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How important is RAKE?

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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 07:55 AM
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Default How important is RAKE?

I know we all want to squat in the back and lift in the front, but do you guys set your drag setups to have at least some RAKE?

How does this affect performance/ET?

If your rear tires are much taller than your front tires, do you adjust the suspension to even out the rake and create a level suspension for drag racing?
Thanks
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 08:57 AM
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I could be mistaken, but I didn't think we wanted squat, I thought we wanted forward motion. I understand the rearend planting itself to be wasted energy. Slight lift in the front yes.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 08:59 AM
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The rear should not sqat. If it does the suspension is set wrong. It should lift a bit and plant the rear.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 12:32 PM
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Stock springs, moser 9", and a 28"tire makes the rear of my car sit up high, giving me a raked appearance. I can't hook for crap though so I'm in the process of changing up my suspension setup.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 12:35 PM
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It could be the brackets on the rear, the way they were positioned causing the back to sit up higher, I ahve seen this on a couple cars. Try removing the spring isloaters off the rear springs, just put a piece of radiator hose (small dia, about 3/4 I think) over the spring to act as the isolater and that will lower the back about 5/8 to 3/4 of an inch.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 12:55 PM
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That's exactly what I'm gonna do this week to lower the rear. I'll be happy with just a half an inch anwyay. I have all BMR non adjustable parts too so I'm gonna switch them out for adjustable ones and see if I can get it to hook a little better. It's been a few years already and the more and more I look at my rearend, it looks a little out of wack. I guess I should have concentrated on this a long time ago, lol.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 01:10 PM
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im kinda in the same boat. with 28's on the back and qa1's on the front i have too much rake. i measured today and I have something like 27" fender height in the front and abut 30" in the rear. I didnt want to take out the spring isolators, but rather adjust the front up some.

what measurements do you guys have to the fenders that run 28's?
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 03:03 PM
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also, changing the front ride height should have no affect on the pinion angle, right?
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 03:11 PM
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Originally Posted by GregWS6&z28
also, changing the front ride height should have no affect on the pinion angle, right?
correct
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 03:21 PM
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I know I have about 27.5 on the front, the rear I don't recall, when the car is on the ground I will measure it again.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 03:22 PM
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Originally Posted by JL ws-6
I know I have about 27.5 on the front, the rear I don't recall, when the car is on the ground I will measure it again.
thanks man. I think 27-27.5 is probably about right. I have almost another 1" to come up.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by jmill96Z
correct
I believe that is wrong. If the front is lower, the motor and trans is lower. Therefore the front of the drive shaft is lower which changes the angle of your driveshaft and pinion angle. Please correct my statement if I'm wrong.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 05:24 PM
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It's just difference between the driveshaft centerline and pinion centerline which don't change as long as the rear suspension is static between measurements... Since the engine and tranny are static within the chassis, they share the same effects on plane as the pinion and DS and remain constant through out the front suspension travel. Given there was no movement in the rear suspension, drivetrain, chassis, etc... A car sitting on flat ground would have the same pinion angle as the same car on the bumper.

Last edited by crashinaz; Apr 7, 2008 at 05:37 PM.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 05:29 PM
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yea, the chassis just goes higher and the engine and driveshaft relation stays the same. i just got back from raising mine back up 3/4" and all around i think it's a little better. at least im not scraping like i used to be
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by crashinaz
It's just difference between the driveshaft centerline and pinion centerline which don't change as long as the rear suspension is static between measurements... Since the engine and tranny are static within the chassis, they share the same effects on plane as the pinion and DS and remain constant through out the front suspension travel. Given there was no movement in the rear suspension, drivetrain, chassis, etc... A car sitting on flat ground would have the same pinion angle as the same car on the bumper.
Exactly. There should be no change to the rearend geometry when making adjustments to the front.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 07:38 PM
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Originally Posted by GregWS6&z28
im kinda in the same boat. with 28's on the back and qa1's on the front i have too much rake. i measured today and I have something like 27" fender height in the front and abut 30" in the rear. I didnt want to take out the spring isolators, but rather adjust the front up some.

what measurements do you guys have to the fenders that run 28's?
mine is 26.75 in the rear.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 07:42 PM
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in the rear? is it slammed?
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 08:01 PM
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What about a car that's recently had over 350ish lbs removed? The thing is sitting like a 4x4 even with everything in it.
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Old Apr 7, 2008 | 08:13 PM
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Girls squat race cars do not!
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Old Apr 8, 2008 | 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by GregWS6&z28
in the rear? is it slammed?
Mine has a 40" mini tub, so I can lower mine, it has a 275 60 15 on it now, but I plan to run a 29 or 30" tire and keep the fender at the same hight.
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