Hooking up

[LTb1ow]

I could not get my car to hook when I tried to leave on the converter. I had done a good burnout, and had MT ET streets down to 15psi.

I have UMI LCAs, relo brackets, and a panhard bar. Stock or SS springs/struts in the back.

I am looking to upgrade to QA1s, but am not sure which ones would work best for a mostly street driven car. The coilover kit is a bit pricey for me, so the simple strut ones are what I am looking at.

Thoughts?

[sweetbmxrider]

you should really see how the car is transferring weight before throwin money around. i recommend some video of the launch from the side and rear.

[LTb1ow]

Well either way, suspension is over ten years old, safe to say it can be replaced... no?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_MDd7m_HYE&feature=channel_page

Kinda hard to see.

[sweetbmxrider]

you can see/hear it was a bad hook. your nose shoots up then drops then comes back up. you can also hear how you slip/spun and had to get out of it then back on the gas. need better conditions to see what its really doing. that and !swaybar :)

granted i do think your suspension may need some upgrading, i'd see what you should buy first with your given budget to get the best improvement.

[Mike]

race on a non rainy track first

[LTb1ow]

Well theres not much really. Its either springs, struts or torque arm in the rear. Or try for skinnies up front and an LS1 DS...

[sweetbmxrider]

i guess. is the car leaving square? sure you can't play with the tire pressure some more? like mike said, needs better conditions to really see what it does. i'm sure seat time will help too.

[LTb1ow]

Yea no doubt. I am just trying to get some opinions and do some research on my options, ya know?

[sweetbmxrider]

i hear ya. the drag racing tech forum on ls1tech has a wealth of info if you sift through it. i'd take advice from the guys that hang their skinnies to dry for 30 or so feet :)

you had the front swaybar connected right? what was the front tire psi?

[Mike]

borrow my front rimz yo

[LTb1ow]

Front tires were low actually, I forgot to check em and when I was refilling the rears I noticed they were low and gave em air too.

Sway bar was still hooked up, you know those entrance ramps can be hairy without it. ;)

[S.J.SLEEPER]

install a set of rear drag springs and shocks, unhook front sway bar, run 16 in left rear and 18-19 in right rear, should hook

[LTb1ow]

Care to elaborate on brands etc?

[BonzoHansen]

I'd save your money and keep practicing.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Umm in case you didn't notice the track conditions were not the best either. I would get video concentrating on the rear, when you don't go through the water box, and when there is no rain :lol:

[LTb1ow]

There was no water box to go through! I was very disappointed. I am going back to atco. They have a proper box of water. :)

And I plan on practicing some more. Just trying to get some ideas.

[sweetbmxrider]

you don't want to do coilovers in the rear. you run into too many issues especially if you decide to get a larger rear sway bar. an adjustable rear shock and stock springs should work wonders. you really need to work on weight transfer to the rear though otherwise its not going to work and you will be all :-x

[WildBillyT]

I'd save your money and keep practicing.

^ Best advice.

Stop trying to solve a problem you may not really have. Get to the track on some nice dry days and make some more passes.

[S.J.SLEEPER]

Care to elaborate on brands etc?

i have had real good luck with moroso rear drag springs, compe engineering adjustable rear shocks.

my 00 ss 6spd. w/4:10's had the stuff above with front sway disconnected runnin on nitto d.r.'s & 150 shot of spray
ran 1.57-1.69 60 footers leavin @ 5500 slippin the clutch a tad

always ran @ atco

[JSPERFORMANCE]

I didnt have a problem with the amount of water layed down.. You really dont want a whole lot cause it slings up in your quarter panels and then drips on the tires before you leave the line..
The track was great on sunday.. I got some real good short times in my car. About .03 better than Cecil County on a sunny day in fact..

[JSPERFORMANCE]

I have a complete drag suspension combo for these cars available here.. We can set the car up for you or we can just get you the parts for you to install yourself..

[LTb1ow]

I didnt have a problem with the amount of water layed down.. You really dont want a whole lot cause it slings up in your quarter panels and then drips on the tires before you leave the line..
The track was great on sunday.. I got some real good short times in my car. About .03 better than Cecil County on a sunny day in fact..

You also have been in the game a lot longer than me. :wink: I am but a newb.

What you recommend for the rear suspension?

[JSPERFORMANCE]

Good torque arm set up is the first thing necessary to have a good launch. The stock design allows the pinion angle to move around making for some killer wheel hop or just plain loss of traction.. Also keep in mind that the front suspension set up is just as important as the rear in getting the car to hook.

[Saitin]

did you launch from idle?

[Tru2Chevy]

Matt, a few more trips to the track is your best bet for now. Unbolt the front sway at the track next time you go. Plan for a nice torque arm, because even with plenty of seat time, a good arm will help you out quite a bit.

did you launch from idle?



His best 60's (1.8s i think) were off idle...when he brought it up on the converter he was spinning.



