Help with drag suspension build up. Put me in the 12s

[Curse]

I want to break 12s with the current combination on my car now. I think I have the power to do it, but I think my suspension is holding me back, as I am getting almost no weight transfer right now. I have gone a best of 13.3 so far with me letting off at about 40-50 feet before the finish line. I think she has a 13.1-13.2 in here right now (sorry don’t have MPH or 60 times). My car’s suspension is in pretty rough shape. The front of the car is real stiff, and does not want to rise up at all.
The front consists of stock struts, 4 cylinder springs, no sway bar, battery in the trunk, aluminum heads and AC/smog stuff gone.
The rear of the car does not want to squat at all.
The rear consists of AZ GT shocks, Lakewood Traction Action control arms, stock upper control arms, stock sway bar and welded SFCs. I think the PO cut the stock springs as they look short.
Basically, my car launches like a car with lowering springs. I need some help picking a good combination of parts that can get my car to weight transfer and get me into the 12s. I need to know which parts I should keep and which I should change. I’m on a budget, so I can’t go crazy buy coilovers and tubular k-members. This is my weekend toy, so I don’t care how it rides all that much. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Sorry for the novel.

 

[Curse]

TTT, no one has any suggestions?

 

[EMW150]

First thing, is you gotta loosen up the front struts. Something adjustable would be good since you run it on the street. Strange Eng. makes a nice adjustable front that's reasonable. Watching your car, that's #1.

 

[Curse]

Thanks EMW150, I was thinking the same thing. I would like to go adjustable, but the car is rarely driven. I think I will just try the Lakewoods, now just deciding which ones 90/10 or 70/30?

 

[EMW150]

The Lakewoods work well. I've been running their 90/10s for years.

 

[rd]

Need to know the 60 fts if possible. My 82 has a pretty basic setup, stock upper and lower arms, (boxed), stock 1980 rubber bushings, old Lakewood bars, and an airbag in the right. The front has cut 4 cyl springs, no sway bar.

My biggest improvements came from a loose converter and adding drag radials. Note that I have 4.10 gears, etc in it.

Loosening up the front would help. However, if you have no wheel spin, and no bog, you may be getting all its got.

 

[1Bad88notch]

I have lakewood 90/10's in the front with 4 cylinder springs and 50/50's in the back with moroso drag springs. It squats down pretty good but i need to get an air bag for the right rear spring rubs on tire when i launch.

 

[EMW150]

I went from a best 60' in the 1.530s last year to a 1.465 this year just changing from my old worn out 26x11.5 ET Streets to 26x10 ET Drags. Couldn't believe the difference. Never got to finish the pass though 'cause I busted the TKO again. Here's a link to the Launch anyway.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m139/EMW150/?action=view&current=100_1624.flv

 

[25thmustang]

Stock 4 cyl rear springs, adjustable struts and it should hook harder.

 

[Curse]

Need to know the 60 fts if possible.
Loosening up the front would help. However, if you have no wheel spin, and no bog, you may be getting all its got.

I wish I could get my 60ft times, but the track I run at sucks and only gives you your ET. I have very little spin, but if you look at the video the car wants to dip back but rebounds foward almost instantly. It looks like a seesaw.

Stock 4 cyl rear springs, adjustable struts and it should hook harder.

I though you wanted a somewhat stiff spring in the rear?

 

[EMW150]

You do want them somewhat stiff in the rear. Here's a good tech site if you've never seen it. I run his upper contol arm setup. I think it's overkill for your setup now but good tech here on springs, struts, etc.

http://www.baselinesuspensions.com/info/Launching_A_Drag_Car.htm

 

[25thmustang]

You do want a stiff"er" spring in the rear, but too stiff will hurt. If the back wont come down, the front has to compensate for that and come up more to get the weight transfer. Without a lot of power thats tough to do and results in spinning and worse 60's. There are some great suspension sites out there, your best bet is to do some searches!

