Hello all, i was reading the last thread about the rear shock settings on radials and didn't want to hi-jack it so i have some questions for the people who know. I was under the understanding that you needed the body to separate from the axle to plant the tyre to the track? So with my leaf sprung car i have a caltrack style (not the brand) bar, sliders and mono leaf suspension with DA afco shocks. The bottom bar is in the top hole with a 1/3 of a turn of preload. Rear shocks are on the least extension setting because i was told i needed the separation. But can only get it to hook 50% of the time. Where should i go from here?

When you say it doesn’t hook 50% of
The time …..
What is the track prep like ?
How fast is the car?
What tire are you on ?
Does it hook , then spin ?
What trans / rear gear ?
Any power added / power management?

Track prep has been good at championship race days, the car is a Cuda has been 9.3 in the 1/4 and 5.99 in the 1/8th. 3590 lbs on 275/60r15 M/T pro radial at 18lbs it will hook on the hit then blow the tyres. 727 with 9" 4:11 gears, 596 big block. MSD grid we were leaving on the brake at 3500 with 10 degrees of timing out and ramped back in over 1.5 seconds. Last night at a radial prep race we went after it and put all the timing into it and the first 2 runs it hooked and then the last run blew the tryes. The last 2 runs we were leaving at 4300. Decided to get aggressive because the conditions and the prep for radials were real good. Single carb N/A

I would tighten the extension 2 clicks and the compression 4 and try it like that. Sounds like its bouncing the tire off the track. Also make sure the front suspension is not topping the shock out. That will upset the car also.

I’m no expert but do run a radial. The better the track is the more I tighten the front up.

With a 727 and 4.11 you have a 10.0 STaring line ratio . A little steep for radials at your power level. To make the car work better you need less SLR

Next time out I'll try stiffing up the back extension a bit, the front by the video i have seems to react ok but I'll go over the settings again. SLR will be a bit hard to change unless i can get it with a diff ratio change but how much would that change it without effecting trap rpm?

Lowering the SLR should be done with taller 1st gear in the trans . I believe Cope makes a 2.10 gear set . So your final drive stays the same . Not an easy thing to do , but will be most effective and make the car more manageable on a radial

Post a video if you can .
My guess is it needs to go tighter on the rear shocks .
Might be easier to just go full tight on both ends of the shock and start loosing it up . ( when it stops knocking the tire off at the hit )
I use the cope 2nd gear leave trans brake and have been 1.19 in the 60 ft and should be able to go mid teens once i get more aggresive with it . ( 3250 lb demon on the pro 275 tire )

I'll do a bit of research on the gear change in the trans.