Suspension setups...shocks, overloads, ladder bars

Harbin_22

Active member
Dec 4, 2010
3,858
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Southern Indiana
I think converters play just as big of a part in 60'. You get a good coupling converter with a quick spooling turbo, and you transfer large amounts of torque
 

Slowmax

Build what others' won't
Aug 3, 2013
468
0
0
United States
I cut low 1.6 60's on homemade traction bars, crew cab with no tail gate, heavy 20 inch wheels, with a set of 275/55/20 tires that were free from craigslist. :thumb: Built trans, stock pump, sticks, and turbo.
 

WolfLMM

Making Chips
Nov 21, 2006
4,005
26
48
38
AL
Im installing the cheapset shocks I can find at Advance. Bet it still goes high 1.6-low1.7s. Lol :D

It will. Mine did on 130,000 mile stock shocks and lift keys cranked all the way down. I have since replaced with rancho 9000s and stock keys with new tierods/pitman arm/ idler arm. Looking for high 1.5s low 1.6s with drag radials now.
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,611
1,868
113
Mid Michigan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KAfAY1uR2c
Thats nothing more than QA1s, Caltracs, and Toyos on PY0s.

Ive never been a fan of long bars on drag trucks, but some guys get them to work. Then again, some get worn-out OEM shocks to run 1.6s, too.

There are three things that affect how your truck launches:

1) you knowing your truck (how its running, "sweet spots" etc) and making adjustments as they are needed (different tracks/weather/prep/etc)
2) the combination of parts you've installed and how they work together (or fight against one another)
3) your experience and ability as a driver
 
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WolfLMM

Making Chips
Nov 21, 2006
4,005
26
48
38
AL
I think converters play just as big of a part in 60'. You get a good coupling converter with a quick spooling turbo, and you transfer large amounts of torque

Yes sir, I hope I get major improvement from my tc swap.

Old setup was 1056/stock fuel/air went 8.08 @85

New setup is 1078 (Limitless TC) 68mm R/stock fuel. Hoping I can get down in the 7.6-7.7 range on the first night out:woott:
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,681
5,833
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Phoenix Az
look i dont want to be the bad guy here but Josh154, your so all over the place here....

these guys are giving good info for one part but the problem here is it takes a whole bunch of variables to come together at the launch to make a good launch. at this point i have yet to see you post a good video of this thing launching.

my suggestion is to not spend another dime yet accept for at the track. go back to the setup that you ran the bet 60ft at. when you get there, have a buddy sit on the side line as close to the truck as he can get while still keeping it in full view and video the truck launching. after that, see what the time was and try it a couple more times if possible. if it was worse on average, start picking the brains of guys in staging who have ran already and ask how their cars are launching or what they think of the track. if they say its a crap track tonight and they have cars built to race at the track, trying to progress farther on better 60s can happen but dont look for these low numbers you keep seeing posted.

if you can get close to your best 60, you can start improving by making little changes like air in bags, tire pressure and watching that video your buddy has been taking. From there, enjoy the night and then post those videos up here. we need to see what the front end and back end is doing and see it well. we are not there to go "AH HA! There is your issue!". there are so many parts in teh front end even when built that can cause toe in issues and so on that will affect your launch its not even funny.

videos are the greatest way to see how a truck is reacting to changes. i do this for shock tuning on sand cars, off road trucks, ect and it really lets you see where issues lay. brian was getting me a couple vids when we were getting ready to dial his truck in till he changed the setup and could see improvements right off the bat with cal trac setup and rear shock change. I also dont know if the front end is affecting your rear end. a stiff rear suspension and a soft front is not a good setup for a 4wd truck to launch from. as Rob has stated before, you dont want to fight what the truck will do. you just want to be able to control it.

i can tell you that damn near every person in here who has setup their truck for the drag strip does NOT have the exact same setup nor if they did, could they pull the same exact 60ft at the same track. converter, turbo, weight bias, suspension, steering, ect all make a difference. the biggest difference you will see out of all this in your 60ft time is track prep or lack there of.
 

Ne-max

I like turtles
Nov 15, 2011
3,361
64
48
Lincoln, Ne
When I had a 1058 I could not build over 5 psi of boost. Then truck turned into smokey mess. Switched to a 1053 and now I can launch at whatever psi the track can handle.
 

JoshH

Daggum farm truck
Staff member
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 14, 2007
13,714
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Texas!!!
I have a 1058 in my truck and have never had a problem spooling and launching my truck. It isn't the best coupling converter out there for sure, but it never seemed to be a limiting factor in getting my truck off the line. The things you need to consider for getting a good 60' are:

weight (the less weight you have to accelerate will make you that much quicker to get moving)
rolling weight (heavy wheels and tires are so much harder to get to start rolling), tires (both size/type and pressure)
power (you have to have power to accelerate the truck)
chassis/suspension/steering setup (you need the tires to do the best they can and a truck that moves too much or tires that aren't being held in place properly will hurt you more than you might think)

I agree with James, go back to the beginning and figure out where things started going down hill. You should be able to get low 1.7s/high 1.6s with what you have now unless the track is just junk.
 

Josh154

Well-known member
Sep 28, 2015
1,220
85
48
Sioux Falls SD
Thanks for the advice guys. I cut my best 60' ever last Friday which was a 1.77. Last time at the track was a 1.88 so I definitely improved. My local track is pretty shitty honestly. Lots of guys don't even run there but it's the only 1/4 within 5 hours. I wish I had a close up video of the launches without spring clamps, the truck didn't act like that video at all. I'll see if I can come up with something
 

PureHybrid

Isuzu Shakes IT
Feb 15, 2012
3,495
476
83
Central OH
Why do you need to run 1/4 mi? If you're trying to get it to launch better, no reason to run it out the back door on a crap launch. I always think 1/8mi is more fun, races are closer and if your truck is slow like mine you can keep it out of O/D