Drilling Struts
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 67
From: Las Vegas
Drilling Struts
I posted this in the Drag Racing Section but got no responce. Maybe this is thie place it needs to be.
Pros and Cons of doing this? I seen in another post where redbird has done this. Has anyone else tried it and how did it work? Konis are BIG $$ and Im looking for a cheap thrill.
1.39 60ft
10.38 @ 130 MPH
Pros and Cons of doing this? I seen in another post where redbird has done this. Has anyone else tried it and how did it work? Konis are BIG $$ and Im looking for a cheap thrill.
1.39 60ft
10.38 @ 130 MPH
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,931
From: Upstate NY
Originally posted by 10.90streetcar
Drilling a hole in the strut to let the oil out, for weight transfer. The poor mans drag strut.
Drilling a hole in the strut to let the oil out, for weight transfer. The poor mans drag strut.
Front drag shox are often 90/10 or weak in rebound to let the front end rise and strong in compression to keep it up. So what happens with your 0/0 shox when the front end starts back down? ...and back up and back down....
I would change "poor" to something like "dumb", or maybe "stupid".
My highly-opinionated $.02
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 67
From: Las Vegas
OldSStroker
Have you ever tried it? Or know someone who has, Or seen a car run down the track that has done it? Or is that just your opion? I know back in the day, Stockers and the like used to do this. But I have never tried it or know anyone that has. Im looking for first hand experiance.
Have you ever tried it? Or know someone who has, Or seen a car run down the track that has done it? Or is that just your opion? I know back in the day, Stockers and the like used to do this. But I have never tried it or know anyone that has. Im looking for first hand experiance.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,931
From: Upstate NY
Nope, I haven't tried it...nor would I, especially in a sub-11 second car.
Drag shox, yes, no shox, not me. I'm from the old days (60s and 70s), and remember using "worn" shocks with loose rebound, but not drilled shocks with no control.
I have no doubts some folks have tried it. Maybe they don't read this forum.
FWIW, are you trying to improve your 1.39 60 ft time? That's pretty impressive for a street car. Have you tried braking from 130 with no front shock control? IMO, that would be akin to practice bleeding.
As always, my H-O $.02
Drag shox, yes, no shox, not me. I'm from the old days (60s and 70s), and remember using "worn" shocks with loose rebound, but not drilled shocks with no control.
I have no doubts some folks have tried it. Maybe they don't read this forum.
FWIW, are you trying to improve your 1.39 60 ft time? That's pretty impressive for a street car. Have you tried braking from 130 with no front shock control? IMO, that would be akin to practice bleeding.
As always, my H-O $.02
Registered User
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 211
From: craplanta ga
You need better suspension control..I can help you out if i know your current combo for your chassis..The basics will work weight wet, rear suspension setup, trans, launch RPM, gear ratio, tire pressure, and wheel size..I can give you some generakl insight as i dont post on my opinion, rather give you more than my personal option..No offense olds but theres always more than one way to handle something.
Small tire cars are a pain to get consistant..My current car is a real pain due to the independant rear and the very short LCAs..Im pretty much stuck with spring rates to control the suspension occilattion that occurs.New struts are in my future as what you will see is the better option..You need the control of the front end keep the weight focused on the rear..By drilling struts you take out all of the control..Think about it..When the car leaves the line the weight is tossed rearward..But what very few people know is that the weight startts to leave the rear right after the initial hit..The combonation of the power and teh front end staying up and steady helps keep it in the back..Next time your at the track listen to the cars leave..The ones that have the suspension really dialed in and dont have too much power may kinda stain teh engine to the point where its winds up unsteady..4 link rails do this a lot..Rigid rails will do it a lot more..Kinda hard to explain but give it a listen..What you are hearing is the tires working there asses off..As they load up and unload they pretty much try to run over them selves..Take a roll of toilet paper and roll it on the floor pushing up and down and it may make sense more..Im trying not to get to technical into it..Keeping the front end up and steady is teh key here..Those old school dimwits think that 90/10s are the answer and they are to a point but small tire cars are a differnt animal..A 70/30 will work better in many cases..Save the 90/10s fpr the 14"X32"s..The problem with a drilled shock or even a 90/10 is that teh front end will rise to fast for a small tire car to handle..One of the reasons that the high power 10.5s hit the rear bumper..Also a drilled shock will let the front end settle to fast and thus unloading the rear tires..The 90/10 lets it sty up too long for a small tire and thus allowing to much air under the car slowing it down..Here in lyes the adjustable..Available for a cost albeit you are talking budjet but you came up with the cash for the go fast stuff didnt you?.....Its somethuinng that will have to be tuned and oplayed with..Before you do that you should take a look at other areas..A fresh set of strut from pepboys will be far batter than teh worn units you may have now..Your tire sideall stiffnes comes into play..MT offers a few new smaller stiff side wall slicks now..Compounds differ from brand to brand..Hoosier seems to offer the best variety..On top of that going to a wider wheel will help take the cusion out of the sidewall wich will help control unloading and loading to a degree..When yiou get faster and faster the wider wheel will keep you more stable up top as well..Myself would never run a 28X9 with anything smaller than a 15X9 with a10 wide wheel being my 1st choice..providing there is room..Many of the cars i back half for people wind up with a 10.5W or 11.5 on at least a 12" wheel..Adjustable struts up front and out back and depending on the trans air bags and poly bushings or liftbars or relocated LCAs.Small tire car arent the best for consistant times..just keep that in mind.Let us know the cars chassis setup in depth and you may have more options.I for one can give you a better setup chassis wise..The above is a general guideline.
