I have a '36 Plymouth Coupe with a built-up 241 Hemi (approx. 300 hp) and am experiencing serious wheel hop/traction issues. The rear end assembly is out of a '70 GTX and has Chassis Engineering springs, spring mounts, and their brand of shocks. I've checked out Caltracs and they can't help me. Someone suggested going to a stiffer shock. I want a traction set up that is hardly visible to preserve the street rod look. Thoughts?

stiffer springs/wider rim/wider/softer tires (if wider is possible)/more shock. EDIT #1 the wrong springs and the shocks are more of a dampener

Add a pinion snubber, unclamp the back of the springs

The wheel hop is usually caused by the front half of the leaf spring winding up and unwinding in the shape of a S, very harmful and hard on drivetrain parts when it hops Try clamping the front half of the spring at every leaf where it joins the front half of the main leak, use one or two clamps only behind the rear end The rear end housing wants to pitch the pinion yoke up under acceleration tryingto use the leaf spring to lift the car up, which applys more pressure onto the rear tires, which is a good thing Keeping the pressure on the tires is the trick IHTHs

My 57 truck has traction problems too. For some reason, the gas peddle causes smoke to come out of the tires. Maybe it's the 512 under the hood, maybe the 31x18.5 Mickey Thompson tire aren't big enough. Any suggestions?

Fill the bed with cement.

Clamping the spring fronts should help, Also the old school Lakewood traction bars would look right at home.

Pinion snubbers are not worth pursuing, in my book. They were a cheap crutch that was maybe better than nothing, but even the engineers who designed them would tell you there were better ways, just more expensive and harder to get past Accounting.

R.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the suggestions (except rattler's)

I have read that add-on leaf spring helpers can work for controlling wheel hop. I have not tried them myself however.....

You need to stiffen the front segment of the leaf pack, make sure they are clamped together. If they are then you need a set of over/under riders.

Slapper bars are a very poor substitute, when they hit they shock the suspension, possibly upsetting it especially in a turn.

add on leaf spring helpers are also a poor substitute, they can bias the spring pack, BTDT, causing squirelly handling.

Put the stroker motor in the wagon and put a 273 or 318 in the truck I put a 1957 392 Hemi motor out of a New Yorker in my 1955 Dodge D500 car hauler, that didn't smoke the dual 950x20 tires, even with 4.89 gears in the hi speed side of the two speed rear end Maybe it was the way I drove it My 1957 D300 car hauler didn't smoke the tires either, even when I put a 1959 318 Poly motor in it

Sorry, I coudn't help myself.

Cab, I did consider putting the stoker in the wagon, but for now, the plan calls for a 5.7 Hemi and Nag-1 auto in the wagon.

I'll disagree and remind you that most of the factory stock cars used them to their advantage.
they were a crucial part of setting up a stock mopar rear suspension for drag racing.
Part of the wheel hop issue is the rear end housing rotating upwards due to the pinion gear trying to climb the ring gear while accelerating.
Installing an adjustable snubber will accomplish two things.
It limits the 3rd members ability to rotate thereby stabilizing the housing and spring wrap up.
It Will also apply a downward force to the rear end assembly and aid in planting the tires.
There are other things that can be done in addition but an adjustable snubber is easy to implement.

The whole story can be found in the old direct connection rear suspension bulletins.

So you have a wheel hop issue not a traction issue?

Having a wheel hop issue is a very simple thing to fix. You need a stiffer set of springs. And if you stiffen the rear of the spring instead of the front the wheel hop will get worse. You need a good set of leaf springs.

Agreed to a point,
Or control the suspension, axle wind up. Why do I feel like I am beating my head against a brick wall while trying to help ???

I could be wrong here since I am not that familiar with 36 Plymouths , but I doubt that any of the available pinion snubbers will work on it without modification.

Is this an auto or a stick? Are the springs ,shackles, etc meant for a GTX? I'm assuming the suspension components you mentioned are new or nearly new. Sticky tires or plain ole regular street tires? Stock GTXs didn't wheelhop so their suspensions were sufficient for handling more hp than you estimate you have. I would bet that in the retro fit of the GTX suspension to your 36 that a mistake was made {incorrect geometry ,binding, bent component, etc.}.

Information I should have provided : A-833 4 speed, 3.55 sure-grip, and yes, initially it is a wheel hop issue. I've checked out the pinion snubber thing and the general opinion was it wouldn't be possible with the '36 Plymouth without a fair amount of modification. The springs, shackles, etc, are from Chassis Engineering. Since I had a shop do this part, I'm taking it on faith they got the right kit for the GTX.
I've had a suspicion the pinion angle is not correct. It's close, but not perfect.