With my new setup, mods listed here https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-modifications/288361-sick-new-setup-et-estimates.html

I was having beutifull images in my head of sky-high wheelies and such, BUT
I was thinking of the guys I seen who have cost thousands in damage from going up too high, and comming down too hard, are there any cheap or simple ways to modify the front suspension to come down softer? how high can you get the wheels before the car can come down hard enough to break stuff?

 

I'm guessing double ajustable coild overs, because you can ajust the rebound. And the front springs.

You may want to ask this question in the drag racing section... I dunno.

Mike

 

You want the key? The ONE and only thing that will surely help



DON'T LIFT!!

 

lol pedal to metal, roger

 

That's it! It won't turn over backwards, and if you keep the steering wheel straight, it will go straight when it comes down. Nothing to it. Just don't get sh*t in your neck and lift. That is what tears stuff up. If you car hooks like it should, you will have the front shocks set pretty firm anyway. You will have guys with eleven & twelve second cars coming over to tell you how you could go faster if it didn't do that. Just tell them if their car hooked, and made any power, they would have the same problem. You can tone it down some, but it is a fine line, with most, between spinning and wheel stands. I have found, at most, a couple hundredths between bumper draging and little 12" wheelies, but there is more to loose spinning. You just have to get used to hearing that crap. They probably mean well, but just don't know any better. As high as these cars are, and where the weight is, it is hard to keep the front down if I hooks and has any torque. Watch the LT1 & LS1 F body cars in NHRA Stock Eliminiator, those guys don't do wheel stands like that because they are stupid. You only have to see how fast they run with the restrictions that have to know how sharp they are. You get used to them & it is no big deal. Kinda fun.

Good luck, Ed

 

my friend has a 96z that runs low 10s. he leaves on a trans brake. it does not lift the front. pulls 1.5 60' times too. he getting ready to lighten the front end though so who knows what itll do this time around.

personally id crap my pants if i ever lifted the front on a launch. not saying id let off the throttle, but id definetly have to swing by the john on the way back around.

 

If he gets it to dead hook like an automatic is supposed to, his 60' times will improve greatly, and he will pick the front end up. A low 10 second car should be going at least low to mid 1.30s in 60' foot braking, I would expect some 1.20s with a tranny brake. Most low eleven second foot brakers I work with will go mid 1.50s in 60'. Maybe he is spraying it?

The NHRA LT1 F body Stock Eliminator guys I know go mid to high 1.30s when running very low elevens in the heat, foot braking. No tranny brakes allowed there.

You get used to it, no worse than doing it on a bike. At least you can't fall off your car. When everything is right, a foot or two is all mine picks them up. It's no big deal.

Take care, Ed

 

Those are your mods? I wouldnt worry about real big wheelies unless you plan on spraying off the line. In that situation, I recommend dont or get a two step

 

Well with a hotcam it already gets bolth wheels about 9" up, and its only an eleven second car, with the new cam, and all the torque of the 200shot Which WILL be sprayed off the line or at 3,000 RPM with a window switch (I got a 3k stall) If it hooks, and I'm pretty sure it will, It should yank them a helluva lot higher than 9" that, and ill be removing LOTS of stuff from the nose.
BTW what in the world does a two-step have to do with nitrous?, and what do you know, you got a vette lol jk.. (they dont tend to wheelie)

 

Since your in houston I would talk to madman. He REALLY knows his stuff. You could have him check your pinion angles ... etc...

 

True, I've seen his car, It makes children cry lol

 

Pinion angle has next to nothing to do with the car hooking, or wheel standing. The tires he is runing does. Good choice.

Ed

 

Well im no expert...but madman is

From what madman is telling me in the above paragraph is that the pinion does cause your tires to plant or hook as you say.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showpost....1&postcount=18

 

yeah hes actually gone lower than 1.50, but right now his norm is that. hes got some more tuning to do, but so far its flying. hes blown with alcohol injection, no N20.

im not a drag racer, but ive always heard that more negative pinion angle will make the rearend hook better. it makes sense to me.

