Drag racing suspension mods..suggestions?

[biomedtechguy]

WOW! Thanks for the great video and the information. Here is a video of my 1st trip in this car to the 1/4 mile. No water on this side of the track. Street tires 275 60 15s BF Goodrich Radial T/A. 3.54 Dana 4 speed. Dry burnout, then launch, no line lock.https://youtu.be/bgA0-d2bmX4

 

[Geri]

I've foundthe best,quickest ,cheapest,easiest rear suspension mod is to get the Mopar super stock rear springs. these are biased to make the rear of the car LIFT under acceleration, which means it is planting the tires harder into the pavement. they are not a cure all but they are 100% better than stock springs. as an FYI I purchased a 1963 Plymouth SuperStock new in '63 ,and with 7" slicks it had no wheel spin. from the factory -with 3.90 gears it ran 109 @ 12.60's in the quarter.

 

[HYRDGOON]

WOW! Thanks for the great video and the information. Here is a video of my 1st trip in this car to the 1/4 mile. No water on this side of the track. Street tires 275 60 15s BF Goodrich Radial T/A. 3.54 Dana 4 speed. Dry burnout, then launch, no line lock.https://youtu.be/bgA0-d2bmX4

Don't take any racing advice from me I've never even made it to the track with my car yet but I've always thought when I do I would leave in 2nd.

 

[biomedtechguy]

..."I've always thought when I do I would leave in 2nd."...I really thought about doing that, but I never did. There was a nice 68 GTX there with a 505 six pack. He was running drag radials and Cal Tracks. I believe he was running 11s. I was kinda busy between my car and (I am happy to say) my wife's FIRST time EVER to run her 65 421 TriPower 4 speed GTO at the track too! (She said countless times "I'm never racing my car") She rode along as I drove the GTO down the track the 1st time, I rode along the 2nd time and then left her to do her thing...I couldn't get her off the track. Lol.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Hahaha uh oh sounds like you may have created a monster.

What's your current engine combo?

 

[biomedtechguy]

71 440 stock configuration unknown (only stamp is an upside down A on the pad by the distributor) flat top valve relief pistons, 78 heads that appear stock, Comp Cams springs, locks, and retainers. Purple Stripe cam (unknown which one, sounds healthy-I am guessing it's the 284 and not the 292) Comp Cams hydraulic lifters, TTi 7/8" primary tube headers, Doug's (awesome) electronic cutouts. Chrysler/Edelbrock aluminum 6 bbl intake and I recently rebuilt the center carb with #65 or 66 jets I don't remember, I would have to look them up. Runs great! I shift around 6k.

 

[HYRDGOON]

I've been eyeing up the Doug's cutouts for sometime then I read a bunch of bad reviews saying the motors are too weak and they don't always open... good to hear you like yours! I still think about doing it

 

[daytona kid]

Nice 70RR!, from what I can see! Got any pics or vids a little closer? lol.. My last one was yellow w/black, 4spd, identical to yours. The first cheapest and easiest thing I'd do is just get some tires. Bet you'd gain at least a second without all that spinning and pedaling.

 

[biomedtechguy]

I have only had the Doug's cutouts since October, but I got them because of their unique "guillotine" design. They don't leak at all, are "self cleaning" by design, and when open have absolutely NO obstruction in the exhaust path. Fantastic!

- - - Updated - - -

Nice 70RR!, from what I can see! Got any pics or vids a little closer? lol.. My last one was yellow w/black, 4spd, identical to yours. The first cheapest and easiest thing I'd do is just get some tires. Bet you'd gain at least a second without all that spinning and pedaling.

Here ya go

- - - Updated - - -

I was expecting to be in the 12s in the 1/4 mile, but with all the wheelspin, 13.9 at 102 was my best run that day. I'm sure my 60 ft times were horrible. I put Nitto drag radials on a 89 Conquest TSi I had tweaked and it ran 14.35 at 97, so I am sure that you are right-I should be able to take at least a second off if I can hook and roll.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Very nice car! And the guillotine design is exactly why I was specifically looking at Doug's

 

[daytona kid]

Beautiful! Identical to mine except I didn't have the dust stripe on the side. Got it around 1977 for $400. I had to put a used front cap on it when I bought it, and ended up painting the whole car flat black. Ran low 12s, could have went a lot quicker if I knew then what I know now.

