As I understand it, there are two places that twisting forces come from that load or unoad each rear tire at the hit. The one that can't be changed is engine torque against the chassis. You can see it on a top fuel car on launch. The other is the twisting force produced by the instant center of the chassis components. The second one can be anywhere from mild to wild depending on the setup of the chassis combined with the starting line torque available to act on it.
IMHO the best setup is just enough preload to counteract the first force at the hit, and use an anti roll device to counter the suspension forces. Any preload that is in the car will also be there down track, which can affect handling and traction.
What I have seen on my ladderbar car is if I go to the front mounting hole at the neutral line, on the hit the left bar will gain leverage over the right bar because of chassis roll induced by engine torque at the instant of the hit. The problem builds on itself instantly, because as the car roll rotates the left bar instant center gains leverage, and the right one loses it. I have had my car literally leave on one tire because the twisting got so violent the left rear suspension ran out of travel and the tire came off the track.
A fourlink car could also get this messed up if it is set up wrong, because it is so much more adjustable.
On a fourlink car, these forces can be reduced by moving the instant center away from the neutral line and moving it further forward to reduce leverage.
Most ladderbar cars never experience this problem to the severity that I did because the instant center is high enough to not let the twisting get out of hand before the shocks and springs can stop the suspension movement.
But if you try and put 850 + hp through a set of 30 inch ladderbars things can happen quickly.
The photo shows chassis twist before the anti roll, and before I got it totally screwed up!

Last edited by gregsdart; 04/26/13 09:45 AM.

8..603 156 mph best, 2905 lbs 549, indy 572-13, alky