96 S10 quick suspension tricks?

[aussiesmg]

I need some quick fix ideas guys, I'm competing in the GRM challenge in 10 days, any help gratefully accepted.

Currently

Unknown lowering springs and Bilstein shocks and ZQ8 sway bar on front
2" lowering blocks and Bilstein shocks on rear

Note diff is welded...a rear bar would cause too much push.

I'm thinking of fabricating lowering shackles, clamping rear springs.......budget is everything in this event

Does anybody have the competition alignment specs for this ride

[SickSpeedMonte]

A rear bar would make the truck looser, not tighter. More weight transfer on the rear axle means the front tires load more evenly and therefore hook better around turns.

[greencactus3]

Quote: Originally Posted by SickSpeedMonte

A rear bar would make the truck looser, not tighter. More weight transfer on the rear axle means the front tires load more evenly and therefore hook better around turns.

well, loose and tight are relative terms. usually up to a point a truck with more turn in than the stock push will be described as tighter, but after a point when the rear slides out excessively, then you can call it loose.
so those terms are kinda hard to use

[1stGen4.3]

Spring clamps help tremendously on the front the spring. Put them about midway on the leaf and don't put the helper spring in there. I'de have to say those leaf spring clamps are the best 20 bucks I ever spent on my truck. I'm currently doing some experiementing with a Camaro rear sway bar I'll tell you how that works out once I get everything situated.

[SickSpeedMonte]

Quote: Originally Posted by greencactus3

well, loose and tight are relative terms. usually up to a point a truck with more turn in than the stock push will be described as tighter, but after a point when the rear slides out excessively, then you can call it loose.
so those terms are kinda hard to use

yea, relatively "looser" than it was before (to me at least... maybe im mistaken) means that the truck exhibits more oversteer, or less understeer (than before whatever you did to make it "looser")

Conversely, tighter exhibits more understeer than before (or less oversteer)

The point is, the roll stiffness distribution will get shifted rearward if you add a rear bar, and therefore the rear will transfer more of the weight. This makes the front tires grip better and the rear tires grip worse in steady state cornering, at the least.

I can go more in-depth and cite references if you disagree/want to hear why/etc

[SickSpeedMonte]

BTW, that bellcrank setup looks pretty kickass... what made you decide to get rid of it? Is there a project thread on that?

At work, photobucket is blocked so, unfortunately, I'll have to check it out later if there is.

[greencactus3]

no i agree, just the terminology is iffy because the massive understeer we get outta these trucks stock i would not define as 'tight' in any shape or form.

bellcranks were rejected for stress on the frame issues. link to project thread is in my sig

[SickSpeedMonte]

Gotcha

Cool, I'll have to check that out later on.

[aussiesmg]

Spring clamps fabricated and mounted yesterday, I also have some DOT race tires on the new rims. I don't think I'll have time to build a panhard unfortunately

[aussiesmg]

Quote: Originally Posted by SickSpeedMonte

A rear bar would make the truck looser, not tighter. More weight transfer on the rear axle means the front tires load more evenly and therefore hook better around turns.

Not very helpful, 6 days to go, handling ideas not corrections would be more appropriate

[SickSpeedMonte]

Understanding the effects of roll stiffness distribution changes should definatley be helpful anytime you go racing. I wasnt trying to give you a hard time man, just figured you might want to know.

For example, your spring clamps affect the roll stiffness at each end (and therefore the distribution) by affecting the spring rate. If you find that you are oversteering or understeering too much, removing the proper one may help.

[SickSpeedMonte]

Since suspension tuning is largely experimental, and you have less than a week, I would suggest trying to get out to somewhere where you can push the truck to its limits and play around with tire pressures (with whatever tire you will compete on) and the spring clamps or anything else in which you can easily change. As for an alignment, 2 degrees of negative camber and as much caster as you can get should be a good spot to start from. Front toe out will make the truck more responsive to turn-in, but less stable at high speeds. Toe in does the opposite. The caster has a centering effect on the steering, so that helps some with high speed stability. There's really no one universal setup that will work for every truck, or every driving style.

Put a good (racing) brake fluid in for sure. It's not going to fix the anemic stock brakes, but it will help some. EBC or HAWK pads are good, brake them in before the race and try to get them up to temperature fast (same with race compound tires, the adhesive properteis only really kick in when hot)

Speaking of the brakes, you could fabricate some very simple brake ducts for next to nothing. I have a friend that said his ducts were the difference between having to come off course after 3-4 laps due to faded brakes, or being able to run almost indefinately. Scoop some air from the front of the truck and direct it into the back of the hat on the rotor. It will come out the radial veins. If you have a brake dust shield, it makes the perfect place to mount the end of the hose. Do a google search for brake ducts and you'll find some pretty good plans.

[aussiesmg]

Great stuff on the alignment, more details welcome, the event is a drag race, autocross and concourse so brake ducts won't be needed.

Did bleed the brakes out completely and put in fresh, again heat shouldn't be an issue, also got some Hawk autocross pads for the front. Tires are DOT legal autocross specials.

If I get the paint done tomorrow, fingers crossed I will run it in a local autocross on Sunday, great idea that one.

[SickSpeedMonte]

Pics of the truck?

Sounds like a pretty killer event!

[SickSpeedMonte]

oops, double post