[67_camaro]

I've had CE's slide-a-links on the camaro for over a year now and I havent been able to get decent 60' times. The car hooks the first few feet then the tires break loose. The 60' times are around 1.75 CE's 90/10's up front and 50/50 in the rear, I actually get better times by going 70/30 in the front.

I finally got sick of trying to hook so I called Calvert and got their bars and rancho 9000 rear shocks. I set the rear shocks to 6 to start then tried everything in between and the 60's where exactly the same as the slide-a-links but the slide-a-links ride nicer on the road.

So, in my opinion you can buy either one and get the same results, they cost the same so it comes down to looks and streetabilty, the choice is yours. The rancho shocks are $90 vs $30 for CE's

Lee

[CamaroNOTcamero]

why not try something like Koni SPA1 adjustable shocks?

What front springs are you using?

What rear springs are you using?

Do you still have the sway bar on the front?

How much front suspension travel are you getting?

[67_camaro]

why not try something like Koni SPA1 adjustable shocks?

Costs too much without guaranteed results

What front springs are you using?

Stock replacement SB 325# springs

What rear springs are you using?

Stock multi-leaf

Do you still have the sway bar on the front?

Nope, took it off last year.

How much front suspension travel are you getting?

4" before the tire starts leaving the ground.

The car hits hard on the lauch and bumps the tires off the ground a few inches for just an instant then it stays extended the entire length of the track, once you let off at the finish line the front end will come back down. I need to soften the hit and slow the rise of the front end. I dont think it's normal for an 11.60(at our altitude) car to pop the tires off the ground especially since this is a street car and weighs 3565 pounds!

Lee

[CamaroNOTcamero]

Lee,
If you really want that thing to hook then i suggest talking to "hookdaddy" on www.dragraceresults.com
He's the owner of S&W chassis, and will steer you in the right direction.
I have a few ideas, but he's the guy to go to.

[68rs406]

i'm running caltracs on my car, stock multi leafs, factory coils in front, and replacement gas shocks all around. with bfg drag radials and 1/4 turn of preload, i run 1.66 60'. they just hook and go. from the sounds of your combo, i think i would try plain old 50/50 shocks up front, sounds like your current setup is unloading the rear tires. also, if i take the preload out of my caltracs on the street the car rides just like before i had the caltracs on. i love 'em, they work killer on my car. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[68 SSS]

I have 68 SS weights 3180 lbs,factory multi-leaf.
slide-links,re-located 50/50 lakewood shocks.4-pinion angle with the proper pre-load car went 10.80 e.t 1.460 60ft.
408 ci

[67RS502]

A buddy of mine got a set of caltraks for his Luv truck, and they didnt
work at first, but after messing with them he's gotten his truck
to 60ft a 1.40 on the trans brake, and 1.44 footbrakin! The trick was to add
more preload, I think he has about 2 1/2 turns of preload AND the other
thing that helped was footbrakin it at 2500 when leaving the line.

From what I've gathered the Slide-a-links & Caltraks are the same,
accept the Slide's have "air gap" adjustability like a traction bar.

I'm thinkin of gettin the Caltraks before I go back out this winter, to see if
I can get this thing to hook, its really starting to get old.

How many turns of preload are you guys running on the caltraks & slide-a-links?
Thanks

[67_camaro]

67RS502 - With slide-a-links I had 1.5 turns and .5 with the caltracs per John.

If you dont already have them, I have some slide-a-links for sale!

Lee

[67RS502]

Thanks, but I think I'd rather do the Caltraks, they look better.
Also, I may try it with the traction bars once more. But if you
wanna get rid of the Caltrak's late this year I may be interested,
because I dont think I'll get it to hook with the T-bars.
Thanks

[67_camaro]

That's funny, I think the slide-a-links look better! I'm just too lazy to swap them out!

Once I figure out what hole the caltracs like I'm going to cut off and reshape the forward brackets, they look like they'll get hit if I go over a speed bump.

Lee

[68rs406]

68sss, what gear and tire are you running? i'm actually surprised your 60' times aren't a little better. my buddy ran a 10.80 w/ a 1.45 60', in a 3100# nova, w/ a 406. running 4.56 gears, hoosier quicktimes and a pair of old lakewood slapper bars, lengthened to put the snubber on the spring eye. for all you slapper bar guys, it can be done(67rs502). the key with the slapper bars seems to be correct pinion angle, and making sure the bars contact the spring eye, not the middle of the leaf like most seem to do. i know with my car the caltracs were dying for a steeper gear, i'm running 3.73's, and i know now they will likely be changed out this winter. i'm also going to look into more converter, my 3300 really seemed to be holding me back on the line. the bars wouldn't even let my tire spin an inch, just hook and go. (by the way, i'm running a 1/4 turn of preload) remember this is on drag radials too. now i need to bring the rpms up a bit in the 60' range, and try to make the tires work for it a bit more, only with an et street next year. there is a mile of room to grow with the caltracs, and they are a bit more adjustable than the slide a links. thats why i went with them. i also think they look better, as well. i'm sure the slide a links are good too, but i just don't have anuy experience with them, and i love my caltracs [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[67_camaro]

67RS406 - Why are the caltracs more adjustable? Is it because of the upper and lower holes on the front bar? I've tried both and it didnt change a thing, the 60's were the same and in the videos it looked the same. I've been trying to figure out how that would even make a difference since the "connecting point" is where the bolt hits the leaf spring, the lower hole would produce more leverage at that bolt/point but I cant see how that would effect anything. Anyone have any ideas on that?

Lee

[68and69ss]

67 Camaro I also experienced what you are describing with your car. I have a 69 camaro that would hook and unload the tires. I thought that a pair of caltracs would fix the problem just by bolting them up but I was wrong. I had left the rubber in the spring perch which would let the rearend roll and unload the tires. Do you still have the rubber in yours? After removing the rubber, I found that my car would hook the best with 2 to 2.5 rounds of preload. RS502 said this and I found that kind of surpizing because he was talking about a truck, but I may try this again on mine. My car has gone a best 60 foot of 1.55 @ 11.20. I have tried shimming the rear end to remove some of the preload, but have not been able to get the car to 60 foot the same by doing this. Try on your next time out to keep adding preload to your caltracs and see what happens. Good Luck

[67_camaro]

68and69ss - Thanks for the tips. How do you run without the rubber? That would leave large gaps and the spring perch would never tighten up. Is there a kit that has solid spacers?

I will try the extra preload tomarrow and let you know how it works.

Lee

[68rs406]

67, yes, thats what i was referring to. by using the lower bolt in the caltracs, it effectively changes the leverage point the bars create, and will hit the tires harder. but if you are unloading the tires, as it sounds you are, it won't make a difference, it will still unload the tires after the initial bite. and it sounds like the initial bite is not a problem for you, its after you've hooked, and the suspension unloads. i'm thinking try a 50/50 shock up front. i also agree with 68and69, get rid of the rubber at the perch. i actually used the rubber on top of the springs, and used a 3/4" thick piece of that hard white plastic, like they make cutting boards out of, as a spacer on the bottom to fill the gap. also, though i'm just guessing here, it seems like using that much preload, 2.5 turns or so, is actually just correcting a pinion angle problem. that seems like an awful lot of preload to me. at .25 turn mine worked great, and i thought calvert said usually no more than 1 turn. but hey, whatever works i guess. it just seems like if i cranked them up that much on my car, i'd be seriously twisting the springs up, maybe contributing to unloading the rear tires. hope you get it sorted out, good luck