Suspension Newbie

[mjparme]

I am totally ignorant when it comes to suspension parts. I read the sticky post but I may be more overwhelmed now than I was.

The sticky post refers to a swaybar set up of 32/21mm and the like. Does that refer to the diameter of the swaybar? If so how does just changing the diameter of the swaybar help handling?

I am not really interested in lowering the car I am looking for a decent drag setup that will help me put power to the ground (I have spinning problems). I am so ignorant of suspension in general that I don't even know what terms to search for that would produce helpful threads.

[Nachius]

For track a good Lower Control Arm and Torque arm will plant your wheels to the ground!

I'm running Boxed Lower Control arms and am planning on BMR torque arm.

[mjparme]

What does that do for street driving as a daily driver?

After posting my original post I did manage to get some information out of searching. It was so much information it was almost overwhelming and it seemed like everyone had a different opinion.

Is it possible to get a setup that helps you plant your tires on a drag strip but still keep good handling as a daily driver? (good handling to me is defined as handling just as good or better than stock).

[John_D.]

The weak link for handling on the street is shocks and front sway bar. Upgrading those will help the most. Yes, the diameter of the sway bar makes the bar harder to twist. And when the car tries to roll over to one side, it has to twist the sway bar.

The weak link for launch is the soft rubber in the stock lca's. 1LE lca's or some of the other aftermarket ones with stiffer rubber would help. But lca's with poly on both ends will be bad for handling on the street.

Tires too... BFG drag radials or Nitto's would be a plus. ET Streets would be overkill unless you have a big power adder.

Autocrossers will upgrade the rear to a T2R to minimize wheelspin. It has a higher bias, and is good for exiting corners.

[V6Bob]

"After posting my original post I did manage to get some information out of searching. It was so much information it was almost overwhelming and it seemed like everyone had a different opinion."

Props to you.

You have gotten the basic idea about suspension unusually fast. It's a complicated deal and there are a lot of opinions, bad and good, on the Net.

"The sticky post refers to a swaybar set up of 32/21mm and the like. Does that refer to the diameter of the swaybar? If so how does just changing the diameter of the swaybar help handling?"

More props. You have zeroed in on one of the most complicated suspension issues here. I'm not even going to try to answer this in a few words. I will say (as Dominic knows) I strongly disagree with the 32/21 recommendation and view it as possibly unsafe.

You say you are ignorant about suspension. You won't learn much from posts simply recommending this or that for your car. The best introductory book for a novice I know is:

Chassis Engineering, Herb Adams

Among many other things, it will tell you basically what sway bars actually do and what changing the diameter of the bar does. But it's an introductory book. It covers only what sway bars do at steady speed in a corner, and leaves out nasty complications like what happens when you accelerate.

Suspension is tough. One of the few things people will agree on is, if your problem is spinning, a set of special drag tires for the strip will help.

Of course, then your rear axle may start hopping up and down.....

[ September 23, 2004, 12:54 PM: Message edited by: V6Bob ]

[mjparme]

Chassis Engineering, Herb Adams

Awesome, thanks for the lead on the book! I am one of those people who doesn't believe anything someone tells me until I read it form a reputable source.

I might be nodding and smiling as you tell your story but in the back of my head I am thinking "Talk all you want, as soon as you are done I am going to go look this up" [img]smile.gif[/img]

I might just order this book $13 at Amazon.