Caltrac Adjustments

[408 Nova]

Hey fellas, I am new to this site and it looks good. Thanks for letting me join.

My local dragstrip is not the best prepped track. I have 68 Nova with M/T 28x9 ET Drags, powerglide, and 2960 lbs. The best 60' I have had there is a spinning 1.36-1.37. On a well prepped track it will go a 1.31 and change consistently. I had Slide-a-Links on the car and changed to Caltracs to get the small amount of tuneability that they offer, that is changing the front mounting point of the bar. It seems like the initial bite just isn't there. I realize I might not be able to tune this out with a small tire and a loose track.

I went to the track Friday night with the new Caltracs setup. I ran the link in the top hole with a 1/4 turn of preload. It feels like now the u-joints are binding on the leave and it "wobbles" down the track. I have 4 degree wedges in it. Also, on the gear change it pushes to the left. The 60' was a dismal 1.41-1.43. My wife said there is no seperation on the leave, just like my Slide-a-Links.

My next move is gonna be to take the wedges out and take a little preload OUT of the passenger side since it pushes to left on the gear change. What do all think? Have I missed something?

[John_Heard]

If you're having issues with that very first initial hit to the tire where it breaks away, then you might want to start looking at what your launch RPM is and start experimenting with that a bit. Is this a transbrake car or foot brake?

You know if the car works on a decent track, but doesn't on a bad track that it just might be the track ? Others having issues at the same time?

[408 Nova]

If you're having issues with that very first initial hit to the tire where it breaks away, then you might want to start looking at what your launch RPM is and start experimenting with that a bit. Is this a transbrake car or foot brake?

You know if the car works on a decent track, but doesn't on a bad track that it just might be the track ? Others having issues at the same time?

It's a transbrake car. However, it really blows the tire away on the transbrake. Lately I have been footbraking the car because it will hook a little better. Others do have issues at this track, the smaller tire cars like mine. My friends with the bigger tires don't have any issues there.

I guess I could experiment with the two step. I am starting to think the track is just not ever gonna come around. It's been like this for years.

I was just experimenting to see if I could get the thing to hook tuning the bars. I will go to a different track with some bite to get it back to where it was. Thanks John.

[ytnova]

Video would help alot. Have you tried softening the extension on the shock?

[408 Nova]

Video would help alot. Have you tried softening the extension on the shock?

I have Summit 3 way adjustable shocks on the rear. They are set to 50/50. Extending them by hand, they feel really, really stiff. They need to be loose on extension, don't they? Maybe swap over to some double adjustables?

The next time we go to a nice hooking dragstrip (Holly Springs, MS or Jackson, TN), I will get my wife to shoot some video to post on here to see what you all would do. Thanks.

[ytnova]

To be honest, we are kind of shooting in the dark. A good double adjustable shock with the correct valving is almost a absolute must to get a small tire car working with a good amount of horsepower, but they are not a cure all either, especially for a poorly prepared track. Some guys have really good luck with single adjustable shocks, but each combo is different. You are correct in thinking that if you soften the extension it should plant the tire harder initally, the problem with a single adjustable, is now the valving may not be stiff enough to keep the tire from bouncing back off the ground.
Some good video shot down the side, with the front and rear tires is going to help us help you out better. Some additional info with that video would help out as well, ie, how old are the tires, air pressure, rough et, trans/rear gear, converter, launch rpm, type of msd box, nitrous or n/a, progressive?, current shock brand and settings, etc. I think you are on the right track though, if you know the track prep is marginal, try a different track and try and get some solid data to start working from.