Pinion snubber question

[turbosam6]

I am removing my aftermarket pinion snubber, based on the opinions of most people I talk to say it sucks. My question is, do I need one at all? I don't have the stocker, if I do need one, where to buy? Or could I just cut this one down? Thanks!

 

[ChrisCairns]

Leave it off. I've said for years these things are just "Vendor Items". They make money from selling them.

Here's the problem. When Buick put them on they were engineered for the stock springs and stock shocks and stock tires. Now along come all we wanna go faster people. We change springs, shocks and use slicks. We add airbags. We add urethane bushings and lower drops. We physically change the pinion angle. Now what height snubber do we use? Change the air pressure in the airbag. Now should we change the snubber?

Without having a video camera under the car at launch and some way of measuring the resulting pinion angle from the video the aftermarket snubber could be doing more harm than good.

 

[turbosam6]

Yeah, I know to take it off. My question is do I need a stock one on instead or not? I've lost my stock one, so if I do need a stock one, where do I get one? Can I run no snubber at all without causing problems?

 

[granitestategn]

I would think you could just cut it down some. I'm at work now but I have my stock one at home. I'll check it today and give you the finished height tomorrow or Monday unless someone else posts it first. I've got the aftermarket one on my car. I went to the track for the first time last night. My 60' times weren't very good. 2.2 secs. Best time was 13.99 @ 97.3 MPH. Haven't got this drag racing thing figured out yet. Had fun anyhow. My header is still cracked, though. I'm gonna try to get it fixed this weekend if I can get to it. BTW, the thread pitch and bolt size were different on my aftermarket snubber than the OEM one. You should probably re-use your existing bolts to avoid buggering up the holes any more than they may already be.

 

[ChrisCairns]

Originally posted by turbosam6
Yeah, I know to take it off. My question is do I need a stock one on instead or not? I've lost my stock one, so if I do need a stock one, where do I get one? Can I run no snubber at all without causing problems?

I reread your first post...and I see you did ask whether to use a stock one. I gotta get back to readin' school.

Dunno....my guess is as good as yours. Now your car ain't stock...so the stock one, engineered for stock hp levels and stock rear suspension, may no longer do what it was engineered for.

With more power hitting the suspension, and if you have any suspension work done, you've thrown all Buick's engineering out the window.

Personally I don't use one at all. But my 60's suck .... lol.

Chris

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Snubber??

The factory snubber was a "safety" device. As Chris pointed out, the OEM shocks and springs were designed to make "granpa's Buick ride nice and soft and smooth. However, along comes the guy that puts his fata$$ mother in law in the back seat, drives down the Interstate in a real nice area, like Arkansas.. The mushy springs and the "junk when new shocks" allow the suspension to bottom out.. NOT good for the ride and future sales... Along comes the snubber.. a $2.00 part and we're out of the woods!!
The GN springs were "supposed" to be better.. not much from what I have seen.. [I've even seen GN's w/ 2 different kinds of rear shocks.. Gas and plain ol oil, on the same car!]
A snubber on a 4 link has only one function.. NONE..
The stock snubber, assuming the suspension has been reworked as Chris suggests, also has zero value..
Nuf said!!