Small tire cars are a pain to get consistant..My current car is a real pain due to the independant rear and the very short LCAs..Im pretty much stuck with spring rates to control the suspension occilattion that occurs.New struts are in my future as what you will see is the better option..You need the control of the front end keep the weight focused on the rear..By drilling struts you take out all of the control..Think about it..When the car leaves the line the weight is tossed rearward..But what very few people know is that the weight startts to leave the rear right after the initial hit..The combonation of the power and teh front end staying up and steady helps keep it in the back..Next time your at the track listen to the cars leave..The ones that have the suspension really dialed in and dont have too much power may kinda stain teh engine to the point where its winds up unsteady..4 link rails do this a lot..Rigid rails will do it a lot more..Kinda hard to explain but give it a listen..What you are hearing is the tires working there asses off..As they load up and unload they pretty much try to run over them selves..Take a roll of toilet paper and roll it on the floor pushing up and down and it may make sense more..Im trying not to get to technical into it..Keeping the front end up and steady is teh key here..Those old school dimwits think that 90/10s are the answer and they are to a point but small tire cars are a differnt animal..A 70/30 will work better in many cases..Save the 90/10s fpr the 14"X32"s..The problem with a drilled shock or even a 90/10 is that teh front end will rise to fast for a small tire car to handle..One of the reasons that the high power 10.5s hit the rear bumper..Also a drilled shock will let the front end settle to fast and thus unloading the rear tires..The 90/10 lets it sty up too long for a small tire and thus allowing to much air under the car slowing it down..Here in lyes the adjustable..Available for a cost albeit you are talking budjet but you came up with the cash for the go fast stuff didnt you?.....Its somethuinng that will have to be tuned and oplayed with..Before you do that you should take a look at other areas..A fresh set of strut from pepboys will be far batter than teh worn units you may have now..Your tire sideall stiffnes comes into play..MT offers a few new smaller stiff side wall slicks now..Compounds differ from brand to brand..Hoosier seems to offer the best variety..On top of that going to a wider wheel will help take the cusion out of the sidewall wich will help control unloading and loading to a degree..When yiou get faster and faster the wider wheel will keep you more stable up top as well..Myself would never run a 28X9 with anything smaller than a 15X9 with a10 wide wheel being my 1st choice..providing there is room..Many of the cars i back half for people wind up with a 10.5W or 11.5 on at least a 12" wheel..Adjustable struts up front and out back and depending on the trans air bags and poly bushings or liftbars or relocated LCAs.Small tire car arent the best for consistant times..just keep that in mind.Let us know the cars chassis setup in depth and you may have more options.I for one can give you a better setup chassis wise..The above is a general guideline.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 198
From: Benbrook, Tx
My car has the stock front struts still, probably worn out though
The only problem I see would be when braking, your car is going to nose dive like crazy. With all the weight being on little front tires they are likely going to skid, which I have had happen before on a crappy track and it was easily controllable. Personally my car has worn out front struts and I'll eventually buy some Afcos for it.
The only problem I see would be when braking, your car is going to nose dive like crazy. With all the weight being on little front tires they are likely going to skid, which I have had happen before on a crappy track and it was easily controllable. Personally my car has worn out front struts and I'll eventually buy some Afcos for it.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 67
From: Las Vegas
Ok, Heres the set up. All stock front end ,minus the sway bar. Out back is a 9in with 4.72 gears on 28 x 10.5 x 15 MTs. Next set will be 29s.
