Gen 5 Racing Tech Heads, cam, valvetrain, short block discussion

solid axle conversion ?

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Old 06-19-2009 | 08:29 AM
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Originally Posted by slow trap
has anyone done any r&d on a solid axle conversion for the land barge 2010 yet ? just wondering how long it will be before someone does it and puts a real tire under one.
What do you consider a "real tire"? They can already fit a 315 wide no problem, and a 30" tall tire will also fit. Real enough? Far bigger than what a 4th gen can take stock.

Supras, Vipers, Corvettes seem to track just fine on IRS axles. I'd rather have a beefed up IRS setup than a solid axle, unless I was building a drag-only type car.
Old 06-19-2009 | 11:15 AM
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^x2 That is best way to put it. 315's do fit on a 4th gen (it is tight though)
Old 06-19-2009 | 11:51 AM
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A body in white is a term for a primer body only with none of the drivetrian, etc... They are used as a foundation for many race cars which reuqire you start with a production body. Rather than have much of what you do not need that you need to remove, you add what you want.

Look, the Zeta platform this is based on has had a lot of testing on it done in Australia and its doen quite well. The rear on the car is a pretty beefy unit to start with. But, everything has its limits.

427C5 just because you wouldn't buy a Camaro off the lot and make a race car out of it doesn't mean there aren't countless other folks who would. Robin Lawrence (Robin L) on here. Is a prime example. Thats EXACTLY what his car is for.

People on Corvetteforum often cringe when they hear about folks drag racing Corvettes since in their opinion "Corvettes aren't for drag racing". Again, its an opinion. I'm not real keen on solid axle conversions in a C5. But there are a few FAST C5's that are converted. Its just a matter of how much stuff you want to break before you decide enough is enough.

It will be intersting to see where the practical limit of the new Camaro is and where the cost/benefit is to make the swap to solid axle.
Old 06-19-2009 | 12:48 PM
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heck i was just asking a simple question and now i feel like i'm getting my head bit off. i was just wondering how strong that irs actually is and if it would hold up under any actual abuse.
Old 06-19-2009 | 07:52 PM
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ohhh cool i wonder how much a body in white would cost? I’m going to look it up... but i think ive heard off something like that i think you can bye like 69 camaro like that? i duno but thanks for the response
Old 06-19-2009 | 07:55 PM
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i think i found it and what i found is a body in white 2010 camaro is 7,000... that’s pretty cool
Old 06-19-2009 | 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by slow trap
heck i was just asking a simple question and now i feel like i'm getting my head bit off. i was just wondering how strong that irs actually is and if it would hold up under any actual abuse.

Wow like you said you were just wondering.

The irs is the first thing I'd ditch it will not hold up to any kind of drag racing what so ever they are junk. If some one would put a real tire on one like you said, real tire meaning a slick it would break it in about 2 inches. If you want irs buy a vette the camaro should come factory with a 12 bolt!

Anyone that says the irs will hold up okay it might ,but the car will run a half second faster if you drive it right and not ***** foot it out of the whole like a fwd car.

Just my opinion
Old 06-20-2009 | 12:54 AM
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Originally Posted by TOSTO RACING
Wow like you said you were just wondering.

The irs is the first thing I'd ditch it will not hold up to any kind of drag racing what so ever they are junk. If some one would put a real tire on one like you said, real tire meaning a slick it would break it in about 2 inches. If you want irs buy a vette the camaro should come factory with a 12 bolt!

Anyone that says the irs will hold up okay it might ,but the car will run a half second faster if you drive it right and not ***** foot it out of the whole like a fwd car.

Just my opinion
So what about all the Vipers, Corvettes, and Supra on IRS???? Like the 7 5/8 is better than what is in the 5th Gen.
Old 06-20-2009 | 09:08 AM
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If I was to buy a new Camaro I'd also look into the solid axle swap. An all sheet metal 9" would be far lighter then this monstrosity under the rear in the camaro. Everyone complains about weight but here is a prime example how weight has been added to this car. I'm sure here in the near future some gen 5 camaros will come out in all race trim and others will be drooling over the conversion from what the stock form was. Its just a matter of time. If everyone stayed with the stock pieces where would the sport be today? Someone has to be the first to try it.

