So Much Power So Little Traction

[FLATOUT427]

I Sure Could Use Some Help. My '68 Has A 468 That Pumps Out About 600 Hp And 600 Lb Tq. It Has A Turbo 400 3.70 Rear Gears, And No Traction. I Have 90/10's In The Front, Poly Bushing In The Rear With A Southside Traction Bar, And 275/60 Hoosier Quick Times. Does Anyone Know How To Get Traction Out Of The Hole. I Have Never Seen Any Articles On Straight Line Traction For Corvettes. Thanks

 

[curtis]

there is a thread in here for C3's that adressed some after market suspensions that are supposed to really deliver. I can't find it again yet.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

my 406sb is making the same numbers, but probably a little higher in the rpm band compared to your bb. i went with the Vette Brakes and Products performance plus susupension kit. the dual mount rear spring and especially the new camber rods really helped in the hook-up department. what are you runnign for a stall converter?? my cam comes in real hard at 3000 rpm, but i went for a 2400 stall. i was worried about hte rearend taking a beating, and figured a soft engagement was better than looking for a new rea case. the experiment paid off, the car gets great traction out of the hole and pulls like crazy on the top. the BFG Drag radials are a little more sticky than the Hoosiers from what i have read.

get some new camber rods and a softer rear spring. camber rods are the key!! weight transfer and keeping the tires vertical are the issues you need to look into. Brian

 

[FLATOUT427]

Akray4play, How Do You Get Traction In Alaska, Doesn't It Snow There? Hey, Thanks For The Advice. I Have A 3000 Stall Converter But With All The Torque It Flashs To About 3500 To 4000. My Max Torque Is At 4000. I'll Try The Camber Rods. I Switched From A Softer Rear Spring To The Stiffest I Could Find Thinking That This Would Prevent The Car From Squating And Transfer The Weight Directly To The Tires. Am I Screwed Up With My Thinking? By The Way I'm In The Process Of Pulling My Holley Strip Dominator And Replacing It With A Elderbrock Rpm Air Gap. If Everything I've Read And Heard Is Right I Should Get About 25 Hp And 25 Torque From Idle To 5000. I Hold My Red Line To 6000. If This Is True I'll Really Need Your Help. Thanks Ed

 

[1979toy]

I went from a worn out 9 leaf rear spring to a fiberglass rear spring with a rear sway bar and made a mess of my 60 foot times. Softer springs, no rear sway bar and the adjustable camber bars mentioned above would seem to be the direction to go.

 

[SG4206]

I ag

 

[SG4206]

I agree with 1979 , NHRA stock racers use soft springs ,adjustable stocks to control weight transfer ;and limit the rear snuber to about one inch movement.
You'll see 300 hp vettes pulling wheel stands on 9" slicks.

 

[FLATOUT427]

Sounds Like Everybody Agrees With Softer Springs, Adjustable Camber Bars, And No Sway Bar. The Softer Springs Are Really Good News Since Right Now My Car Rides Like A Log Wagon With That Stiff Spring. Hey Sg4206, What Rear Snubers Are You Refering To? Are You Talking About The Rubber Bumper On The Trailing Arm? Also What Am I Trying To Do With The Adjustable Camber Bars? Is There A Setting That I Should Be Trying To Meet? Thanks Ed

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Ed,
i talked with the guys at VB&P for several hours before going with the set-up i currently have. the guys there are very good and easy to work with. the idea behind getting a soft spring is it allows the rear of the car to squat hard and try and tuck under the front. this a similar reason why Dodge used to put the rear axle so far forward on their '60's muscle cars. getting squat is getting good weight transfer. you don't see pro stock eliminater cars jacked up in the rear like Joe Dirt mobiles for a reason. and the fiber spring is lighter and you can adjust the spring rate and ride height independantly from eachother!!
the camber rods are your worst problem right now. the factory set-up was designed to maximize the tires' capabilities of that era for cornering not drag racing. with huge improvements in tires, much more is possible. the stock camber rods allow the tire to swing in an arc. as the wheel moves throught the suspension travel, the camber, or verticle lean, of the tire changes from top out at full suspension extension to top in under compression. this decreases the contact patch and lowers the effective traction. and running the kind of torque we have, the stock stuff holds alignment for about 3 milliseconds. litterally every time i hit the throttle, i needed to realign the camber in the rear. the new camber rods with hiem ends do not pull out of alignment. they also mount a little lower, this makes the camber rod and half shaft the same length. with both links the same, the tire does not change camber through the suspension travel. so you end up with the maximum tire on the ground at all times. VB&P has some pretty good aigment settings, they will get you close, but some personal fine tuning may be needed.
have you tried running a lower stall converter?? launching hard is good, but not necessary for good ET's. since your motor peaks at 4000, it sounds like you might be loosing some low end advantage. i know my car would slow down if i went to a higher stall. i would be riding in the same boat your in. not a bad thing if we had enough beer!! see how it runs with the new intake before playing with converters. a single plane has the tendancy to mellow the low end out and that will help your quest for traction. keep me posted, i'm curious to see how things work out for you. Brian

 

[SG4206]

Ed-
Yes, the trailing arm bumpers. Different lengths will change reaction times and load transfer. You can make this as complicated as you want to .
Remember;everything is give and take with a street car ; and alot of trial and error.
Brian is on the right track, this is good advice.

Keep it between the white lines - Doug

 

[FLATOUT427]

Thanks Guys, I'm A New Member Of This Forum And I Have To Tell You, I'm Impressed. There Is A Wealth Of Information On This Sight And Its Because Of Guys Like You Taking The Time To Share Information. Thanks Again, I Finally Have Some Direction. I'll Keep You Posted. Have A Great Weekend - Ed

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Ed,

we all thank you for the compliments!! i imagine you will have loads of info to bestow on others in due time, it all comes around. i don't know if you have seen this or not, but it is a video clip a buddy shot for his snowmachine movie. pretty fun making it, but i lost two tires in 15 minutes. if you look closely, you'll see the rear of the car squatting. it will give you idea of what to look for when dialing in your suspension. of course, it is still easy to rip tires with 600 ponies. hope you enjoy it, just need Quicktime to view it though. Brian
http://www.braaap.com/frameset.html just click the Vette option, it's me. the other clips are my riding buddies having fun while i was at work.