looking for some help

[bad V6]

I am in need of some direction on what would better help my car plant the rear tires. With some upgrades being made under the hood since last year, the car is seems to be making more power. The car has been a best of a 1.48 60'.The power is coming on quicker and the tires with the few suspension mods that have been done are unable to keep the tires from going up in smoke. I have been thinking about the adjustable upper arms from Baseline Suspension to adjust the pinion angle and the instant center.

The suspension currently consists of:
stock rear sway bar
no front sway bar
no pinion snubber
stock front and rear springs
Competition Engineering adjustable shocks (front 90/10 and rear 50/50)
Energy Suspension poly bushing in the rear control arms (upper and lower)
Energy Suspension poly body bushings
lower rear control arms have been boxed
air bags (LT @ 7 psi/ RT @ 14 psi)
rear seat X braces
Mickey Thompson 275/60R15 drag radials at 18 psi on Centerline Tel-star 15x8
Mickey Thompson 26" front runners @ 40 psi on Centerline Tel-star 15x4
the car with me in it weighs 3650

The car leaves the line good and straight off the foot brake, just would like some insight on what to do to improve my 60' and help the tires to get a better grip. Would the upper control arms from Baseline Suspension help resolve these issues or is there a direction to go?

Pat

 

[charlief1]

The relocation kit from baseline will help as will getting the car on a set of scales. Have you been to baseline to read up on how to check the IC location of the car? That would be a good idea. Finding out where the weight in the car sits will help a lot more than most think. Check ride height to see if the springs are shot and you may need now ones if they're stock.

 

[bad V6]

Yes, I've read the info on the Baseline Suspension site. I just need to get under the car and take the measurements. The ride height is fine, car sits level without the airbags.

 

[bad V6]

Currently the car has an Instant Center length of 453.74" and height of 22.1". The current Antisquat value is 23.94%. The Baseline Suspension calculator stated that with the installation of their upper arms the new numbers would be: IC length 69.74", IC height 11.44" and Antisquat 80.59".

 

[charlief1]

LOL When you crunch the numbers it's a bit shocking, isn't it.

 

[murphster]

The first thing I'd do is get a good rear sway bar that ties into the body like an H&R parts one. After that maybe some video and adjust the shocks to correct. You may need higher quality shocks to dial it on drag radials at that power level. Next stage would be to go to heim end rear control arms, available from a lot of places including Baseline. You can also look at making sure the front end is nice and loose..... Del a lum bushings, tubular control arms, etc. Lightening front end, moving battery to trunk, etc also helps with weight transfer.

I just finished going all out on my suspension setup but haven't gone to track to start dialing it in. Trying to get my car to hook good with drag radials on a mediocore track.

 

[notacarlo]

We used to spray the front end down with teflon to loosen it up at the track. Old school but it worked. The HR bars have yielded great results for many TR's. The best thing I could do was move weight from front to back. Bigger rear bar and the car hooked like a monster with MT DOT sportsman pro's.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4

 

[HOTT SIX]

First thing I would do is what I did to my car is drop the pressure down to 15 pounds I could never get my car to hook at 18 psi like they recommend.


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[notacarlo]

11 psi on mt sportsman pro. Hooked like a banshee at the track.

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[forcefed3.8's]

Set the front shocks to 80/20, even 60/40. They go to full extension too quickly. We don't have big block weight on the front, so these cars transfer weight really well. Let all of the air out of the driver's side air bag, leave the valve out of it, or better yet remove it. Air the passenger side to 25psi with the stock sway bar. If you add an HR bar, put it back in and run both at 10 psi. Try 16 psi in the radials. This set up has run into the 9's with stock control arms and stock shocks 60's in the 1.4's.

 

[bad V6]

Thanks for the ideas on things to try. I am planning on getting a set of new upper control arms from Baseline Suspension and maybe a HR sway bar at BG. I'll try adjusting the shock settings and playing with the air pressure in the air bags.

I can get the car to launch at 15# on the footbrake, however once the turbo begins to spool I'm have trouble getting my foot off the brake pedal quick enough to refrain from leaving the line with the RPM and boost too high. The last pass at the track I tried to launch @ 15#, but the car began 2 frames on the Power Logger at 26#. Needless to say the tires wanted no part of that.

 

[forcefed3.8's]

You do not need to launch on that much boost. 5 to 7 psi with the radials is plenty when the tune is right.

 

[bad V6]

Update, after making changes the car is responding with 1.37 60' at the track. Thus far I've installed the rear uppers from Baseline Suspension, HR Parts lowers and rear sway bar. With 18 PSI in the MT Pros and a trans brake launch of 8# at 3700 RPM the car leaves nice and straight while packing the front roughly 50'. However when the track is in poor condition I have trouble getting the tires not to unload when the front comes back down. Now I am looking to purchase a better set of shocks, thinking about a set of the Viking double adjustable front and rear to aid in dialing the suspension in for more consistency. Anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? Or should I go with QA1?

 

[johnplogii]

I have no experience with the Viking shocks. I run afco doubles all the way around. I have had both front and rear re-valved stiffer, and can 60ft low 1.20's.

 

[bad V6]

John, my car is not making near the power yours is. With the accessories and drivetrain in your car, you have one of the better running Buicks out there.

I would like for the car to be more consistent on a track with minimal prep without going to a slick. I have a buddy with a fox body that runs 5.30's in the 1/8 with Viking coil overs and MT 275/65R15 ET Street Radials, he has nothing but good to say about them. I would like to go with a coil over, however THS rules specify that we cannot run a coilover, so I am looking for a quality set of double adjustable shocks that won't break the bank but will be better than the Comp Engineering 3-way adjustables that are currently on the car.

 

[johnplogii]

How much are the Vikings?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

My Vikings were about $550/long deal.