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Chassis setup for high wheelies! |
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baklys 
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Joined: May/26/2008 Location: Norway Status: Offline Points: 520 |
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 Topic: Chassis setup for high wheelies!Posted: Mar/18/2013 at 7:56am |
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The dragracing season starts soon, and I have to do some adjustments to my Gremlin racecar.
The car has a tubular frame, ladderbars in the rear and a "pinto" front suspention. I have changed to stiffer/ longer springs in front this year as my goal is HIGH WHEELIES! I do not have so much power, the car runs 10.6, but high and long wheelies is a must just to have lot of fun... I do not know anything about setting up a drag car`s suspention, where do I start? Here is a picture of my new springs;  Regards Edited by baklys - Mar/18/2013 at 8:00am |
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Baklys
Live in Norway! -76 Gremlin X V8 -69 AMX 390 4 spd -70 Gremlin Race -63 Classic -and 4 more gremlins.. |
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SirDigger
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Joined: May/23/2012 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 2455 |
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Posted: Mar/18/2013 at 8:08am |
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Remind me to visit Norway sometimes, I bring the Beer and set my lazy big rump in the Trunk...
shound give you more Traction and higher Wheelies  How long is the drag Racing Season in Norway? and how many Tracks? |
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SirDigger&his german Friends are looking for Parts http://theamcforum.com/forum/the-german-amc-forum-ambassadorsirdigger-needs_topic83570.html
1970 Javelin SST 304 1970 Javelin SST 360 |
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Ken_Parkman
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Joined: Jun/04/2009 Location: Ontario Status: Offline Points: 1814 |
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Posted: Mar/18/2013 at 11:21am |
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First statement - you're crazy.
Have a buddy that ran a Pinto, and he got into huge trouble with wheelstands, and the car became undriveable. It did not have wheelie bars. To stop the wheelstands he changed to launching in 2nd gear and the car was faster. It was a short (93") wheelbase mid 10 second car, and would wheelstand onto the back bumper. Once he thought is was going over onto the roof , that was when he started launching in second.
If you really want to wheelstand - your responsibility here - what is the fundamental is the location of the center of gravity relative to the rear wheel and what happens during launch to affect this. Short wheelbase cars are inherently more wheelstand prone, to the Gremlin is a good start.
What will really cause a wheelstand is if the cg gets higher relative to the rear tire contact patch. The higher the car is an influence here, and if the front suspension is "soft" and rises during the launch that raises the cg further. So a low rate soft spring with high stored energy, soft shocks, and lots of front suspension travel means the front rises easilly during launch. With long front suspension travel it can get higher without much effort, and this raises the cg relative to the rear tire, and makes the car more wheelstand prone. It is sort of a snowball effect, make sure you do not get on the wrong side of the snowball!
Of course you need good traction, and lots of starting line gear ratio, and a torque converter that does it`s job. Alight car like a Gremlin and a 3 speed automatic transmission is another good start (one of the reasons I went to a 2 speed powerglide). A good quality 8`converter to keep the engine in it`s powerband is a requirement.
The Pinto was cool to watch - it became a crowd favorite. The 60 foot times were not good as it was clicking those timers with the rear tires. I remember once a couple of spectators came over to check if there were brown smelly stains in the back of my buddys drivers suit. His wife was not impressed with the car at that point and I think it became a requirement to change something.
Obviously wheelie bars are a fantastic idea, and also make sure you are ready when it stands up. There can be a lot of damage when it comes back down. Pay a lot of attention to starting line and traction conditions - it must be aimed straight, and stay that way.
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baklys
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Joined: May/26/2008 Location: Norway Status: Offline Points: 520 |
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Posted: Mar/18/2013 at 4:11pm |
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Ken! Thanks for your good advices!!
I have rised the front suspention about 2 inches, and has softer longer springs, but maby I shold lower the suspention again and test how it works with the new springs first. The car leaves the startingline quite OK, but sometimes it wants to go to the Right. That happens more often if the traction is not optimal. I have a 401 pumpgas roller engine, close to 500hp I think. My trans is a TH400, and I have a stallspeed of 5000 rpm and transbrake. The rev- limiter for the transbrake is set at 4700 rpm`s. I do use wheeliebars, but I want to adjust higher when I feel the car goes straight and has nice landings. Last year I did not want to go any higher as the oilpan vas wery close to the track in the landings. I have shown this picture before, but here is a typical wheelstand from last season...  |
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Baklys
Live in Norway! -76 Gremlin X V8 -69 AMX 390 4 spd -70 Gremlin Race -63 Classic -and 4 more gremlins.. |
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