put the weight of the driver in the seat. Then you remove the bolt fro the front of the ladder bar that attaches to the right rear. That bolt must slide in and out with no problem. If it does not ,then using the adjusters until it does is what needs to be done.You need to bring that eyelet up or down so the bolts just slides in. Then you do the exact same thing on the drivers side. Once both sides are adjusted correctly, the car should launch straight. It did for me and it is a PITA to get it done but worth it in the long run.
If you can find a body equal to the weight of the driver, you can pile on tool boxes or whatever to equal the the driver. But that is one of the keys is having the drivers weight in the seat as well as getting those holes lined up.

ok i am going to change out my coil overs this winter... then i will do what you said

Originally Posted by mbabbitt

with the diagonal bar pinion angle is 1 degree my right side is leading by 1/8 th of an inch,,

I'm certainly no expert on ladder bars, but it appears from this statement that the rear is not square with the chassis.

Mike

This is a classic example of a case where its attacked by throwing ideas/parts at it than basics like weight and alignment

ok my shocks are junk ,,, i am thinking someone just threw somting on it and kept all the good stuff ..;;;;how.. do i go about finding out what lenght shocks i need should the ladder bars be level at the ride height then take a measurement from center of the eye lit holes ????????????

Originally Posted by mbabbitt

yes it is tight,,,,,,,,, that is holding my rearend in the center of the car .. in the second pic you can see amother bracket on the top of the rearend.. i can put a panhard bar from there to the frame

Have you ever had tried having the rear of the car off the ground, taken the shocks off and lifted the rear-end up and down throughout the entire travel that it would normally do?

Do this and watch what movement from side-to-side the rear-end does - and watch to see if that right-hand end of the rear-end moves backwards and/or forwards.

i can do that the shocks are off now.. want to put new ones on... how do i now the lenght shock that i need to buy ??????/

Set the rear end at ride height, measure the distance between the upper and lower mounts. With this number, use the chart for Coilovers on Speedway Motors or one of the other suppliers. My personal preference is AFCO coilovers, they work great and have a huge selection of shock valving, coil spring selection, etc. You will also need to know what your vehicle weight is, preferably weighed on individual scales. \

Most buy a spring that is way too heavy, I'd suggest a call to the Tech Department of the company making the shocks, again my preference is AFCO because you will talk with a Technician who understands shocks and not just some guy on a phone bank!!!

Here's a link to some of the information on coilover selection from Speedway Motors;

http://static.speedwaymotors.com/ima...rts/721395.jpg

my rearend is in there square... if i take the bolt out will it move on me