Pinion snubber or no Pinion snubber??

[Badbelvedere]

As of right now I do not have a pinion snubber that works that is because I moved my rear end back 1 7/8" to make room for tire height. I am pulling 1.33 60ft with ss leaf springs, I have an adjustable snubber but it is not hitting the floor pan so before I went through all that work of welding an extension so my snubber would hit I would ask you all if it is worth it or not. I know my rear end is rolling so much that my shocks are getting beat up because they are hitting the axle tubes.

 

[Badvert65]

Try clamping the front of the leaf springs and/or removing clamps from the rear of the springs. It is easy to try and can easily be reversed. 1.33 is awesome for a 60 footer. If those things work, you won't need a snubber. I have always had good luck with both snubbers and clamps but, I have never moved my axle back.

 

[Badbelvedere]

Thanks for the input I heard of adding clamps on the front as you can see I never really had to yet anyway lol But I have a 67 belvedere and they have problems with the width of the tire so I need some roll out. Plus it centers the tire in the wheel well. The snubber in theory seems like it will work good

 

[66Satellite47]

Looks like the rear suspension works pretty good! I ran my '65 Coronet with "cloned" SS springs & no snubber for years. It worked great, tuned the reaction with the adjustable shocks & one set of rear clamps to keep the rear 1/2 from "fanning" too much. You Must be in the mid 9's??

 

[dvw]

1.33 with stock style shocks? consistent? And the shocks are hitting the housing? And with 118" wheel base (moved back 2")? I don't know what combo you have but if it does all the above at 1.33 you better pray over it and not touch a thing.
Doug

 

[440beep]

Should the pinion snubber be resting up against the floor pan when car is sitting still? I've got the Mancini adjustable one on my Dana 60 on my 69 Bee, and its right up against the floor. Is this good or bad? Should there be some play in between?

 

[72Fourspeed]

Pinion snubber

When I first bought my Rr, there was a terrible thump when I really hammered it . You could hear it over the exhaust on the 1-2 & 2-3 shifts. Crawled underneath to look & there was no pinion snubber at all. I had a spare punkin, so I robbed the snubber off of it. Thump gone. So me,I'm gonna use one.

 

[Badbelvedere]

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Not sure how well you all can see the rear end under the car in the picture. But it is def more of a bottom end car especially with the 440 stroked out to a 499 and the fastest I have been is a 9.90 at 132mph. That is foot braking by the way. I have been praying over my leaf springs alot of other people I talked to could not get them to work. Yes as of now the car is really consistent even in the heat. I can only get a 10.5" wide tire under her but I moved the rear end back enough to where I can get a 31 but right now I have the 29.5 X 10.5 which actually measure 30.5 X 11. My rear end pinion angle is also looking down pretty hard and the rear shackle angle is angled back pretty hard thats why I think it is working so good.

To answer your question 440 Beep as far as the old speed secret book you should have about 1 to 2 inches of clearance

 

[Mike Gaines]

BadBelvedere.....Wow....9.90's at 132mph with a 499". Please tell us the rest of your build, including converter and rear end ratio, etc, etc, and all about the motor. You should be congratulated .. What a car.

Plus I have always been advised NOT to run a pinion snubber with super stock springs...but dont know about that with your rear end moved back...1.33...wouldnt change a thing. Lol

 

[Budnicks]

IMO I'd try the pinion snubber, before you try any other mods,
it's just an easy fab job & a bolt on, take it off if it doesn't work properly,
{maybe you could just fab up a longer plate, so it hits/reaches the floor-pan}
seemingly it will or should at-least help some with the excessive axle wrap,
it may have allot of downward pinion angle at idle
to help to compensate for the amount of axle wrap your experiencing,
rear of the spring must really be separating, spreading, fanning out/working hard
{what ever you want to call it}
I've never seen one rotate so far as to have the shock hit the axle tubes,
unless something like the front bushing were gone...
I wonder what's been done to the SS springs...

the 1.33 60ft is pretty damn good #'s for a heavy car with leafs period...

