| FAQ |
| Members List |
| Social Groups |
| Calendar |
| Search |
| Today's Posts |
|
#1
04-11-2003, 10:22 PM
|
|||
|
|||
was very interesing to say the least. the night started with the inside of the tires rubbing the inner fenders (i shoulda got rims with a 3.5" backspace). we got that fixed and in the process i damaged a lug nut. the next drama involved some kind of as yet unexplained suspension problem. the entire car is leaning to the left and we couldn't find anything obviously wrong tonight despite several people looking over the rear end and suspension. according to people who watched me run the car went to the left on every launch and stayed leaned over to that side until i let off on the big end. i need to find a solution to this pretty quick because i sure don't want to race much longer if something is going bad that might break.
the good news is that i made up for my disaster last week on double points night by winning 3 rounds and taking home quarterfinal money tonight. that makes 2 out of the last 3 weeks in the money for the old pontiac...i can definitely handle more of this, especially if the car will actually drive straight one day and get all of the tire to the ground. any suggestions/advice on the suspension problems are appreciated. at least 3 full time GM master techs looked at it tonight and couldn't find anything obviously wrong. there are a few suspects, including a collapsed left leaf spring, left shock failure, air in the right rear shock that is causing that side of the car to sit up (we took the air line off and no air came out, so this might be far fetched), or a broken shock mount on the right front. the leading suspect at this point is the left leaf spring or shock. 97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#2
04-11-2003, 10:22 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
was very interesing to say the least. the night started with the inside of the tires rubbing the inner fenders (i shoulda got rims with a 3.5" backspace). we got that fixed and in the process i damaged a lug nut. the next drama involved some kind of as yet unexplained suspension problem. the entire car is leaning to the left and we couldn't find anything obviously wrong tonight despite several people looking over the rear end and suspension. according to people who watched me run the car went to the left on every launch and stayed leaned over to that side until i let off on the big end. i need to find a solution to this pretty quick because i sure don't want to race much longer if something is going bad that might break.
the good news is that i made up for my disaster last week on double points night by winning 3 rounds and taking home quarterfinal money tonight. that makes 2 out of the last 3 weeks in the money for the old pontiac...i can definitely handle more of this, especially if the car will actually drive straight one day and get all of the tire to the ground. any suggestions/advice on the suspension problems are appreciated. at least 3 full time GM master techs looked at it tonight and couldn't find anything obviously wrong. there are a few suspects, including a collapsed left leaf spring, left shock failure, air in the right rear shock that is causing that side of the car to sit up (we took the air line off and no air came out, so this might be far fetched), or a broken shock mount on the right front. the leading suspect at this point is the left leaf spring or shock. 97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#3
04-12-2003, 10:03 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
I would check the leaf springs. I had 2 broke on my bird and I could not see it until I pulled them out of the car.
75bird 7.41 1/8mile at 92mph street car 73Ventura 11.88 at 113 streetcar 69GrandPrix 12.64 at 107 tow car 65GTO 10.14 at 129 tri-power dragcar |
|
#4
04-12-2003, 12:25 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Get rid of the air shocks. They went out in the 70's......
Chance favors the prepared mind. |
|
#5
04-12-2003, 01:30 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Ditto, lose the air shocks as they will do nothing for your 1/4 mile performance (not to mention riding stiff).
You probably have a broken leaf spring on the left side. The reason you can't see it is it is most likely broken right where the axle and spring perches meet. 
__________________
Just a blind squirrel looking for a nut. |
|
#6
04-12-2003, 05:12 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Race cars don't run air shocks. That will cause some problems. Get a good set of adjustables.
|
|
#7
04-12-2003, 07:04 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Check the tubes on the rear-end, make sure they are welded and are not moving or turning under a load....I had some of the same symtoms and
chase the problem for a month...Also look at the spring eyes and perches, for cracks????Good-Luck Dave 1033/stock 
|
|
#8
04-12-2003, 07:10 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
dave wins the prize. the driver's side axle tube is turned forward about 3/4" in the housing. i did put a better set of leaf springs on the car today, so it wasn't a total loss. as far as ditching the air shocks, i would do that if i had the money, along with lots of other things. the car might be down for as few as 7-10 days or as long as 3 weeks depending on how quickly i can find somebody to turn the tube back into place and weld both tubes to the housing.
the good news is that i'm making enough power to cause problems like this.  97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#9
04-12-2003, 07:41 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Good call Dave!
Ron 
__________________
Due to the current economic conditions...the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. Meet you at the finish line.....don't be late! |
|
#10
04-13-2003, 04:31 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Rumair, cost is no excuse in this matter!(lol) Sounding like Goatman yet?(lmao) Anyway, Summit has adjustable shocks that work well! They are (I believe re-labeled)Comp Engineering? I know alot of racers that use them and at less than $30 each you can't baet them! I know I am gonna hear crap for this one! I know Rancho 8 way adjustables are better but, for those of us that are on a "budget" these will work fine. Yes, some of us are on a budget and do have to spend our money wisely and find cheaper alternatives!