 

[ritc]

I went from a best 60' in the 1.530s last year to a 1.465 this year just changing from my old worn out 26x11.5 ET Streets to 26x10 ET Drags. Couldn't believe the difference. Never got to finish the pass though 'cause I busted the TKO again. Here's a link to the Launch anyway.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m139/EMW150/?action=view&current=100_1624.flv

Quick question about change from et streets to drags are you reffering to the M/T or just a general drag tire? Because all of the drag tires I've seen require tubes, is this a common thing? Or is mostly mickey thompson brand that I have been lookin at?

 

[25thmustang]

I have never run a tube in a drag tire!

 

[thehueypilot]

I have lakewood 90/10's in the front with 4 cylinder springs and 50/50's in the back with moroso drag springs. It squats down pretty good but i need to get an air bag for the right rear spring rubs on tire when i launch.

I just wasted $30 on an air bag for mine and all it did was make the suspension to bounce and lose traction. It's like replacing your rear coil spring with a basketball. Go with fully adjustable shocks in the rear and crank them up to the highest setting to reduce the squat w/o the bounce.

 

[Curse]

You do want a stiff"er" spring in the rear, but too stiff will hurt. If the back wont come down, the front has to compensate for that and come up more to get the weight transfer. Without a lot of power thats tough to do and results in spinning and worse 60's. There are some great suspension sites out there, your best bet is to do some searches!

I have done a ton of research on multiple suspension sites, but the confusing part is they all make great point and they all show great results by doing the opposite of what one of the other suspension site says.

I changed the rear springs to a low mileage set of GT spings as it turns out my springs were cut, I also changed the control arm from the lowest mounting point on the bracket to the middle mounting point. The car is a lot smoother on the road now, still stiff as a rock and still no weight transfer.

I have never run a tube in a drag tire!

Same here

 

[EMW150]

Quick question about change from et streets to drags are you reffering to the M/T or just a general drag tire? Because all of the drag tires I've seen require tubes, is this a common thing? Or is mostly mickey thompson brand that I have been lookin at?

I've always run M/Ts but the same really goes for any of them. They do say they require tubes but they work good tubeless. I've never used tubes. The ET Drags have a softer compound than ET Streets that I think really helped my car bite.

 

[EMW150]

I have done a ton of research on multiple suspension sites, but the confusing part is they all make great point and they all show great results by doing the opposite of what one of the other suspension site says.

I changed the rear springs to a low mileage set of GT spings as it turns out my springs were cut, I also changed the control arm from the lowest mounting point on the bracket to the middle mounting point. The car is a lot smoother on the road now, still stiff as a rock and still no weight transfer.

Same here

Like I said above, I'd try loosening the front of the car first. Watching the vid it looked like the car had decent initial hook but when it didn't transfer weight it unloaded and spun and then rehooked giving it the seesaw look you mentioned. That's a good starting point for you. See how it works and then go from there. Personally I think you're good on springs for now.

 

[Maryland Stang]

If you're rearend is loading and unloading the first thing I would do is replace is the stock UCAs. The very soft bushings (which are, by this time, junk) have a lot of give in them. That give is allowing the rear to move around and unhook the rear tires literally at will. I would buy double adjustable uppers and set them up according to the instructions at the website EMW150 posted above. The stock struts should have enough give in them (read as worn out) to allow the front end to come up. The only problem with that is they also allow the front end to come down too quickly when the rearend unloads thus magnifying the problem with your soft UCA bushings.

 

[thehueypilot]

I've always run M/Ts but the same really goes for any of them. They do say they require tubes but they work good tubeless. I've never used tubes. The ET Drags have a softer compound than ET Streets that I think really helped my car bite.

A lot of the racers I know run without the tubes but if your car produces a lot of torque the tire will actually spin on the rim. To fix this you must put screws into the rim to hold the tires in place which then requires a tube. I tried to glue the tire to the rim with weatherstrip adhesive with mixed results because I don't want to drill my nice rims. I also mark the valve stem location and adjust the air pressure to keep it from spinning. I find that 16.5 psi works well so far.