- Justin

[S.J.SLEEPER]

when coming off idle converter acts like a rubber band/slingshot. coming off on the converter is a harder hit which will cause to spin if suspension/tire not good.
if suspension is not done better off coming out off idle easier on the suspension & rear along with better ets.

[Kat]

Honestly I wouldn't run different tire pressures. Keep them the same arround 15 psi. The trick that I do that seems to work, is to tighten the bolt on the right rear sway bar end link, a little bit more than the left. Like an extra turn or turn and a half.

The pinion angle that I have set on the vert is -1.5°. Keep in mind the car is setup for going around turns and whatnot, (koni red's, spohn front coil over (325lb springs), tube k member and a-arms, poly/rod lca's and phb, cut iroc springs in the rear, 36/24 sway bar). With 275/40/17 Sumitimo HTR Z III's I usually cut 1.82 60's. I'm sure on DR's I wouldn't be to far away from low 1.7's high 1.6's..

Set it up right, along with the much much much needed seat time and you'll see your 60' drop.

[NJ Torque]

I would run more PSI in the tires, always seemed to work best for me about ~22 PSI in the same ET streets.

I had UMI tube LCA, Non adju TQ arm and panhard bar, cutting 1.6X 60'... Leaving on the footbrake, off the converter at about ~1800 RPM's, flooring it at the last yellow.

[79CamaroDiva]

I don't think I actually watched any of your burnouts, but its highly possible (unless someone saw you move forward) that you did a burnout IN the water itself, in which case you will never hook. I see that all the time, along with driving big front tires through the water, dragging it up to the line with you. Before spending a ton of money, make sure that you werent inadvertently staging with wet tires. Also, there weren't THAT many slick vehicles to leave much rubber down, so the starting line wasn't optimal, but as josh said, he was still able to get a decent 60'

[LTb1ow]

Thanks for the advice guys and girls. Appreciate it.

I guess some trips to Atco are in need. Any one up for next week?

[sweetbmxrider]

YES! and i don't need a ride :shifty: spectating/multimediaing

[LTb1ow]

Noice!

Take pics of my launches?

[transmaro93]

YES! and i don't need a ride :shifty: spectating/multimediaing

im down... you wanna cruise together anyway to make the ride less boring mr adam....

[LTb1ow]

I still gotta think about it. Dunno whether I wanna spend the money for lousy runs... hot weather es no bueno.

Cides, if I get 12.01 NA... throw some N20 in the mix.. you scurred yet Brandon?

:)

[sweetbmxrider]

pics sure

yeah i was gunna say brandon, you want a ride? i owe you like 50 :lol:

let us know

[transmaro93]

dude 1.8 60 is terrible for your current set up... well not terrible... but i used to do 1.9's on street tires with my 93 auto... im sure you can improve with out more mods... although im sure some better shocks and T/A would help alot... and of coarse im not scared... i need to have a running car to be scared... that wont be for a few more months... and again are you building your car just to beat me or somthing...?? what was your best run on the weekend though.... 60', 1/4 time and trap speed... i heard 12.8? what trap speed though...

oh and adam... yea im deff down... at least i can drive to your house for the ride!!! you don't have to drive across the town every time... so change that 50 into 60 or 70 just for that!

[bubba428]

learn your car better.....practice practice practice, mod, practice

[JerzLT1]

i went 12.51 @ 110 with a 1.86 60' in a bolt on 96 auto with the stock tq converter. something still isnt right

[LTb1ow]

Valves adjusted in the rain on the parkway before hand... lousy conditions. Lousy driver etc. Sloppy stall.

[JerzLT1]

my point though is that even with the same short time im still faster and quicker.. did i mention that it was stock internals?

[LTb1ow]

I am stock internals too... NA...

[sweetbmxrider]

yeah i'd still call em shakedown runs for matt. car needs to work out its quirks and have the whole setup fine tuned.

[JerzLT1]

i thought your car had heads/cam?

[sweetbmxrider]

i thought your car had heads/cam?

isn't he just the damnest thing? :lol:

[LTb1ow]

Stock headed car... And yea that would be my second time at the track so I need to work out some bugs.

[JerzLT1]

stock ported heads? and a cam = not stock internals

[LTb1ow]

Your car did not come with a cam from the factory?

Stock heads, stock internals... stock no?

[JerzLT1]

Being a jackass won't make your car faster

[LTb1ow]

Makes me feel better inside though.

[JerzLT1]

You have le2 h/c right?

[LTb1ow]

No?

I need to get my rockers adjusted correctly.

[BarneyMobile]

I had/have a set of MT et street radials and I found that they hooked the best with 18-22 psi. you cant run a radial that low like a bias ply tire. when I my auto z back in the day, it always left best off ilde (i.e. Flash stall)

[Batman]

I'd save your money and keep practicing.

Best answer here