gasser guys, how long can ladder bar be????

With the tunnel ram, not so easy, you have to pull the front carb and linkage to get to the rear. We have about 40 minutes between rounds in this series I run in and the carb change is defiantly needed more so than suspension at this point. The next time out after this one will include the suspension change for sure.

 

after reading alot on the forums about pinion angle, i would have to disagree with your statement. please let me explain my thoughts and tell me if im wrong or tell me why.

from the great world of forums, building cars and such. most motors are set with a 3-4* down tilt, so tranny is pointing down. to zero out the drive shaft you need 3-4* up on the rear end. with the ladder bar set up ran on that car the pinion should not, no way twist 6-8* up under load.

am i wrong or am i mixing racing with street driving?

 

i agree with you..your pinion and tail shaft in your trans should be parallel to each other.

 

S-10 frame, isn't it?

 

When I set up my ladder bars I talked to an engineer who worked for Chrysler. He told me about 'instant center' and 'moment'. These are things you need to know to do it right. Google is your friend

 

The norm in racing is setting the pinion angle 2 degrees down from parallel with the trans u-joint. Say the tails shaft of the trans is set at 3 degrees down then you would set the rear pinion at 1 degree up. The additional 2 degrees to become parallel happen when the rear is trying to rotate around while the tires are sticking.

 

cool, thanks for the explaination.

 

The pinion wants to climb the ring gear, in other words, rotate upward. The more down pinion angle you put in it, the harder it hits the tire, and the more it wants to wheelie. This is up to a point, trial and error. Its another fine tuning adjustment, along with instant center length and heigth.Shock settings is a whole subject to itself. And yes, forget about street car angles, regardless of front u joint angle, pinion angle is down a few degrees.

 

thanks again, learn something every day.

 

had a '41 willys built back in the day. bars went all the way to the trans crossmember. looked a little dumb. just built some for my '40 ford. they are just shy of half the wheel base. yes they look long, but they dont look stupid.