 
__________________
|
|
#11
04-13-2003, 06:31 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
The Summit shocks would be a good choice. I run them as well as alot of other people. They are made by Doestech.
|
|
#12
04-13-2003, 07:43 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Thanks Scott for clearing that up for me!
 I knew they were made by a reputable company for you guy's as are most of the "Summit" parts! I have had good luck with my "Summit" shocks so far!
__________________
|
|
#13
04-13-2003, 04:41 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
if i buy new shocks i'll probably go with comp. engineering. i have them on the front and like them...they're ~$40~ in the summit catalog.
97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#14
04-13-2003, 05:47 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
I've seen problems with the Comps not adjusting properly & i've also heard this from other people. Either way you should have a good shock.
|
|
#15
04-13-2003, 06:16 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Ditto to Scott's reply! I went with the Summit brand because many of the racers I talked to about the CE's had switched to Summit brand because they had problems with the CE! Just what I heard and have seen, the final judgement is yours!
__________________
|
|
#16
04-16-2003, 01:36 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
turns out that the driver's side spring perch was welded slightly farther forward than the passenger side. i took it to a guy who cut it off and welded it in the proper position last night. the car now sits 1/2" lower on the left as opposed to 3 1/2" before the fix. we also put a cheapo set of pep boys gas shocks on there to replace the tired air shocks, which brings me to my next question.
the guy who did the work last night suggested that i find a pair of old school piece of junk hydraulic shocks. i've tried every place i can think of to no avail...everybody either has gas or air shocks, no hydraulics. if i can't find one of these kind of shocks i guess i'll just stick with the pep boys specials i got last night. i've heard lakewood might make a shock like this... 97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#17
04-16-2003, 01:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Rumair,
Glad to see you checked everything before you put it back together..The perches and the angle are critical to the load on the driveline.Now stop screwing around with mickeymouse shocks and call scott at summit and be done with it..Trust me do it right the first time and it will be cheaper in the long run...Set them at 60/40 and go racing... Dave...1033/stock
|
|
#18
04-16-2003, 07:10 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
well, the news might not be all good. i tried to put the u-bolts that came with these traction bars on tonight. i was unable to get them on either side; my buddy who had these on his car (74 GTO) is off friday so he's going to come by and see what's up. more concerning than that is how the bars are sitting in relation to the springs. from what i understand the bump stop on the passenger's side should barely touch the spring and the driver's side should sit just below the spring. when i rolled the car off the trailer on the street the driver's side was touching the spring and the passenger's side was ~2~ inches below the spring.
i described this to my friend and he asked me how tight the u-bolts were that hold the bars to the rear end. i thought that was an interesting question, considering that there are no u-bolts on my setup. there are 4 bolts that hold the traction bars to the spring perches. i supppose the only thing i can do to fix this for now is adjust these bolts until i get the bump stops where they belong. unless we figure out something on friday morning that i've been missing, i'm guessing i need to trash this whole arrangement as soon as i can. i think i might be in for a big surprise when my car actually starts driving straight... 97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
|
#19
04-16-2003, 07:51 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Rumair,
My race car is a 77-78 Formula Firebird,With a 10 bolt(8.5),spool/MW axles, etc. I use slapper bars with no -U bolts..I did add a 6-8" section to both bars so that the snubber is right under the spring EYE, not on the flat leaf spring..This helps in two ways,stop springs from bending and stiffens the whole rear set-up...You need to make sure your pinon angle is 3-5 degrees down towards the ground/downward...You need to be sitting in the drivers seat, the drivers side snubber should be right up against the spring..The passenger's side should have 1/2-1" space at the snubber..... This is a good starting point, so don't worry about U-bolts, make sure those are hardin bolts?? Good Luck and go have fun racing..Dave..1033/stock |
|
#20
04-17-2003, 12:50 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
dave- mine come almost to the spring eye (maybe 2" short on each side). we're going to try to get the bump stops in the right places when my buddy comes over tommorow morning by adjusting the bolts with me sitting in the car.
97 Trans Am WS6 Best ET: 12.13 Best MPH 114.6 74 Formula 455 Best ET: 11.97 Best MPH: 112.58 |
| Reply |
|
|
The PY Online Forums is the largest online gathering of Pontiac enthusiasts anywhere in the world. Founded in 1991, it was also the first online forum for people to gather and talk about their Pontiacs. Since then, it has become the mecca of Pontiac technical data and knowledge that no other place can surpass.
Linear Mode
