7 Rounds and 2 Tons of FUN!

Well after spending some time under my car measuring and brainstorming, the light bulb cam on! This is an RMS Alterkation street Lynx setup. Key word "street!" When we put this system in the car a few years ago, in order to get the 30" slicks to fit without rubbing, I had to flip the lower shock bracket upside down to get everything to fit! Ding, ding, ding, what happens when you lift everything? all the bar angles change. This setup is designed for a lower profile tire, Pro touring stance. So about a 28" tire is the max diameter you can have with a proper ride height on this suspension. I have a set of 28x10.5 stiff wall M/T's coming. I flipped the lower shock mount and lowered the suspension. I will fine tune the height once I have the 28's mounted and on the car. Right now just flipping the lower bracket I went from an 11 degree up at the front angle on the top bar to a 2 degree. I may be able to get it 0 once I have the tires on it. I can probably add 1-1.5" on the forward bracket and even get that top bar angle down in the front now. Bottom bar went from 14 to 9 up at the front. I would have to add a piece under the axle now to get anymore angle as I am up in the spring perch as high as I can go currently. The only other thing I may have to do is shorten the anti-rollbar links to get the correct angle on the pivot arm. That is a minor detail.
Hopefully this will help the squat? If not then this winter Malex may have to come visit and install a sweet ladder bar setup in my car like he has!

One other thing that would probably help is a better rear shock and I am not sure if a 200 is enough spring rate for my car? My tank may benefit from a 250 or 300 at my size? Thoughts?

One other question, on an anti roll bar, is it best to preload the P/S? I notice with the squat the car has, the arms are hitting the body. So hopefully better bar angle stops that?

My experience is limited to "stock type" Mopar leaf springs of many configurations (stock '65, multiple change in arch, OEM XHD on '65 main leaf, copy of '70's 3000# SS on '65 main leaf, ESPO '66 version, & 3300# Mopar SS). And the double adjustable ladder bars on my tube chassis Arrow. The ladder bars were adjusted to the chassis builders suggestion with driver weight simulated by BB cylinder heads slight right side pre-load. Car left straight & hard. Ladder bars work. Saw so many guys struggle with 4 bar adjustment. Get the "Door Slammers: The Chassis Book" by Dave Morgan. May be a help. Learned A LOT from a 1 day seminar he did. Good luck.

Call Viking and have them custom valve a set of crusader shocks for you, I worked with James at PST and got a discount on my purchase as well. Got these custom drag race valved took about 2 weeks for delivery.

Thanks for the tip. I’ve been considering Afco shocks if I ever change.

Well the week before the final race I spent some time under the car to try and get it to leave better since it was squatting and unloading so much. Being a street style triangulated 4 link, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me.
Had to get the car lower to get the bar angles better. Long story short. When we originally put the system in I already had 30” slicks, so the lower shock bracket was flipped to raise the car in the back. That is fine but it throws the bar angles off pretty bad. An over-site on my part. I was getting away with it because I think my shocks were taking more load than needed because of how it was set up. Flash forward a few hundred passes. The shocks are probably weaker now and the car started to unload.
So spent time measuring and got the top bars basically parallel. That is the best I can do with this style system. That was all fine and dandy, but now way a 30” tire will fit now. So got a pair of 28x10.5 M/T stiff walls. I must say. I’m impressed with the tire. Hardly any burnout needed and they hook well.
Thought the car would loose MPH and ET with the short bias. Much to my surprise my motor likes RPM. Car picked up almost 2 MPH and a 1/10th on the big end compared to my 30” bias slicks. That’s a 6” rollout difference. Go through the trap at 7100 now.
From the video you can tell it is better. I tightened the rebound up in the front some more as well as in the back. It still has squat but not as bad. It also is not a Mexican jumping beam in the front anymore. I am probably at the limit of what this suspension can do. From here, the only thing that I think would help more is a quality shock with stiff valving, or a drag design 4 link. With the season over I now have some time to make some decisions on things.

Wookie
You take your car to the track WAY more than I ever will.
I can't imagine me using my car at the track vs cruising around and car shows more that twice a month.
With your recent suspension experience, would you still recommend the RMS or Gerst triangulated rear suspension system? I think I'd like to keep the stock fuel tank, but I'm open to options.
I'm guessing a "drag design 4 link" would still work on the street/highway, but I have no idea of the cost or where to look.
Thanks for your advice.

Big question you have to ask is if you want to run tail pipes or not? Triangulated 4 links make it super tight.
Drag style 4 links and ladder bars have the lateral bar underneath to keep the diff centered. So they are for sure in the way of the exhaust.
Truly have no complaints with the street lynx. Just know I am pushing its limits with what I am doing.

Wookie316 said:

Big question you have to ask is if you want to run tail pipes or not? Triangulated 4 links make it super tight.
Drag style 4 links and ladder bars have the lateral bar underneath to keep the diff centered. So they are for sure in the way of the exhaust.
Truly have no complaints with the street lynx. Just know I am pushing its limits with what I am doing.

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I just finished a Heidts triangulated 4 link and a complete exhaust system on a 57 Chevy. It is really tight but worth every penny. I doubt I would have been able to do it with the body on though.

Wookie316 said:

Big question you have to ask is if you want to run tail pipes or not?

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Well...
I have a full 3" exhaust system in place all the way to the tips out the back, and a Dana 60 rear axle. My understanding is that the RMS StreetLynx (I don't know about the Gerst, but I suspect the same would apply) would not allow for a 3" exhaust over the rear axle and out the back.
So I was anticipating having to change that anyway.
That opens up the possibilities.
I'll go over my opinions with Karl and RMS when the time comes.
Meanwhile, I'm staying tuned in to your posts! Barney is an awesome car!

Nice way to finish out the year. Weekend weather was good and starting Tuesday it takes a drastic turn. So figured with a long cold winter ahead I best get out for one last race. 5 rounds with a by to the final.

Can't complain about that.
Doug

Wookie316 said:

Nice way to finish out the year...with a long cold winter ahead...

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Man! The weather here in South Louisiana and Mississippi is just getting to the point where it isn't in the high 80s at dawn and still in the high 80s at NIGHT after being in the mid 90s during midday!
October is right around the corner, and that means....
Cruisin the Coast
Test and Tune nights are still Wednesday, and I'm excited to see who shows up there for CtC. My car club has had an annual track day around this time too, where we FINALLY get some cool, dry air our engines love so much!
Great season Wookie! I always appreciate the information you share, advice you give, and the achievements you and Barney have at the track!

New jewelry showed today for the 572.

Wookie316 said:

New jewelry showed today for the 572.

View attachment 839549 View attachment 839550

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Ooooooohhhh !!!
Edit : who made those? A work of art, too pretty to put in an engine!

Diamond