Ricardo

Is there a signifficant benefit of using drag shocks in the back when using slicks?

I am actually running 26"slicks with a 3.73 gear and 3600 Yank stall.
My best 60' sofar is 1.69. Looking for improvement.
Will I gain anything?

Stephen 87 IROC

Springs only need a spring rate heavy enough to hold up the vehicle. Shocks control how the weight is controlled. Any drag shock is better than a production shock but you need to experiment with different settings to see what works best. A stiff spring resists compression. Good for corner carving, autocross etc. No good for drag racing. You need the suspension to move so that the shocks can control the movement.

A good rear suspension setup should plant the tires hard on the initial hit. This means the rear body will go up as the axle goes down. A good shock setting is to allow the shock to extend easily to allow the axle to move downward then keep it there and slowly allow the body to drop back down as the shock starts to compress.

This means it needs a soft extension but a firm compression. Depending on the type of shock, you can't always adjust both settings. Many shocks such as an inexpensive 3 way or a 12 way single only allow you to adjust the compression or a combination of both with one setting. A 12 way double adjustable allows you to adjust both compression and extension separately.

Ricardo

Thanks for the insight. I guess the answer is yes, and best possibilitiesto obtain better 60' times with a double adjustable shocks.
Regarding these, the two options i see are the HAL generation F and Strange. Are there any other brands or advantages from one particular brand to consider? I run the Strange double adjustables in the front.

pddye

I used stock shocks in the back and had pretty good luck at a 1.43 60'. On another car I used comp engineering 3 way shocks and didn't notice a whole lot of difference. I was also using stock front shocks and springs.

Z-RATED94

With your set-up I'm surprised your 60 ft. times aren't better. Something isn't adding up, even if you where racing at high altitude. Are you spinning?

Ricardo

I am guessing there is some spinning on the launch. How can I tell for sure?

slowride94z

white shoe polish mark on slicks and video

Z-RATED94

Like slowride said, or just have someone watch your launch once you mark the tire. No reason why you shouldn't be in the 1.5xs.

Stephen 87 IROC

Shocks won't help if the rear suspension isn't set up properly either.

Torque arm, LCA, LCARB, pinion angle etc? How are they setup or adjusted or are they still stock? Do you have a rear sway bar?

How old are the tires? Worn out drag slicks doesn't mean they have no rubber left on them. Drag slicks can be worn out if the oils in the rubber which makes them sticky when heated up is gone and the rubber is dried out. The tires can still have lots of rubber left on them but the dried out rubber makes them worn out. Slicks more than a couple of years old are usually garbage.

Driving on the street with them does the same thing. The heat and cool cycles of street driving is very hard on slicks. DOT slicks are not designed for street use.

Ricardo

My setup consists of Global West Tracklink torque arm, BMR poly/spherical LCA's, BMR relocation brackets, stock swaybar, Bilstein shocks and springs.
I run Bogart SS wheels and M/T 26x10/15 slicks, 3.73 gears and Yank 3600 stall. Pinion angle set at -1.5


In the front I have Strange double adjustable shocks and 300#springs.

I have not been able to do better than 1.69 60' times, no matter what.

The tires just reached the end of their life. I am at the bottom of the wear indicator at 2 1/2 years of use. I suspect much of my poor 60' times is due to spinning and to the worn tires. Next time I will do the white shoe polish and video to see what is going on.

I plan on going with adjustable shocks on the back, 28x10.5 slicks and 4.10 gears looking for a better launch. Hope this does not slow me down at the end of the 1/4...

What is the advantage of removing the front sway bar besides loosing a few pounds? Would that also help for better times?

Stephen 87 IROC

Yes. It's keeping the front end from rising. Without the front sway car, the suspension can move freely. A car on the dragstrip doesn't need a front sway bar. It helps for corner carving but hinders straight line acceleration. A rear sway (anti-roll) bar should be used however, which you already have.

Ricardo

Well, I made a video of a launch using shoe polish as suggested by slowride94z only to find that I am spinning when launching. Sorry for the crappy video.
I guess track prearation has a lot to do with my 60' times.

I had made a few changes for this day:
Rear double adjustable drag shocks set up soft on extension and hard on compression
28x10.5-15 M/T ETDrag
Yank SS 4000 converter

My 60' remained unchanged:1.7
I did 11.67 @ 116.3 MPH

I still have to remove the front sway bar. What else can i look into?

Z-RATED94

If it was spinning it wasn't much. I did notice you have little to no weight transfer. You need to take that sway bar off and and adjust your front shocks, you said you have double adjustable, correct? I have less rwhp than you and managed a 1.59 in 200 DA the last time out. What helped a little for me was taking off the air cleaner at the track. Tried it two different track days with the same results. Two passes with the air cleaner and two without. Each time the 60ft. was a couple of hundreths quicker without the air cleaner. I guess at the hit of the throttle the motor gets a bigger gulp of air. JMO

slowride94z

could you tell if its spinning past where the video ended?


I have moved my battery to the hatch, taken off the bumper support in the front, sway bar + brackets and removed my ac. it wasn't charged from my engine change 2 years ago.

do you have the lower control arms in the lower holes in your relocation brackets? are you flashing or stalling on launch?


last time I went on a 30* day to Piedmont my car did na- 1.669 , 1.611 ,1.690 with et street radials. track prep was good, I say that because my best 60' was close to my all time best with nitrous.
yours should have more power than I can get with nawwws

it appeared to me to have lifted the rear, could use a little more than -1.5* pinion angle