Street/Strip shock for Caltracs?

[69 GTX]

First I'm looking for advice on street driven cars, not street legal. I've heard that the cal tracs work best with 5" of travel at the front end. I was talking with a Viking rep and he said he could get me a shock with the 5" but that I'd probably only have about 2" of compression for street driving and he didn't think that was enough, which I agree with. May I ask what you guys are using for adjustable shocks? I'm looking at 11:50 zone for times with a auto and DOT drag radials.
Thanks
Tim

 

[Jeremiah]

How much rebound suspension travel do you currently have before it hits the bumps stops? You won't need 5" of extension on an 11.50 car IMO.

 

[69 GTX]

I don't know. Currently in building process.

 

[mmissile]

You don't need caltracs to go 11's.

 

[69 GTX]

Already have them.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

I went with Vi-kings.I felt it was a good bang for the buck.

 

[69 GTX]

hemi it is, do you run dot's at the strip? I see your car is probably nose heavy, how do you have your shocks set at the strip?
Do you run Cal Tracs?

 

[65hemi]

I have locally made "CalTracs" on my street-driven Cuda. Have QA1 single adjustable shocks on all four corners. Rears set at midpoint and fronts full loose. Automatic. Drag radials. Runs 11.80s.

 

[69 GTX]

May I ask how much $ they were?

 

[65hemi]

May I ask how much $ they were?

Fabbed locally to fit my inboard springs. I think about $300 including powder coating.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

hemi it is, do you run dot's at the strip? I see your car is probably nose heavy, how do you have your shocks set at the strip?
Do you run Cal Tracs?

LOL,nose heavy it must be a 1000 lbs of ballast over the front tires!! I have Cal tracs also,rear shocks very tight and front shocks loose on extension and tight on compression.
Mt street tires are MT E/T street 16.5 X 31.They were ok at the track but the 10.5w is better at the track.I have 2 sets of rear rims.

 

[Mike Gaines]

I have Cal Trac Mono Leaf Springs/Cal Trac Bars/Cal Track 9 way Adj Rear Shocks (set on 9)
and Cal Trac 90/10 front shocks.
To get 6" of front travel:
With my torsion bars set the way they were for "normal" ride height I only had about 3" of front end travel....so....I unscrewed the torsion bars and let the front end "sag" a little...now I have 6" of front end travel.
To measure front end travel:
1) with a yard stick measure to the bottom of your front fender wheel well opening..it will be, lets say, 27".
2) put a floor jack under the k-member and jack up the car until the front tires just lift off the ground.
3) re-measure to the bottom of the wheel well opening again...it will be...lets say, 30".
4) You then have 3" of front end travel.
To get to 6" of front end travel (which is what Cal Trac Tech says they want you to have)
1) Unscrew the torsion bars about 15 one quarter turns to let the front end sag
2) re-measure as above.
3) You should have close to 6" of front end travel.
NOTES:
Make sure you tire can still turn without hitting fender.
Your front end camber will now be "off" because of sag.
Re-align your camber, other wise your front tires will wear on the inside treads unevenly.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

Generally front shocks that work good on the strip are not exactly ideal for good handling on the street. I run calvert 90/10's on my dart with rancho's on the back. Works good, I wouldn't call it awesome on the street. I think you'll find it's probably best to just swap the front shocks out for street. you'll also find them Calvert bars ride like **** on the street, I usually back mine way off to lose the dump truck feel.

The roadrunner is absolutely nothing trick, has old Gabriel shocks from the 70's on the front, summit's on the back, and some old gtx leaf springs my dad had pieced together for one of his cars. And I take the front sway bar on and off between street and track.

 

[69 GTX]

Thanks Mike, I was going to use adjustable all the way around. Do you think it would be feasible to lower the torsion bars at the track to get the 5-6" of lift, then return them back before hitting the street? I had planned on adjusting the Cal Tracs for street use also.

 

[69 GTX]

It would be easy to pull the torsion adjuster and make a index mark on it to keep track of adjustments.

 

[69 GTX]

If I was to lower it 2" once I got to the track how much would that affect my handling. I know they say to set the alignment 1" higher than at rest for strip use. So that in theory would only put me 1" below my street alignment height going down track. I'm open to any suggestions.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

I didn't want the front of my dart riding real low, I cut my snubbers down. Think I have around 5.5 of travel. I found what worked on that car was having the front react quick. Uppers and strut rods with heims really brought it around. Although I doubt your gtx will be nearly as difficult to get working. Pinion angle seems to be important also, 4 down worked best for me. You'll find that experimenting will be your bet. Also keep an eye on your perches, if they're not boxed they will probably end up bent. Don't ask how I know.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

If I was to lower it 2" once I got to the track how much would that affect my handling. I know they say to set the alignment 1" higher than at rest for strip use. So that in theory would only put me 1" below my street alignment height going down track. I'm open to any suggestions.

I doubt you'll even notice the difference.

 

[496BEE]

I have cal tracs with Calvert mono leaf springs and comp engineering adjustable shocks set to 50/50 in the rear. Up front I have strange adjustable shocks set to 70/30. The car runs 11.2s with this set up and hooks great. I found the shocks adjusted this way to be the best compromise of street and strip Performance.

 

[496BEE]

Yeah, with the shocks adjusted this way it handles / rides great on the street (my front end is also rebuilt and I have all poly bushings). . . A lot of guys run real fast with just ss springs , pinion snubber, and adj shocks