Caltracs are bolt on. RMS are weld in and would take some work to remove later if you decided to.
RMS on the front and rear with big tires, it will handle like a Corvette, mostly
Not too concerned about the welding part, this car is already pretty hacked up anyway and I do all the welding/fab work myself so not an issue.
I've heard from one guy that the RMS setup doesn't hit the tire very hard and he has traction issues on his car making a lot less power. pretty difficult to make any judgements on that completely out of context with nothing to compare it to though.
I hoped maybe there were some guys running fast E/Ts with RMS rear end setups but I haven't found any. Just seeing someone doing it would let me know it CAN be done and I think I'd go with it.
I'm going to talk to RMS and see if they have any answers although I think I'm leaning towards caltracs. As much as I'd like the car to handle well on the street and feel comfortable to drive longer distances, I really want to hit my E/T goals and don't want to be held back by traction issues or worse, parts failures when i'm out on the strip.
The RMS, like the older GM G & A bodys and the Mustangs are 4 link suspensions, with independent upper and lower links. A four link is dependent on the geometry to determine how it works, and they will respond to changes just like an aftermarket 4 link kit.
Simple answer is get the links into a more drag style configuration. Move the housing end of the lower bar away from the housing. Moving that point away from the housing and/or making that bar angle up in the front above level will cause the housing to plant the tire harder.
Move the housing end of the upper bar away from the housing and/or the chassis end down. Kits are made for the above mentioned OE style suspensions to accomplish this. The steeper the angle of the top link down in the front, the more aggressively it will load the tire. The RMS may want to have different brackets. The style, quality and rigidity of the links and rod ends may need to be looked at as well, depending on how much power is being applied. Getting after it with the short links and/or big power will want a GOOD DA shock. And the bracketry substantial enough to not move around. Lighter rate springs with a true coil over will also help make it all more aggressive.
The more racy it gets, the less street friendly it will be. You may end up with a set of race day shocks and springs to avoid beating up expensive parts on the street and make the ride better.
Caltracs and leafs would be the easier route to go quick at the dragstrip, with less potential fabrication and modifications to get all of the potential out of it with the 4 bar/coil spring deal.
