CalTracs?

[Chryco Psycho]

no pix handy unfortunatly .
 The best set up was on my Duster which I built around 85.
 My Challenger  that used ladderbars  was built in 81 , the Chall was stupid , I could drop the clutch @ 5500 RPM & it would drag the engine down to 1600 rpm because the tires would not spin , the ridiculous part is I was using a 5" wide bias ply tire .
 The Duster was approx 525 hp with a very strong 440 & 4 spd , wheel spin was never an issue , I was lifting the front wheels on the street with street tires , , using slicks I was pulling the front wheels 3" at the track dropping the clutch @ 5500 , 60' times were 1.40s . there was no need for burnouts , just clean the tires & go , People would come up to me a say wow is the track slick today & would tell them that I could not tell the difference .
Leaving with more power just pulled the front higher .
 The converter / auto will not hit the tires as hard unless you use a trans brake .

[73 B5 CHAL]

I know on a B-body those GTX/RT type springs are the #%&*. Maybe some springs that came on a Hemi Challenger? I don't know anyone that gained much with "Cal Tracs".

[Cuda54]

Any pics of the Duster setup? On the chall did it still have the leaf springs too?Did you buy or make your own LB? Some say that LB ride real rough on the street I have never ridden in any thing with them on. So I have no idea of how they ride. So anyone that has them let me know how you like them.

[Chryco Psycho]

sorry no pix
 I bought Alston ladderbars , a friend who had a Chevelle & drove my Duster said mine rode like a caddilac compared to the chevelle , I never found them hard riding , they actually ride the same as leaf spring as you do not change the leafs out . the Chall had leafs too .

[jhaag]

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I think you need to revisit your current setup. Without more info it is hard to know what you need. If this is a street strip car and you want to maintain that, then you can make what you have work. Many NHRA stockers run more than 500 hp motors on basically stock suspension. Do what they do. You already have SS springs. Lose the slapper bars. Mopars don' t need them. Make sure your suspension does not bind, front and rear. You need good drag radial tires set at 18 or 20lbs to start. 6 cylinder torsion bars with 90/10 front shocks. Unhook your front sway bar if you have 1 when you go to the track. All of this promotes weight transfer to the rear. If you don't have frame connectors, these are a very good place to put some $. As for the rear, all should be to factory specs as far as stock shackles, no air shocks, spacers etc. Stock ride height. Decent shocks. Check pinion angle, should be about -5 degrees to start. There is no reason that a well thought out, working, factory suspension should not hook up. Spend your $s wisely, educate yourself, and you will be fine. With info you have given, your current combo should easily run in the mid 11s, with 60 foot times around 1.6. I have done it. Until you have maximized what you have, you will only be applying bandaids. I do think CalTracs are a good product, but not sure you need to go there just yet. Just an FYI, I have been doing this for over 30 years, raced full tube chassis 4 link, and ladder bar cars, stockers and street/strip.

[Cuda54]

OK here is what I have 72 Cuda 440-6 with 525 HP 2800 stall converter 727 heavy built for the car. Hemi bands and clutches with all of the goodys. I have frame conecter and traction bars and sway bars 3.23 gears posi 489 center section. I took off the snubber as it was hitting when I would hit every little bump when driving around. I had it set up high to try to get traction. I have a Goodyear made tires on the back 275x60-15s 235x60-15s front stock shocks all the way around on 15x8 with 5" BS Cragar SS rims. It is set at stock ride hight not sure what TB are in it was a 340 car so I do not think they were changed. So what do you think I should do with what I have? Or should I just put a set of ladder bars put a 4 link in? This is a street car that I like to play hard with when I take it out and I have a drag strip 5 miles away. But I would like to get it to hook up better before I take it there. I have a set of slicks to put on but not when I am on the street. I have not had the slicks on the car yet so I do not know how well they will work yet. So how should I set it up what do I change first?

[Chryco Psycho]

the cheapest way to hook the car up for sure is ladder bars but it is an extensive modification ,if you ae willing to do the modification you will have traction even on crappy tires .
Or you can play with the stock set up or add SS springs , I use a square top U bolt & clamp the front spring section as tight as possible to stiffen it , shocks are a big deal , a double adjustable front shock can make a huge difference in weight transfer , you need some transfer but 90/10 may be to fast & you will lose traction 25 ' out.

[Cuda54]

That is one thing I missed was the SS spring they are on there already. Sorry I missed them in my last post. Once it stop spinning it real moves out. It burns them in low off the line and into second then it really moves out and into drive. I just want it to hook off of the line not spin.

[HP2]

I have a set of slicks to put on but not when I am on the street. I have not had the slicks on the car yet so I do not know how well they will work yet. So how should I set it up what do I change first?

In light of this, I'd change nothing at this point until you get some actual strip time on the slicks or get a better street tire under it. With that much power, you will pretty much shred any street tire, as most of them these days are designed for mileage, not traction. If you want street traction, change to a soft compound, d.o.t. race tire. My bet is that with the slicks at the strip you will find you don't have enough convertor or gear as it will be able to grab traction just fine.

If properly set up with leaf springs, a mopar will lift under accelleration If yours is not lifting, try clamping the front segments as CP suggested, or take off one of the rear segment clamps.

[Road_Runner]

The one thing I believe no one has mentioned up to this point is driver technique.  When I was racing the Roadrunner back in the 70's with the suspension technology of the day (Big springs, decent shocks & yes Lakewood traction bars), I power braked to a little over 3K rpm and basically released the brake and floored it at the same time.  Launched perfectly almost every time (had some issues with tire spin at one track with a concrete pad at the tree).  Obviously, I would have loved to have been able to have just dumped it from 5K and have it hook, but with a little finess it launched well for a big car with bias ply street tires.  I rarely got beat off the line.  Just thought I'd mention it.

Later, Jim

[mopar12372]

caltracs all the way!!!!!