[blue66]

The car is done for the year. .05 away from a 9.99. Traction has prohibited me to enter the 9 sec club
I know, I know, I need to buy some tires.
Well,... I am going to for next year, along with some 10" rims.
And adjustable shocks. I have had standard street shocks on the car up to this point. I tried some 3 way adjustables that I have had laying around with no success.

All in all, I am very happy for the year. Have been fighting traction all year, but I think I have found a good portion of the new mills potential. Which was what I was hoping for, but actually has exceeded my realistic expectations. Didn't wreck anything either.....thats a bonus!

Thanks to everyone here
And special thanks to Mike Lewis and Chris Straub.
3600#'s, street driven, pump gas and knockin on the nines @ 134mph

Now I gotta get this thing hooked up!!!
So I have been doing some research on shocks.
From what I have read, the coil over conversions may not be the hot ticket in a drag application. ?
I seen Todd G. mention this also in his winter changes post.....About the taller factory type spring. I also wondered this. Are you better with the taller factory spring vs a shorter coilover type spring?

Of course I would like to go dbl adjustable but WOW the prices!!

Every single adjustable shock desc. I have read say's adjusts compression and rebound simultaneously. So does it tighten both and loosen both, or do the opposites. I guess what I need to know, if you loosend the shock for easy extension, does it also loosen the compression or does it tighten compression. Then in the middle setting you would see 50/50 and start going the other way? Or does it just adjust both the same?

If they are the same, seems ok I guess for the street but certainly not drag racing. Loose for easy up, and then to come crashing back down!

Maybe this is ok for the rears? Tighten both comp and rebound together?

Or is the QA1R with fixed tight compression what I would need in the front?

Qa1, AFCO, Varishocks, Strange Engineering.? So many choices!


Any comments, suggestions, real life experiences with brands, valving, etc.
appreciated.


Thanks in advance,
Brian

[Bob West]

We are probably very close in the power dept, 3860 vs 3600lbs, I probably have the edge in torque and you horsepower. I am using the Moog 5392's (www.espo.com) up front and KONI street adjustables set on full soft, I did trim 1 coil from the 5392's but didnt seem to help at all, gained travel and lost some stored energy. I am also using the HR antiroll bar and QA1 single adjustables in the rear, usually set on 8-9 clicks of 12 which is full stiff. What converter? The only change that I will be making to my front end is installing poly graphite bushings in the upper/lower control arms. I'm not sure how much more there is if I would upgrade to AFCO shocks, but from what I've seen that you have to do to make them fit, I'll stick with the KONI's

[bracketchev1221]

Cost is always the issue. That's why I don't have the fancy stuff on mine. I just couldn't make myself spend that much for shocks. I'll just be happy with what I've got. I've never really been to interested in suspension work. I mean I get it to work and understand what it's "supposed" to do but I have more fun with the engine side of it. I know my car could 60' better than it does, but as long as it's consistant I'm ok with it. And I'll admit that I still have the CE 3 way shocks in mine because they were cheap.

[40Coupe]

Ray, With all due respect, small tire cars require a concentrated and focused effort on the suspension. With little more than suspension work/tuning my 9" tire car has gone from running 10.0's to 9.70's. If I had my choice between a powerplant with 100 more HP or a refined suspension I'd choose the suspension every time. Consider this, AFCO double adjustable shocks on all 4 corners cost about the same as a complete roller valvetrain. I see 500 cube combos at the track running several tenths slower than my 468. When I ask to see their timeslip the 60 foots are almost always horrible.

There is a huge return on investment for working the suspension. That's one reason I'm planning to make more changes this winter to further optimize mine.

Brian- If you buy AFCO's you will not regret it!

[bracketchev1221]

Garret you are definitely right. Small tire, even big tire cars can definitely gain from suspension work. Even when my car was a small tire car, I didn't have the 60' times that you guys have. I think it went a best of 1.43 at 10.30's, Bob has been in the 1.30's at that. I'm just saying that I've never really gotten involved with it. I've always had more fun with engine combos than chassis work. Plus with my work schedules I don't get to the track often enough to play with chassis tuning, so I just leave it as it is.

