Just a question regarding our shocks for hard launches.

I notice Parish and the C3 truck get a pretty decent amount of upward movment when launching. Now generally in the drag racing world it looks cool to start lifting the front end but we all know that that is wasted energy that should be used to get the vehicle moving forward, not upward.

Would stiffer shocks be better in this application since we dont have to worry about weight transfer in a 4x4 AND too much weight transfer is actually bad because we unload the front tires which given too much lift can cause spin.

I only ask because my truck has 80k miles on the stock shocks and I am sure they could use changing and was consdiering getting something stiffer or adj. if they make em. Parish truck is still really new so his shocks may not be too wore out yet but I can only imagine what a worn out set would launch like with that kind of power. LOL

Basically I am trying to find the most efficeint way to get mine down the track to help make up for my excess weight.

 

well they way I understand it is you want the front to pic up and the rear end to sit.
when we run the goat we have 90/10 on the front and 70/30's on the back.
this gets the front end up and the rear down to gain optimal traction.
the 90/10's allow the front to come up, and then slowly come back down, and just the opposite for the rear.
the 70/30's allow the rear to squat and stay down and then slowly come up.
this is something I was gonna try on my truck, but drag shocks are not good for everyday driving.

 

A set of good rear shocks with an adjustable rebound setting is what you need.You want the initial weight transfer for traction then the controlled rebound to control wheel hop and stabalize the truck after launching.The old way of thinking is to use a 90/10 up front and a soft shock at the rear which works good on a track only setup but can be dangerous on the street.

 

I agree about the track/versus street set up.
I thought I had mentioned that.
my fault, most have gotten ahead of my self

 

See this is where I differ and thats why I am asking.

On a conventional rwd vehicle yes you would run a 90/10 up front and a 50/50 in the rear. I've done just that one my Mustang and it worked fine. I also used 3.5" skinnys as a daily driver so I am kinda nutty. I also ran stock shocks on my T/A with an airbag and had awesome traction N/A. Nitrous was another story (ET streets don't cut it).

BUT we are talking about a 4x4 now, you don't really need it to squat in the rear as much as you do with a 2wd rwd vehicle. On a front wheel drive car you want as much anti-squat as you can get.

So it is my thinking that you you would better off with a mixture of the 2 right?

 

I have been messing with that thought myself. I get front wheel spin most of the time, if they spin at all. I have been considering going to an adj. rear (QA1, RS9000) to help conrol that and see if it would help.

 

Would 50/50 all the way around work you think?

 

I'm not sure. I don't know exactly how stiff those are because on my cars I either ran stock or adj. shocks.

Maybe when I get some time I will search some of the import boards and see what they are doing to prevent front end lift besides wheelie bars.

But the problem BenKey is describing is part of what I am talking about along with the wasted energy issue.

 

Hrm interesting. If you didn't squat with the 4x4 the fronts could grab better also.

You may be on to something here...

 

Try the Monroe Load sensing coil over shocks for our trucks. I have them and it helped me reduce the cab twisting so bad. They dont let the rear squat or twist as bad. I gained back .2 on my 60's when i switched to them. Well i did do some weight reduction mods in between to so that could have been part of it.

BTW, i'll be home in about 6 weeks and can take pics of them then if your not in a hurry. If so check them out at Autozone.