I'm not a big S/S spring guy thou...

maybe you found the speed secret...LOL

good luck & nice car by the way

 

[383man]

Thats a very strong 60 for a leaf spring car. Myself I found with the SS springs my car did not 60 any better with the snubber on it so i took it off and left it off. Ron

 

[Badbelvedere]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliments, I believe my weight distribution is helping me out alot though it has 49.6% on the rear tires and everyone should know distribution is key to hooking. That and a good concrete pad lol, I love using the ss springs just to prove that they work still I know it is antique technology but those guys in the 60s were using them with crappy tires and track prep and they were doing good. Tech with tires and the way they prep the track has gone along way but any suspension is good just got to find what your car likes on the different types out there. I have also been thinking about my 440 victor intake it has a 4150 flange but I have the spacer for a 4500 flange wonder if itll pick up with just a straight 4500 worth a shot maybe lol so many things I would like to try but she is working so good right now scared to touch it haha

 

[adam83]

I've never liked the idea of the pinion snubber slamming into the thin metal of the floor pan. If it were me I'd weld a thick gage strip of metal lining the floor pan on the underside from rail to rail, so the snubber has something stiff to hit instead of banging on the floor pan

 

[glassman]

Pinion snubber and super stock springs are a no no according to the factory backed teams of the 60's and 70's. Of course this is another century , and maybe cars won't buck like a bronco going down the track anymore. We race a 67 Belve. with the s/s springs and get the 1.32- 1.37 6o foot with no snubber. 138 mph and 9.80 e t. We can run the 14x32 Mickeys , but usually we run the 10.5x31 Mickeys. We still run the stock frame rails which limit the tire sizes on that body style.

 

[66Satellite47]

When I first bought my Rr, there was a terrible thump when I really hammered it . You could hear it over the exhaust on the 1-2 & 2-3 shifts. Crawled underneath to look & there was no pinion snubber at all. I had a spare punkin, so I robbed the snubber off of it. Thump gone. So me,I'm gonna use one.

If you've got stock springs & ride height you should use one. With SS springs & drag race suspension set up to control the axle windup, I don't think you need a snubber.

 

[Cranky]

I've never liked pinion snubbers with any kind of a leaf spring. Another mod you might try to control spring wrap up is to install a main leaf with the back half and the front eye cut off. Cut the eye off just enough where it lets the spring go under the front mount of the main spring that's already there. Based on the pic, I would try it on just the right side and see how it acts. Never tried it with a car as fast as yours tho but man, that's pretty damn good on leafs.

 

[Badbelvedere]

I really appreciate all the input for this post I believe I am probably not going to do anything to its just working so good hate to mess that up lol

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

i gotta say it really works so you would hate to mess with it. i do have to wonder what kind of angles your rear U-joint is seeing though if the axle is wrapping enough to bang the shocks of the rear end housing. that would be my only concern if it were my car.

 

[Darter6]

Years ago even before Direct Connection,, They had the Drag Seminars at the dealerships, we were told no snubber with the super stock springs.

 

[Budnicks]

Guys

he's having a real axle rap issue, if you read his 1st tread/post
he says;
"the rear housing rotates & contacts the shock, because it rotates so far"
{paraphrasing}

just pointing that out

IMO a pinion snubber possibly could help that one issue,
he's making more power than they did back then too
& it still will allow the rear of the springs to work properly
& lift, instead of rotating the rear axle excessively so much

by the way Mopar Performance offers a kit for MP 203112 S/S spring kits,
IIRC in an older catalog, may have been from old Mancini Racing site too
that includes a adj. pinion snubber now too,
see photo below, I can't remember where I got the photo thou

In their old MP Book; Chassis 9th edition P5007160 it even touches on it
on page 316 {among other places} in the rear suspension section,
It states with a manual trans it should always use a snubber &
with an automatic, "don't necessarily required one"

it doesn't say, not to use one,

Maybe in the 60's Race Bulletins seminars/clinics etc. or
even the mid 70's-80's Direct Connection literature,
it/they may have said that...
I know the old rule of thumb stuff too, I know what is recommended also...
BUT
IMO He has a different scenario going on here & he's probably using S/S springs,
that are at their limitations or probably beyond the original intended capabilities...

It's just a thought...
IMO you do what works, for your specific combo,
not all combos are the same, what was written 30-40+ years ago
"may not still apply with today products & materials used",
even with the way better traction compounds & slicks, track prep,
than we have now, especially compared to back then
some will just need a different solution/application,think outside the box...

I like Cranky' suggestion of adding a leaf portion on the drivers side,
that would probably help it to leave far more level too, with less axle wrap etc.

a pinion snubber would/could be a band-aid, but may prove useful too

obviously it's working pretty well or he wouldn't be getting a 1.33 60ft

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i gotta say it really works so you would hate to mess with it. i do have to wonder what kind of angles your rear U-joint is seeing though if the axle is wrapping enough to bang the shocks of the rear end housing. that would be my only concern if it were my car.

exactly my point too