[blue66]

Here's where I'm at. I have Moog 5230's installed, the lightest 6cyl spring avail for the early chassis. 3/4 coil cut. Front end moves freely.

Rear suspension is double adjustable uppers and lowers, with a HR rear anti-roll. Stock springs cut to lower ride height.
Front of upper control arms is lowered about .750". Axle mount locations in stock positions.

Along with the upgrade to 10" wheels, I want to upgrade to some adjustable shocks.
I have thought about just trying the new wheels and tires, but I would really like to get this thing leaving hard.

Bob, I am using a 9.5" edge converter 4,500rpm's.

[DragRacer]

Brian,

While there are certainly "better" shocks out there (or at least more adjustable), I run the QA1-R series single adjustable shocks on the front of my car. The compression is fixed and VERY stiff, which is exactly how I would have a double adjustable shock set, so I didn't see the need for the additional cost of double adjustables. For the money they are a nice shock.

If I were to go double adjustable I would probably go AFCO, even though there is going to be some significant fab time to get them to fit.

I do run AFCO double adjustable shocks in the rear. I currently have them set full stiff on compression and 8 clicks up from full soft on suspension.

[blue66]

Originally Posted by DragRacer

Brian,

While there are certainly "better" shocks out there (or at least more adjustable), I run the QA1-R series single adjustable shocks on the front of my car. The compression is fixed and VERY stiff, which is exactly how I would have a double adjustable shock set, so I didn't see the need for the additional cost of double adjustables. For the money they are a nice shock.

If I were to go double adjustable I would probably go AFCO, even though there is going to be some significant fab time to get them to fit.

I do run AFCO double adjustable shocks in the rear. I currently have them set full stiff on compression and 8 clicks up from full soft on suspension.

Thanks, Jason. Are the R shocks so stiff that you would not want to drive the car with them?

[yanniz]

have the Afco dual coil-oer in teh front with 450lb springs (street driving mostly) and they work great....like someone else said for the track they would work great as well...

[fowl69]

I am at the same point so kind off looking around . you can make it hook . look at this truck , the reason i bring it up is it is very nose heavy more so than a chevelle and he makes it work . it now runs 10.30s at 129 and gos 137 60ft . that is the guy that set up the chassie walking behind the truck and he will be helping me with my chevelle but watch it leave,
Aaron Myers' 84 GMC 10.61 @ 125 1.40 60 ft !!!! on MT ET Street Drag Radials!

[blue66]

Originally Posted by fowl69

I am at the same point so kind off looking around . you can make it hook . look at this truck , the reason i bring it up is it is very nose heavy more so than a chevelle and he makes it work . it now runs 10.30s at 129 and gos 137 60ft . that is the guy that set up the chassie walking behind the truck and he will be helping me with my chevelle but watch it leave,
Aaron Myers' 84 GMC 10.61 @ 125 1.40 60 ft !!!! on MT ET Street Drag Radials!

Christ that thing leaves hard!
Surprised the 60 isn't even lower.....must be the camera angle.

[DragRacer]

Originally Posted by blue66

Thanks, Jason. Are the R shocks so stiff that you would not want to drive the car with them?

Brian,

If you drive your car all the time, yes they are probably a bit stiff. If it is just the occasional cruise it would probably be OK. Just depends on what you can put up with

Everyone's tolerance is a little different.

[blue66]

Originally Posted by DragRacer

Brian,

If you drive your car all the time, yes they are probably a bit stiff. If it is just the occasional cruise it would probably be OK. Just depends on what you can put up with

Everyone's tolerance is a little different.

Well stiff I don't mind. My buddies camaro has adjustables and we set the rears full tight and it was like having no susp. at all.
That would not be good.
No it's not a daily driver, just don't want to be rattling my teeth out when I do.

Nothing worse than, solid heim control arms, roll bar, full manual trans, loud exhaust etc. then?

Sounds bad above but the car does go down the road quite nice.

[fowl69]

blue 66 I forgot to mention ,that truck runs strange shocks aju on the front with stock springs and ranchero shocks on rear . and it weighs 4400# when they scaled it. I called the guy madman and he is gona set my chevelle up and he kinda giggled when i told him i was worried about hooking it . He likes afco shocks tho. My point in all of this is it can be done and your well on your way with that mph.