[Schoust]

Hey Guy's well the paint is on and and I'm almost there but not quite. I have a 69 Bird that has the old ass end drag and I am thinking about what I should do about it? I do plan to do some track time and I have a set of cal track bars that need to go on so my thought was to go with split mono leaf's. Anyone driving on the street with them? Just how bad is it ride wise? Also is there another alternative to get the arse up?? I intend to change the rear end soon so it would not be a problem changing...
Thanks

[Region Warrior]

My 68 has steel split mono's.
Stiff as hell. No speed bumps or deep pot holes over 10 mph!
Cant push down or pull up an 1/2". And thats w/o shocks.
But dam do they plant tires. Even cheap street 60x15's.
If your gon'a drive normal, need to back'm off or they'l bind in tight turns.

[Nicks67GTO]

Cal Tracs make it stiff. I had them on my Nova and didnt mind them but the car was not designed for comfort and was missing anything that resembled it.

[Nicks67GTO]

Oh yeah....they plant those tires though. Man do they plant those tires.

[Redta]

I've been thinking about using Cal-tracs on my street driven firebird too. I was going to leave the factory leaf springs on it at first though, just to see what happens. I'm curious to see what others guys have to say about these.

[ta man]

I'm considering the same this winter so this interests me.

[Cameano]

Originally Posted by Region Warrior

My 68 has steel split mono's.
Stiff as hell. No speed bumps or deep pot holes over 10 mph!
Cant push down or pull up an 1/2". And thats w/o shocks.
But dam do they plant tires. Even cheap street 60x15's.
If your gon'a drive normal, need to back'm off or they'l bind in tight turns.

My buddy ran a '69 Firebird in the mid-90's with new T/A springs and Lakewood J-bolt traction bars out back and no shocks. It ran great on the street, kinda stiff ride, and hooked up well. Always amazed me how it drove with no shocks.

[David Holmberg]

My TA has cal trac's, mono's and a weld in anti roll bar.

It's stiff, but I street drive it a lot. I really should undo the anti roll bar for street use.

[Cliff R]

I'm nearly into the 10's with "stock" suspension. I tried some bars for a brief period of time, and then went to custom leaf springs, clamped on the front section, adj pinion snubber, and drag shocks. I also have sub-frame connectors (boxed and welded in place), and axle tubes welded to the carrier. Runs just as quick in the 60's as the bars, stock look, stock ride, etc.....Cliff

[ponjohn]

Caltracs did not improve my 60 ft on my Ventura BUT it made it way more consistent. I did not notice a change in ride quality. I went from a custom slapper bar design to caltracs.

I stayed with the OEM mono leaf spring. 3680 race weight and it 60' 1.6xx. Best it did with other arrangement was marginally better at 1.59x.

If I were building another street/strip car with leaf springs, it would go without saying that I would install Caltracs.

[Region Warrior]

Heh Cliff, dont you have to weld on yours...like...every year?
Or is it just every other when i see ya at Norwalk.


Seriously, kept breaking stuff in back of my old 68 FB with stock suspension.
And after add'n slappers.

The Cal system really strengthens and holds rear assembly from twisting/turning.
You can feel the diff in the way the car launches and settles.
I dont rec it for a dailey driver, but everyone has thier opinion on that.
Do like it better then a bud's "4 link rear" dailey drvr.

[arrowem]

-Region Warrior- What didn't you like about the 4 link? I am debating Cal tracs vs Alston G-bar 4 link.

[guccieng]

global west L-2 springs aren't that stiff, and don't need any traction devices. they're made like the old super stocker springs; stiff in the front to plant the wheels and prevent hop, and all the movement comes from the back of the spring, behind the axle.

[David Holmberg]

Go with the Cal Trac's, the quickest stock suspension (leaf) radial cars are running them.

Mine would pull consistent 1.5x 60's running 10.90's, and 1.42's running 9.90's.
Stock suspension 77 TA, 3700+ lbs. Very mild pump gas combo and 3.42 gears.

[Schoust]

Well I guess I just need to find a set of mono's,anyone have a set that they want to sell?? Who has mono's besides Calvert?? Also Guy's say I decide to go a differant way what are you guy's doing to get the arse end up a bit from the stock pos??

[Cliff R]

"Heh Cliff, dont you have to weld on yours...like...every year?"

Twisted off the spring perches a few years ago, doubled up the welds and no problems with them since.

I need to remove the leaf springs and drill up thru them for a larger bolt. I broke the 5/16" bolts/locators last year, or at least discovered they were broken. The springs can't move as I've got the front sections clamped.

The adj pinion snubber is an effective way to keep the diff from twisting up thru the floorboard. Putting bars clear out on the ends of the axle tubes isn't any more effective and it really twists the axle tubes unless you control the diff's upward movement.......Cliff

[pinballDan]

I have been running caltrac's for 2 years now and I think the ride is better than stock springs . The adjustable shocks make it nicer for the street . Bolt in frame connectors ,69 firebird on pump gas I think it is closer to 10's than cliffs car and is heavier.