Also why did I put a th400 in my 2000 trans am when the stock unit could have lasted for a few track passes?
Old 06-20-2009 | 09:33 AM
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We have the fastest new model street gto on the planet,not blazing fast by todays standards but for a 4000 plus pound car its not to shaby.9.19 @153 mph..1.39 sixty ,which is the best 60 foot of ANY gto and its our Hendrix-Enginnering 8.8 IRS conversion.!! There has been many solid axle conversions in the gto but NONE have bested us.We will have a heavy duty drive train for the new camaro as well and it will be IRS and will be built to hold 1200 hp.We have a heavy duty axle replacement that will be ready in 30 days.
Old 06-20-2009 | 12:52 PM
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Originally Posted by 406 Q-ship
So what about all the Vipers, Corvettes, and Supra on IRS???? Like the 7 5/8 is better than what is in the 5th Gen.
The first thing gone on my camaro's is the 10 bolt. If I drove the above cars I would break them. I'm talking 7500-8000 rpm launches on slicks with 10 psi irs will not last hell I broken 9 inches. Irs is junk for drag racing, like I was saying go buy a vette if you want irs and drive it on Sundays on the back roads. I'm not saying the can't be fast .They would just be faster without the irs in the 1/4 mile.

I just think the camaro should have 12 bolts from the factory the 10 bolts are junk too.

Just my opinion like I stated above. To each his own.
Old 06-20-2009 | 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by TOSTO RACING
The first thing gone on my camaro's is the 10 bolt. If I drove the above cars I would break them. I'm talking 7500-8000 rpm launches on slicks with 10 psi irs will not last hell I broken 9 inches. Irs is junk for drag racing, like I was saying go buy a vette if you want irs and drive it on Sundays on the back roads. I'm not saying the can't be fast .They would just be faster without the irs in the 1/4 mile.

I just think the camaro should have 12 bolts from the factory the 10 bolts are junk too.

Just my opinion like I stated above. To each his own.
We also have the six speed record,1.45 sixty foot, high nines at over 140 mph with a 4000 plus pound IRS gto with our 8.8 kitt.Several cars running a 1000 plus to the wheels with NO problems.I agree for a allout drag only car the straight axle is the way to go,not in the new camorow.jmo
Old 06-20-2009 | 02:36 PM
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There are many many many 03/04 Cobra's running around on built 8.8's because the IRS didn't do the trick for Drag Racing, I personally have 4 friends with those Cobra's that have live axles under them for that reason. Right now since I have 3 other cars that I drag race, the rearend on the Camaro isn't of top priority right now, but that could change. Maybe they have a good design that is already a good foundation to build on for drag racing, if they don't & I start dragging it a lot, I'll have to change rearends. The new GT500's come with live axles over the old 03/04 IRS for a reason.
Old 06-20-2009 | 04:15 PM
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iirc GMPP is suppose to make a gm engineered live axle for the camaro
Old 06-20-2009 | 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by jamnut
The new GT500's come with live axles over the old 03/04 IRS for a reason.
Yes there is. It's because the live axle is cheaper for Ford to produce and the Mustang is a piece of ****.
There is NO reason to buy new Mustang over a Corvette or G8/Camaro.

EVERY sports car sold today runs a IRS.
FYI:There are manual trans Vipers running 7 second passes with IRS. So, the solid axle argument is BS.
Old 06-20-2009 | 10:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Hendrix-Engineering
We also have the six speed record,1.45 sixty foot, high nines at over 140 mph with a 4000 plus pound IRS gto with our 8.8 kitt.Several cars running a 1000 plus to the wheels with NO problems.I agree for a allout drag only car the straight axle is the way to go,not in the new camorow.jmo


I'm glad you guys have them holding power. I just think it would work and be stronger with the 12 bolt conversion. If irs was so strong they would be in pro stock,stock ,and superstock.

