SHOCKS............

Does anyone have any good used ft. shocks for an a-body like Viking, QA-1 or ? I can't justify spending hundreds of dollars for one maybe two more track outings...........Thankxxx............

Dom Measure the distance you are needing and just start shopping around. You can usually find deals on used shocks, especially coil overs. Remove the springs and you have a good single or DA shock..

Will do..............

You missed out on a set of Aldan's I sold earlier this year...I like the Vikings a lot better.

All good and will keep looking or buy new.............

I have D.A Vikings.. for the rear

I now have Vikings on all four corners and I'm glad I spent the money.

Dom.. try the Viking but get the heavy valving
installed.. you can always ease that off if they
are too stiff and I think the price is decent
and you know they will just go up in price so
dont wait too long

Same here.

I've heard great things about the Viking stuff and have checked em out and the vid my friend posted on FB shows it killing the tire which I assume means that I need more extension control? Not good at this chassis stuff...........

Do you have a part # for the ft. and rears cos I looked and cant seem to find any and are they the Crusaders............

Yeah you need better control of the axle housing..
the shock you have now is real close to being maxed
out if you have it set right.. at least all the ones
I've seen are(that are set right or close)

Rancho 5-ways on # 4 and had I known they need to be tighter, I would of went to # 5.......Then new CNC profiled main body BLP set me up w/has created more torque cos I was hooking w/the 1050 that was on it before and not now...........

Fronts are B202
Rears are B217

A lot of times all it takes is just a little
bit to put you over.. you MIGHT get away with
the #5 setting.. but that puts you at the MAX
you have and most times it isnt enough to get
a good handle on it.. thats why guys spend the
money and get a fair bit better shock.. that
way they arent on the edge of control

I'll throw my 2 cents in .
I think you would be better off with DA rear .
You can control the rears and limit the front some you will be better off .
Just my thought .

IMO as Ive said many times buy the BEST shock you can AFFORD. It is rarely money not well spent.

.. you're not actually looking for a part number for the rear.. your shocks have been relocated. So you're looking for a certain length

Thankxxx for the shock #'s and the same rear Rancho shocks are fine straight up and down w/about 2 1/4 compression and the rest extension so a similar length should work. Was on YB checking out the Caltrac thread and guys are in the 8's on Ranchos.............

We will say that there are 50 guys that have
issues with the Ranchos and you have one that
works.. will yo believe 50 or the one.. also
maybe that shock was built tighter than the 50..
dont take everything you hear on the net as fact

I agree plus most are Chevy's fwiw so not apples to apples so it's shock time I guess even though I race once every year or more now.......... It cost hundreds of dollars for in house American made carb parts so that's where ALL my money goes to keep afloat but will pull the trigger soon I guess even for 3 more passes........... I did find some new QA-1's for a deal and my friend was in the mid 8's on singles on his Mustang a few years back............

[quote=Thumperdart]I agree plus most are Chevy's fwiw so not apples to apples so it's shock time I guess even though I race once every year or more now.......... It cost hundreds of dollars for in house American made carb parts so that's where ALL my money goes to keep afloat but will pull the trigger soon I guess even for 3 more passes........... I did find some new QA-1's for a deal and my friend was in the mid 8's on singles on his Mustang a few years back............

I have a custom set of QA on the rear.. they are older
12 way shocks.. I cant make them lock but close.. they
have worked well for me on my car.. would they be right
for a powerful heavy car.. doubt it but a 4-link helps
also(over springs and a ladder bar)I know my shocks arent
made any more so I hope they live for a while
EDIT
the pic you see on here is great for photo opts
but thats not how I launch... this is more like
it

So being I'm roughly 3050 lbs, I need a stiffer valving to control axle wrap up right? What about the fronts...........

The thing about a mustang Dom, is they have a great factory suspension setup. They just work. That's why so many LS swaps are out there. It's the easy way to get good sixtys.
An A-body has a crappy rear suspension, it's horse and buggy technology. It can be made to work but it's never going to be as good as a factory triangulated 4 bar setup.

It takes a great shock to overcome the lack of technology in mopar stock suspension.

Yes you need to control the axle but a stiffer
front segment is what controls the wrap up.. the
shock controls the separation which you need..
and in a lot of cases you might need both to
control it all
EDIT
Just remember that the more power you have the
better shocks you need

I get the Mustang hatch deal being they flat out work from the factory but not out stuff.......... A slo mo shot showed my rim beating the tire at 11 3/4 lbs then spinning so let the games begin.......

Here u go this is a screenshot from a video I took

I had my wife video EVERY pass for a couple of years to
get a handle on my launches.. and in the beginning it
took that long for me to understand the launch.. a lot
of guys dont see it all.. it was all done in slo-mo
from a quartering shot so I could see the quarter panel
and the tire.. then I started shooting a underneath shot
of the suspension.. the added time on the camera was well
worth the time and hassle making brackets to hold
the camera.. nothing is ever easy but needs to be done

Why didn't ya come by and say hi...........I get it Mike but I hardly race anymore cos I need a cage and all of the safety stuff and it's not worth it at this point so 1 maybe 2 more tries and I'm done...........

Well good luck with that.. but try

Why not add the few bars it takes to make it legal for 8.50? Not a huge ordeal. A stiffer chassis never hurts. My son and I do cage work if you are looking for someone to do it, he currently has a Mustang he is doing a 25.5 for. You can make the side bars swingouts and remove them when not racing. Just asking?!?

My take on Rancho shocks, FWIW...

They are simple HD truck shocks that guys like Calvert and the Luneacks (Tri-City Competition) figured could be used as an inexpensive rear damper for stock-type leaf spring suspensions. If I tore one apart, I'd bet the actual valving design is relatively primitive, even compared to the motocross suspension components that I worked on 30 years ago.