 

[Canyon707]

some new pics of the rear shocks Strange and new tires. The other pics are the old Konis and my old Goodyears

 

[biomedtechguy]

Cool old pic of the Roadrunner. Thanks for the suspension pics, those are ladder bars? and what happened to the leaf springs? I assume the springs on the shocks (struts?) support the weight?

 

[HYRDGOON]

Damn Canyon!

 

[Canyon707]

all done with coil overs shocks and ladder bars. this is strickly drag race car.

 

[Average Joe]

My friend just sent me this the other day. This was the first time I was at the track with my car. I really had no clue what to do!LOL
And Yes I got smoked by the BMW.
[video=youtube;HokHHMcxhpw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HokHHMcxhpw[/video]

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Good info!
Those Spc's look nice. I have Hotchkis Ucas now which relocate geometry but they have heim joints and I am worried about long term wear and they make a clunk sound on tight turns. Also need to remove from car to adjust. I have been thinking of switching out for some firm feel Ucas or QA1's but now the spc's got me thinking again ...

Any downside to caltracs for drags or pro touring?? I heard so many good things but then remember reading about a few exceptions...

Some of the stuff you can get from Summit Racing {lowest price & free shipping}
or Mancini Racing
If your on a budget check out QA1, tubular k-member & tubular adj. upper control arms adj. or not,
even a tubular lower control arm, that has the sway bar mts. even, strut rods or dynamic adj. strut rods...
You can still use stock locations, stock style torsion bars &
stock style steering if need be too,
just more limited on oil pans {prefabbed mass produced headers too}
with stock type rear steer draglink etc.

Not cheap quality {$ wise} but still not as pricey as some of the others,
especially in full kit form....

With the QA1 you can buy a piece at a time if need be, bolt on...

I like the SPC upper control arms {I got from Mancini Racing}
they are double adjustable, even while still on the car, easy peasy...
maybe not as cheap thou $250 ea. IIRC

 

[Budnicks]

I didn't see any downside to CalTrac's Pro-Touring, Cruising street driving
albeit I didn't do much, but I took the preload out mostly for street driving...
Then put it back in at the track, easy adjustment a couple of min.'s...

Yeah there was some naysayer scuttle-butt crap on the -www- a while back
about "alleged" braking & handling disadvantages, it's unwarranted thou...
I didn't see or notice any at all, even with the sliders/rollers in the rear,
replacing the rear shackles, that helped cornering & launch too
it did make a slightly noticeable difference in suspension noise thou,
especially with the solid alum. bushings & the rear sliders/rollers

Calvert/CalTrac's;
they were designed/intended for drag racing use, around NHRA
for rule compliances in certain Super Stock or Stock Eliminator classes
IIRC originally

we'll see with the SPC UCA's, after some time...
I don't foresee "any issues yet"... my famous last words...LOL

 

[Canyon707]

My friend just sent me this the other day. This was the first time I was at the track with my car. I really had no clue what to do!LOL
And Yes I got smoked by the BMW.
[video=youtube;HokHHMcxhpw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HokHHMcxhpw[/video]

Practice Practice Practice. then comes Luck

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

I didn't see any downside to CalTrac's Pro-Touring, Cruising street driving
albeit I didn't do much, but I took the preload out mostly for street driving...
Then put it back in at the track, easy adjustment a couple of min.'s...

Yeah there was some naysayer scuttle-butt crap on the -www- a while back
about "alleged" braking & handling disadvantages, it's unwarranted thou...
I didn't see or notice any at all, even with the sliders/rollers in the rear,
replacing the rear shackles, that helped cornering & launch too
it did make a slightly noticeable difference in suspension noise thou,
especially with the solid alum. bushings & the rear sliders/rollers

Calvert/CalTrac's;
they were designed/intended for drag racing use, around NHRA
for rule compliances in certain Super Stock or Stock Eliminator classes
IIRC originally

we'll see with the SPC UCA's, after some time...
I don't foresee "any issues yet"... my famous last words...LOL

co
Picture shown is the afco slider that does not come with the hardware to fit caltracs.If you have caltracs,buy their slider or you will have to buy the hardware from caltrac,,,,,,,,,how do I know,,,,,,,,,,,,,,