Rear suspension tech/info needed

[johnnyriviera]

Good shocks go a long way. Stick cars and radials are definitely becoming more popular and people are getting them to work as good and sometimes better. The clutch, shocks, and power management are key. I don’t have the desire to spend a season trying to make radials work. I’ll stick with bias ply. Plus radials aren’t forgiving on a mediocre surface.

The thing I found with radials is that they don't recover. Bias slick you get that 1/2 -1 turn out of the hole and then go. In my experience (and other peoples I've talked to) radials like to dead hook, and if they don't, they just keep spinning. Yes the big time drag radial guys make them work, but they often have a shock package that rivals the cost of a lot of peoples engines! And to your point A LOT of time on clutch setup that often needs adjustment throughout race day to keep up with the track. I rarely need to adjust base pressure, and when I do need to compensate for track conditions I usually do it with launch RPM.

That said, I went quite a ways with QA1 double adjustables. Once I dropped into the 9's I went with Menscer shocks and have been very happy.

 

[Ishiftem]

The thing I found with radials is that they don't recover. Bias slick you get that 1/2 -1 turn out of the hole and then go. In my experience (and other peoples I've talked to) radials like to dead hook, and if they don't, they just keep spinning. Yes the big time drag radial guys make them work, but they often have a shock package that rivals the cost of a lot of peoples engines! And to your point A LOT of time on clutch setup that often needs adjustment throughout race day to keep up with the track. I rarely need to adjust base pressure, and when I do need to compensate for track conditions I usually do it with launch RPM.

That said, I went quite a ways with QA1 double adjustables. Once I dropped into the 9's I went with Menscer shocks and have been very happy.

True dead hook or spin. No in between. I make clutch adjustments often. Mine has a sweet spot for rpm. Even if turns the tire harder it will 60 better than lowering the rpm and hooking better. 5400-5800 is its happy place. I have never heard of anyone who wasn’t happy with there Menscer shocks.I have new Afcos I haven’t tried yet and made a change to the lower bar. Hopefully I can put the typical 1.42-1.43 60 behind me and get to the 1.37- 1.38 it belongs at.

 

[Mr. Chev]

I switched to the Hoosier lightweight radial and my car has never hooked better, the old slicks used to bunch up then the car would fall off the tire so to speak and spin, the stiff sidewall of the tadial makes a huge difference on a heavy car, this is my opinion and ymmv.

 

[johnnyriviera]

I switched to the Hoosier lightweight radial and my car has never hooked better, the old slicks used to bunch up then the car would fall off the tire so to speak and spin, the stiff sidewall of the tadial makes a huge difference on a heavy car, this is my opinion and ymmv.

Not trying to change your mind, but I was having problems bunching the slicks too. Running stiffwall slicks now (MT and Hoosier both offer, recommended for heavy and/or stick cars), and the aforementioned shock adjustments fixed that.

 

[Ishiftem]

I switched to the Hoosier lightweight radial and my car has never hooked better, the old slicks used to bunch up then the car would fall off the tire so to speak and spin, the stiff sidewall of the tadial makes a huge difference on a heavy car, this is my opinion and ymmv.

Yours is an automatic now isn’t it? I think I remember reading on the bullet you took the 4 gear out. Auto and radials are great. Stick cars tend to shock the tire hard and break the radial loose.

 

[Steve "wully bully"]

True dead hook or spin. No in between. I make clutch adjustments often. Mine has a sweet spot for rpm. Even if turns the tire harder it will 60 better than lowering the rpm and hooking better. 5400-5800 is its happy place.

Agreed! Radial slicks won't recover like a bias ply. We launch Wully Bully at 5400 normally as well, below that it bogs, above that it spins (unless the track is really tight). The other combo we put together, it would bog below 6600. Planning other changes for next year, as Adam will be taking over driving the sedan.

 

[Mr. Chev]

yes I did go from stick to auto years back the Hoosier lightweight radial is the same co6 compound as the slick, It really made my car consistent and picked up a 10th in the quarter and at 135 the drive was much more stable than with the slicks.

 

[Mr. Chev]

 

[Mr. Chev]