Check Out That Chassis
By Scott Weney of S&W Racecars
4/10/2007
 |
I'm having trouble with the rear-end of the car moving right at launch while the nose of the car goes to the left, usually out to the 60 ft. mark, with the front tires usually 2 to 3 ft. high. Ladder bar car. Small tire. The last 2 passes have stood the car on the back bumper. (Oil pans are getting expensive). The car still has leaf springs and I've just installed an anti-roll bar. It seemed to help the problem some. I'm interested in putting a Wishbone Kit to help control the movement. I've seen photos of Jamie Stanton's pro stock Camaro where he has the Wishbone mounted behind the rear-end and to the chassis. The car has 5 to 6 inches of rear-tire to fender separation after launch. When this happens, the nose of the car only rises to 2 to 3 ft. high. I don't really know which way to move the ladder bars, up or down. Lowering the front mounting point of the ladder bars says it will hit the tires less but wouldn't this move the instant center forward causing the car to tote the front-end easier?
Any help would be appreciated. You can see a photo of Jamie Stanton's rear suspension in the Fastest Sreet Car Issue 7, Volume 6, 2006 on page 15.
What do you think about this idea? It would leave lots of more room to work on under my car.
I've enjoyed reading your articles.
Thanks,
Tommy Dublin, GA |
|
 |
Tommy,
I would start by checking the rear for square in the car, a car that hits the tire real hard and the rear housing is not square in the car the rear end will tend to turn the car . so the rear would go right and it will jerk the car to the right hard so it will point the nose to the left.
The wish bone will help the car some, but getting the leaf springs off and adding coil over shocks will really help along with the wishbone.
Moving the ladder bar down will soften the hit but this dose not always work on a small tire car. You may be better off moving some weight in the car forward. This will not hurt the hook you have and will slow the front end rise. A good pair of adjustable front shocks will help this too.
Scott Weney
President, S & W Race Cars
610-948-7303X111