 

I know some prefessional drag racers that would certainly differ. Most anyone will agree the pinion does in fact climb the ring gear, that is a given. That tries to rotate the housing. Most also agree that the reaction of the members (ladder bars, four link,torque arm, etc) attaching the rear end housing to the chassis, caused by that rotaion is what plants the tires. Not the pinion moving through a flexible u-joint. Take that stuff loose from the housing, and see how hard it plants the tires through the u-joint alone. The pinion should be nose down a couple degrees to prevent bind & vibration on launch, but change it either way a little, and barring any vibration, you won't know the difference. These cars are VERY easy to hook up. It's not rocket science. When they do hook, and if the engine makes decent torque, the front end tends to come up. I have a stock torque arm under mine, my pinion angle has not been touched. If it hooked any harder, I couldn't stand it.

Good luck, Ed

 

Rice man Ed is Write

Your pinion angle does nothing but keep u-joints happy. YES it can have an effect BUT Not the correct reason to adjust it. Its ONLY purpose should be to set the correct Drive shaft geometry. Using it to cover mis Designed or incorrectly used parts is a bad choice.

If you are using pinion angle to get the correct Tq Arm angle or change the IC Geometry of your car you need to re-think the way you buy and use parts

I tell you what. Check This page. You see that second car down? That is Ed's Personal car. I "think" after the years of pro racing he has done he Might just have an idea

 

very nice wheel stand Ed. now i have a question about something previously stated since we are talking about wheel stands. 10.5 outlaw cars. those cars are now are hitting low low 7s and some 6s. i see very few of them lifting the front high at all. you say that there isnt much difference in times if the car does or does not lift, but is it still best not to have the front lift up high or at all? scientifically, lifting the front of the car wastes energy that could be used to make the car go forward. thats the goal and energy is never destroyed only converted. just curious. thanks

 

My car doesn't get that high all the time. Most 10.5 cars don't dead hook, because they have a ton more power than an na EFI F body, and they are running on narrow (10.5") tires. Some 10.5 cars wheel stand so bad they get into trouble. They run those thing here at home, and they tear a lot of stuff up. Most of those 10.5 cars could use more tire, my car could not. Automtaic cars run quickest if they dead hook (no wheel spin at all, leaving strictly on the converter) Stick cars need to turn the tires over a few times on launch, or they run slower. My buddy Mike Edwards runs an NHRA Pro Stock car, 500", over 1300 hp, 2350 lbs, and still needs some wheel spin on launch. Take away his wheelie bars, and dead hook that car & it would try to turn over backwards. Those cars run very hard against the wheelie bars. Those cars are lighter than the NHRA minumum, so they can add weight where they need it. He runs a good bit in the very front. It helps it "get up on the tires" (spin initially) Purpose built cars have the weight low in the car, and the wheel tubs come up to the bottom of the rear windows, so they can get the car down over the tires. My car is heavy, and sits high like a stock vehicle, and there is no place I can add weight without slowing the car. If you go to an NHRA race and just watch the fast LT1 & LS1 cars run, they are much closer to what we have than a 10.5 shootout car. They all wheel stand. Those guys are sharper than anybody here, they and know that is just part of it. If you make one of these cars hook, and it is making decent power, you are going to have wheel stand problems. You are also going to have guys with slower cars telling what all you are doing wrong. Just seems to come with the territory. If they 60' in the 1.30s, or better the 1.20s Llike Joe O, they will be dealing with picking the front tires up. No big deal. Heck, get your car going 1.31 / 1.32 in 60', and show me what I'm doing wrong. I'm open to learning from somebody smarter.

Good luck, Ed

 

i didnt know those cars were that light weight. i knew they were down there, but not below minimum required. i thought about my question some more and figured their tires or lack there of kept them from lifting. as you can tell i dont drag race, its just not my thing. so im no expert by any means. id rather turn corners. now thats my thing. thanks

 

tires are a big part of it, i can spin through the 60' mark and still cut a 1.30 to 1.35 short time, have done it many times!