I'm not knocking your setup sounds like its flying and working well.
Old 06-20-2009 | 11:53 PM
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Originally Posted by 427C5
Yes there is. It's because the live axle is cheaper for Ford to produce and the Mustang is a piece of ****.
There is NO reason to buy new Mustang over a Corvette or G8/Camaro.

EVERY sports car sold today runs a IRS.
FYI:There are manual trans Vipers running 7 second passes with IRS. So, the solid axle argument is BS.
Camaros and Mustangs aren't sports cars, they are heavy medium sized pony cars. I have my issues with Ford just as all GM lovers do, but they did make a pretty mean ride when they came out with the 03/04 Cobras, then the GT500's & finally the GT500KR's. They found after a while that with all the power that the Cobra made it was better off with a live axle than IRS because IRS is more prone to breakage & even though you can make them strong, it's much easier for Ford to make a strong live axle. I hate to tell you, but as a man who owns 7 GM products at this time, Ford has made a hell of a product with the GT 500's that will cost us a pretty penny to match in straight line performance.

These days it shouldn't be a Ford vs Chevy fight, but people always want to make it one, we should be proud of anyone that buys domestic. Considering our new gen 5's are still produced in Canada, & are designed in Australia. In a time when the whole US auto market is going to ****.
Old 06-21-2009 | 01:33 AM
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Originally Posted by jamnut
Camaros and Mustangs aren't sports cars, they are heavy medium sized pony cars. I have my issues with Ford just as all GM lovers do, but they did make a pretty mean ride when they came out with the 03/04 Cobras, then the GT500's & finally the GT500KR's. They found after a while that with all the power that the Cobra made it was better off with a live axle than IRS because IRS is more prone to breakage & even though you can make them strong, it's much easier for Ford to make a strong live axle. I hate to tell you, but as a man who owns 7 GM products at this time, Ford has made a hell of a product with the GT 500's that will cost us a pretty penny to match in straight line performance.

These days it shouldn't be a Ford vs Chevy fight, but people always want to make it one, we should be proud of anyone that buys domestic. Considering our new gen 5's are still produced in Canada, & are designed in Australia. In a time when the whole US auto market is going to ****.
I am so sick of the Ford dumped the IRS arguement. There is one major reason the Cobra IRS was a piece of junk and didn't work, it had to mount in at the solid axle suspension points without chassis modification. This little thing limited the suspension geometry badly that it wasn't even that good for going around corners.
Old 06-21-2009 | 01:39 AM
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Originally Posted by TOSTO RACING
I'm glad you guys have them holding power. I just think it would work and be stronger with the 12 bolt conversion. If irs was so strong they would be in pro stock,stock ,and superstock.

I'm not knocking your setup sounds like its flying and working well.
With that thinking why doesn't Prostock, stock, and Superstock classes go to NO rear suspension just like the Top fuel and Funny Cars? There are vehicles out there that run at more than the drag strip and even those at the strip that do just fine on IRS. You don't like IRS and that is your choice. I have actually driven a 5th gen on the street and would never pull out the IRS because the handling is phenomenal and the world is not straight and a 1/4 mile long.
Old 06-21-2009 | 04:54 AM
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Originally Posted by 406 Q-ship
I am so sick of the Ford dumped the IRS arguement. There is one major reason the Cobra IRS was a piece of junk and didn't work, it had to mount in at the solid axle suspension points without chassis modification. This little thing limited the suspension geometry badly that it wasn't even that good for going around corners.

That's why it's so easy to put a live axle under an 03/04 cobra.

The 1st 5th gen SS that ran at my local track sheared off one of it's axles the 1st night it ever ran at the track. I'm just hoping that this was just a case of bad luck & not bad engineering. I have a new SS on order, so I have reasons to worry, due to the fact that I like racing, but not street racing, so I want to have the strongest possible setup I can for straight line racing @ the track.


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