Rear Anti Sway Bay from
Wolfe Race Craft ,Hal QA1 12 way shocks set on the 3rd softest setting
Boxed LCAs in the stock location with the stock TQ . Stock Springs all the way around.
Rear Anti Sway Bay from
Wolfe Race Craft ,Hal QA1 12 way shocks set on the 3rd softest setting
Boxed LCAs in the stock location with the stock TQ . Stock Springs all the way around.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 211
From: craplanta ga
Holy gear ratio batman
Well i assume its an auto car..Near stock weight and so forth..To keep costs down id swap in some V6 front coils and if the car leans on the right side probally at least one airbag in the right rear.On the left rear a V6 coil would suffice..There are drag race coil kits avail as well..If the cash allows get an aftermarket torque arm..If you can weld then box the stock one..Better to shorten it and make a sturdy mount so it will be fixed to the body rather than the trans..Measure your pinion angle and be careful not to upset the cars location..With this yiour far better off just purchasing an adjustable aftermarket unit.Subframe connectors if you dont already have them..Make sure that the rear section of the connectors are attached to the main hoop of the roll bar with some down legs..Poly bushings will help also..
For now id start to play with the rear shocks adjustment..Treat them as if they are two components..There is a left side and a right side of the car that needs to be tuned, not just the rear..The right rear will probally need to be stiffer than the left..Play with that till it stops helping..Then work on the springs. Poly bushings would follow and of course the torque arm..An adjustable unit will allow you to change your pinion angle to help plant the tires better but dont bother with rubber bushings since they deflect too much..If you start to blow the tires off dont fret.Just make some cable limiters for the front..Use the sway bar mounts in the control arms and then tie into the cars frame..Moroso sells a good adjustable kit cheap..Dont use old school chains here..At this point you want your front end to lift but the limiters will keep it down since they will cinch up and start to force the car to lift the front wheels..When you get the 29s next year think about running a 10" wheel..
A couple of free bees here..I cant remember if the car has 5 mph bumpers front and rear..But if it does then its time to weld up the bumper shocks..You want a bead around the piston..Best to drill them out to releave the pressure 1st..Remove the rear bumper reinforcement and weld in a fixed square tubing frame from shock to shock..At least .83 wall tubing will do..Dont do so in the front because at speed the front bumper cover may distaort and act like a sail in the wind..Just reinstall the bumper shocks up front and tighten the hell out of them..
Well i assume its an auto car..Near stock weight and so forth..To keep costs down id swap in some V6 front coils and if the car leans on the right side probally at least one airbag in the right rear.On the left rear a V6 coil would suffice..There are drag race coil kits avail as well..If the cash allows get an aftermarket torque arm..If you can weld then box the stock one..Better to shorten it and make a sturdy mount so it will be fixed to the body rather than the trans..Measure your pinion angle and be careful not to upset the cars location..With this yiour far better off just purchasing an adjustable aftermarket unit.Subframe connectors if you dont already have them..Make sure that the rear section of the connectors are attached to the main hoop of the roll bar with some down legs..Poly bushings will help also..For now id start to play with the rear shocks adjustment..Treat them as if they are two components..There is a left side and a right side of the car that needs to be tuned, not just the rear..The right rear will probally need to be stiffer than the left..Play with that till it stops helping..Then work on the springs. Poly bushings would follow and of course the torque arm..An adjustable unit will allow you to change your pinion angle to help plant the tires better but dont bother with rubber bushings since they deflect too much..If you start to blow the tires off dont fret.Just make some cable limiters for the front..Use the sway bar mounts in the control arms and then tie into the cars frame..Moroso sells a good adjustable kit cheap..Dont use old school chains here..At this point you want your front end to lift but the limiters will keep it down since they will cinch up and start to force the car to lift the front wheels..When you get the 29s next year think about running a 10" wheel..
A couple of free bees here..I cant remember if the car has 5 mph bumpers front and rear..But if it does then its time to weld up the bumper shocks..You want a bead around the piston..Best to drill them out to releave the pressure 1st..Remove the rear bumper reinforcement and weld in a fixed square tubing frame from shock to shock..At least .83 wall tubing will do..Dont do so in the front because at speed the front bumper cover may distaort and act like a sail in the wind..Just reinstall the bumper shocks up front and tighten the hell out of them..
