Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??????

Suspension Tuning, Troubleshooting, Design and Discussion

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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#16 Post by johnh » Sat Sep 08, 2012 5:08 pm

Sorry to hear about the crash.
I think I need a lighter spring rate... I have the 225 #with a 2 inch drop....
3681Lb with Driver
I dont have an issue with hook, I just cant hit the tire hard enough no matter what I have changed to experiment.

I will call Calvert on Monday to discuss furthure with them on Spring Rates.
Thanks for info and good luck on the rebuild.

JohnH
6.01 @ 116 on 9 Inch Slicks

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Craig W.
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#17 Post by Craig W. » Sat Sep 08, 2012 7:42 pm

Let us know what Calvert says. Do you know your rear %?

Thanks, I'm missing racing it.
Craig Watson
2QuickNovas Racing
5.23@131

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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#18 Post by johnh » Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:50 am

4 corner scales with an older combo in it..Iron headed 468, with Th350.. but close enough for this I guess.... I can re weigh it if needed.

SEE NEW SCALE NUMBERS BELOW IN THREAD


Now we have a 540 Alum heads with a glide and a little more steel in the frame , and an over wight driver.... = 3681 lbs with driver...we used the track scales a few weeks ago

I have used a 454, a 468 and now a 540... went from a th350 to a glide with break... switched convertors ...changed to Santuff Front Springs, Affco SA front shocks.... experimented with Pinion angle, Long story short.... my 60's are averaging 1.50's on ALL the Motor'S .....
When I throw the Nitrous at it.... the 60's will drop some.

My suspension is not WORKING properly.....Its in the rear suspension I am positive... I have changed every thing else.. we make the power it just wont hit the tire correctly..

Right now we run a 6.50 index on Nine Inch Tires called Nine Inch Nightmares.
We can run the number.... I just want the car to 60 better.

thanks for listening...

a few vids from last season.... i have one from this Friday night it looks the same.... I will try to load it

http://youtu.be/Oh4JUfldkl4

http://youtu.be/z9Zdg0hyJUM

a few pics

Image

Image

Image
Last edited by johnh on Sun Sep 09, 2012 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Craig W.
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#19 Post by Craig W. » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:28 am

I see a couple things on the video:

1) Stop spinning the tires over in the water to get them wet. Just rolling into the water and pull out. Slinging water up in the wheel wells will make the car inconsistent.

2) The car seems to do a lot of bouncing. The front end looked like it did its job OK. The rear looks stiff or bound up. What rear shocks do you have? I might have missed where you said.

3) The car has some separation in the rear but not a ton. Sometimes lower powered cars need softer shock settings.

Also, those corner weights aren't going to be much help. You need to get new weights with you in the car and how it goes down the track. Old motor, no driver, etc will really throw off the weights.
Craig Watson
2QuickNovas Racing
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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#20 Post by johnh » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:44 am

Rancho # RS999119 (RS9000XL) 9 way adjust...(old Style b4 Calvert started selling them as there own) Compressed 11.93, Extended 17.330 travel 5.40 (ACCORDING TO THIS SPEC) http://www.my4by.com/rancho-rs9000xl-sh ... s-a-2.html

I measured my shock mounts and they are 13.5" center of eye .
With the shock installed I have 1.5-2 inches of shaft showing, show that means i have 3.5 inches left for travel or seperation..... Is that enough?


The 540 N/A makes peak 692 TQ at 5600 and 806 HP at 6700....

I have disconected the shocks and Caltracs and the car is not not bound up. It will bounce and move up and down freely 6-7 inches of travel.
I had sliders on at one point and now have shackles again... didnt change any thing as far as 60 ft.

I will re weigh the car... I need to go get them from a friends house.

Here is 2 Cell phone video's from last night...

http://youtu.be/kb0fHcU_-0s

http://youtu.be/NNRRwgm1j-Q


Thanks again


EDIT....
I just finished re weighing the car....NEW Numbers driver in car

Left 1755 48.6%
Right 1858 51.4%
Rear 1767 48.9%
LF RR 1883 52.1%

Driver Front 936
Driver Rear 819
Pass Front 912
Pass Rear 948
_________
3615 #'s
Last edited by johnh on Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#21 Post by johnh » Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:40 pm

craig, whats your car weight?
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#22 Post by Craig W. » Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:24 pm

My car is 2990 with me in it.

With the rear shocks disconnected at the bottom and the car jacked up with the rear end hanging free, are the shocks long enough to reach the lower mounts?
Craig Watson
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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#23 Post by johnh » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:04 pm

No sir... Under that condition the bottom of the shock miss's the bottom mounting hole by .75 -1 inch to be alligned.
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#24 Post by Craig W. » Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:31 pm

That could be part of the problem.
Craig Watson
2QuickNovas Racing
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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#25 Post by johnh » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:02 am

I plan on calling Calvert this morning.... hopefuly they will help me figure out the "other" missing piece to my puzzle.

Thanks for your time Craig..
6.01 @ 116 on 9 Inch Slicks

luv454
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#26 Post by luv454 » Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:42 am

JohnH what gear ratio do you have for that small tire combo?

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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#27 Post by johnh » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:40 am

4.33's
6.01 @ 116 on 9 Inch Slicks

luv454
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#28 Post by luv454 » Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:55 pm

Thanks,
I have put together a high winding small block Nova with 3.89 gears and a powerglide. First time running it tonight and everyone tells me I need a 4.86 or a 5.13 and they could be right.
It is naturally aspirated leafspring car with 10.5 slicks. The man I bought the motor from had it in a opel gt that weighed 2000 with him in it and went 5.80's. They say it is going to leave like a turtle on the footbrake. Well time will tell 4 hours till my first pass. It's been 3 1/2 years building this thing.

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johnh
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#29 Post by johnh » Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:16 pm

Well? How did it do?
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luv454
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Re: Leaf spring rear suspensions?, tips-tricks?, 60' times??

#30 Post by luv454 » Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:53 am

60' - 1.5233
330' - 4.2382
660' - 6.565
MPH - 104.94

It was haulin but just getting started. I crossed the traps at somewhere between 5800 and 6000 rpms. This motor needs to turn harder. More like 7000 or 7200 to be safe. But with a bracket car I wouldn't have to worry about slipping the tires with a 60' like that.

Please feel free to make a suggestion. Everything seemed to work. It is a leaf spring car with CE slide a links Stange shocks on the rear set to 3 out of 10 so it is on the soft side. 90/10 front shocks

Car scaled like this
LF-690 RF-708
LR-623 RR-778

Total was 2800 with me in the car I weigh 170

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