I, too, have a set of the older Ranchos with 5 adjustment settings, but that adjustment affects primarily the rebound (extension) damping only. The newer ones have 9 adjustments, but I expect the actual design hasn't changed beyond allowing for smaller increments in between min & max settings. Even on my junk the Ranchos are probably marginal at best. Although Dominic is faster, he runs 10" bias-plies vs my 275/60 radials which IMO are more sensitive to the chassis tune. We both need better dampers, although I'm OK with my current QA-1 R front SAs. He might benefit from better -- and more adjustable -- stuff on the front, too. But we all know the $$$ of newer technology, even for our horse & buggy suspension.

I never intended to go THIS fast but a good thing for sure.......... The cage deal may happen but again, no truck n trailer(street car)and a pain to get to the limited tracks we have around here and when I move there will be zero tracks within driving distance.........Decisions, decisions...........Much thankxxx guys.........

Witch rim, the Driver side I bet..

Also. just saw the rear pic shot of the vid and it help confirms my thinking, even though pics like that may not always show true values and may even be optical illusions in some cases.

But it appears in the pic the Right rear isn't doing any crushing of the tire. On leaf spring cars the right rear Always tries to lift. So your car 60" better with a extra battery over the right rear.

So 3 things are telling me the right rear doesn't have enough down force on launch.

1. Leaf spring cars always tries to lift the Right rear.
2. The removal of a bat on That side slowed your 60.
3. The vid pic appears to show minimal down force on that side. Sketchy I know.


So, you have maybe just 2 maybe 3 more runs/attempts this season. Now you can by the Best shock available, but you will Never get it dialed in in just 2/3 runs, Never


Heres what I would do, for your last couple possible outings, Temp fix only. No, don't put the Bat back in. Get a single air shock and put it on that right rear side, put about 50psi in it and give it a go. It will help keep that Right rear Planted until you get your new shocks sand get them all dialed in.

That's what I would do, bet that would Fix it. well unless, its the New carb you put on that's dropping the 60 ft because Its not tuned in yet. But, with your Carb Skills, We can rule that out Right.

Yes the dr side is killing the tire but that's the only good view from the video then it spins and I feel it in my ass cheeks............

I may just put a second battery back in because it did this same thing a few years ago and I'm pissed at myself for listening to others and not my gut BUT, this is how we learn......... This carb is a beast go to Dominic Thumper on FB and listen for yourself and prior to this one it wasn't spinning on the street and it is now so it's making more torque and I picked up to 112.05 in the 1/8th...........

Video shows it spun. The airshock trick we all did in the 80s-90s and worked like a champ

And in 2018, it will work as well for Thumper, for his last testing, with No time for testing New Expensive shocks, with All kinds of multiple valving adjustments.. Not Guessing here Thump.

Spin will generally lead to more MPH, plus air conditions can also account for the increased MPH as well. Never found a street butt dyno to be very accurate, or sound of the car to equate to more power, just sayin. Video is ALWAYS your best friend. Look for a track rental and get in on it, your lack of a legal cage wont matter then. Usually one or two track rentals at Famosa in the spring. Yep will cost you more to get in but you will be free to try some stuff t make it work..

Appreciate all of the input and have been thinking long and hard about this stuff and decided before I just start throwing $$$ on shocks, that I will either put tubes in the soft azz sidewall tires or buy Hoosier stiff wall slicks and will definitely add a 2nd battery later today. I went an easy 1.33 last time out on the same shocks but changed tires and removed ballast..........BAD MOVE on my part and IF this doesn't work, then new double adjustable shocks will go on the car..........

Al what is the shock hierarchy? Cheap to expensive please.

I have strange DA fr and rear.

Thanks, Don

Good race shocks shouldn't be a last resort. They are magical

After putting on Strange DA I went from 5"s of front travel to 3.5"s and my car works better than ever. Well worth it! But I'm slow.

I'd like to see you make another pass with your previous tires, it might just be that.
As far as the front end travel, you'll just have to test it. I know people are telling you that you need less travel when making more power but I don't know if you're at that power level yet. When I tried limiting travel on my 9.80's Dart with ladder bars, it didn't like it.

Here's a still shot I captured from your facebook video that I brightened up a little.

That Still shot is completely opposite of the other side view still shot.

Its crushing the tire while the other side appeared to be normal no crush looking. Thumper, you seem to be totally dismissing the air shock temp fix suggestion for your last couple of outings. It will work, what can it hurt to try. Give me your address, will send one out to you.

Then Later you can do it the Right way, and buy the Best shocks, but for now this would be the cheap and Easy Fixxx.

Another note .
I had et streets bias and couldn't get it to hook .
Went to stiff sidewall slicks and it was doing 100 ft wheelies.

THIS is exactly what I am thinking........NEW Hoosier stiff walls and hang on...........Sport 440 I appreciate the offer but I will buy new rears first but much appreciated...........

These we're good for 1.19..60 foots all day long.. ready to go 5.42. Just add your own power

Are you selling them.............

They will be over on Race parts for sale in the next day or two..

Are any of you guys running Hoosiers?
Thumper mentioned Hoosiers but I know the quicker guys in my area have been having better luck with M/T.

I may want em how much and what size are the mounting holes they look smaller than the stocks..............

It's REALLY hard to tell from the vids, but if it's really crushing one side bad and not the other it's a 5min fix. Just add a few flats of preload to the right rear caltrac.

You may be correct along w/what some others mentioned about pre-load which is 1 flat on the left and right and the 5-ways on #4 w/11 3/4 lbs in the tires.............I'm still thinking these soft sidewalls are killing my 60 foots compared to the 10.5 W M/T's but I could be wrong and am considering tubes in em to stiffen em up which some do w/good success.............