Drag front shocks

What front shocks are you running? A body small block 10.60 cars. Think my car could use some help. Reasonably priced if possible.

. Double adjustable Vikings are going to be hard to beat in my opinion.

I have an A body running 10.50s with lakewood 90/10s. They work well and drive well on the street but some double adjustable vikings are on my want list for this season.

I have been as fast as 10.10 with comp 90/10's and ranchos on the rear.
I am sure a better shock all around would help for sure

My 11.3’s Street / Strip car is a little different animal than yours, but I’m in Calvert shocks all the way around (90/10’s up front). They made a big difference in how the car left over the previous C/E shocks. If your willing to pay for Vikings you’d have adjustability to find the optimum setting for your combo. Would they pay off in ET over non adjustable 90/10’s??..... only your $$$ can answer that.

Just curious, but why Vikings? Can Vikings be rebuilt/ revalved when the time comes?

.. because a pair of double adjustable Viking shocks for 400$ will probably do the job.. I ran them on my car with great success. I recently switched to menscer a great shock but $500 each.. pick your poison.. but don't tell me a single adjustable is as good as a double

100% FACT. Why anyone would ever argue for a single adjustable shock is beyond me. But to argue that a 90/10 shock is anything but a museum piece is just crazy.

Would you buy a carb or EFI that could only be tuned either rich, richer, richest? Nope. But I'll buy a shock that is that worthless.

Makes no sense to me.

I'm not arguing about single vs. double. I'm just wondering about the Viking shocks. I was told them can not be revalved. Randy Mans at Fastshock, will not even rebuild them.

BTW, I have Afco double adjustables all around for my car.

You may be right, I sorta think your logic is narrow minded. The right part for every car and every enthusiast isn’t always the most expensive one, nor the most sophisticated one. Are double adjustable shocks more adjustable? Duh.... Are they always the best investment for the 10-second bracket racer? Maybe not. Either way, my money says Every Dragstrip USA is littered with cars with non-adjustable 90/10 front shocks that work really well, win races, and there’s probably plenty of them that are faster than the guy next to them in the staging lanes with $500 double adjustables......

Some of the Vikings can be revalved. IIRC he Vikings I ran can't. Those are the shocks that bolt into OE locations.

Again, IIRC the Crusader Line is the shocks they can revalve. I'd have to find my catalog to say for sure though. And I don't know where I put it when I redid the library. Someday I will find where I put it at the time that I thought was the correct place. It's not with the rest of the car books. Or, I loaned it out and it hasn't found its way back yet.

So what other parts on your car would you accept with limited adjustability? I mean really, a carb that is only partially tuneable? Or a cam that can't be degreed? Or a suspension you can't tune?


It's not myopic to think that a 90/10 shock is anything other than a relic. Period. The last Vikings I bought were $185.00 each shipped. That's $740.00 shipped for 4 shocks that can be tuned independently for bump and rebound. To me, that's cheap money. I won't even do more than mention most guys aren't capable of tuning shocks anyway, so maybe I am myopic.


BTW, dirt bike have had double adjustable suspensions since the late 1980's and yet car guys still don't get it.


Also BTW, neither myself no anyone else suggested the OP drop big dope in Big Guns, Mencscers, Santhuffs or anything like that. Just simple DA Viking shocks. He crazy thing is Viking doesn't even make a SA shock because they don't see the point. Nether do I. I have a cousin fighting his SA shocks when I told him NOT to waste money on them. He is struggling. I told he to call me back when he gets a real shock and not until then.


There is a difference between value and just plain wasting money.

I always find this topic interesting. My car is only a low 12 second car so; I'm not in the same class nor do I have the same needs as someone running 10.60's. The suspension on my car his not been touched since at least the mid 90's. I have the cheapest Monroe parts store shocks on my car that are most likely 30 years old. My car flat out hooks at the track and drives nice on the street. I've thought about buying nicer shocks but, I've decided not to right now; I don't see the need or value. If the car hooks now, what would shocks do for me?

Anyway, here's my opinion. I remember an old thread where Monte was telling a story about a high powered car that he was helping someone with. I can't remember exactly what the car ran but, I know it was at least an 8 second car. Monte seamed to be a big proponent of buying the best shock that you can afford. Some of these shocks are thousands of dollars. On this car, the shocks were upgraded and the car picked up a few thousandths or a little more; everyone was happy with the outcome. I remember thinking to myself, for a serious class or heads up racer, that may matter but, for most, bracket racing is the game and what does it matter if the car is .04 quicker, as long as the car is consistent. I personally would not pay $3300 for Santhuff shocks etc. to pick up .04. Frankly, I would be pissed if I spent that kind of money for that outcome.

The question to me is, what are you doing with the car, are you having issues hooking up now, is the car inconsistent etc.? Back to my situation, I'm having no issues and just don't think the value is there to justify spending $800-$1000 for better shocks. Your situation may differ.

. This was the original question someone looking for a reasonable priced shock I think that going to a double adjustable leaves room for many upgrades on a car it runs 10.60s. It's your money you can buy whatever shock you would like. Heck you can even drilled holes in stock shocks and let the oil out.. .

my narrow mind assumed that a car running 10.60s probably already had a 90/10 shock on it. Another problem that might narrow mind had was I figured he wanted to upgrade from a 90/10 to a reasonably cost double adjustable but again that is coming from a narrow minded person carry on

I have viking rear shocks on my car and I feel they are a good value, that's why I would run them on the front.

Viking D/A's look to be excellent value for money, they had only just come out when I upgraded and I had already stumped up for AFCO D/A's all round. I might have got some of those if hadn't. I now run the AFCO's re-valved by Menscer as we ran out of extension damping at the rear.
The car has been just as fast with C/A 3 ways at the front and Calvert 9 ways on the rear but the car is way more consistent and handle's better but the latter could be psychosomatic.
Now I seem to be getting my head round it all, I can tune the chassis dependent upon tire type and track conditions. D/A's are a worthwhile upgrade and will allow the car to "grow" some without further upgrades.

It's just like everything else. How much power do you have? As power goes up everything needs to get better. A high 11 second car will probably hook with just about any shock if it has enough tire. As the power goes up, the tire gets hit quicker. When that hit becomes to quick for your present shock to slow it, it's time to upgrade. So be honest with yourself. If you are going to continue to add power. Buy a better shock to start with.
Doug

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2441800/1.html

i run the vikings on the front, they are a good shock for the price. the ones i have bolted right in the stock location and are rebuildable. we put more compression valving in them to hold the front up when it come out of the wheelie.

First, I think a couple of videos of the launch would help determine if there is a problem, or room for improvement, in the front suspension, rear suspension, weight transfer, hook. Almost anything in any car can be improved. Does it need it? Let's go to the instant replay first...

I see you're new to this site. Don't let all of the cross bickering get to you. You will find a thousand different ways to do things, depending on circumstances. Note all of the replies, group them together. determine which solutions might work best for you and why. There are thousands of years of experience on this site. Some very accurate, precise info. And some stuff from left field. Then there are some that just like to stir the pot. You will see a pattern on your own, soon enough. Welcome. Glad to have you on board. You will be going 10.0's soon enough with the help on this site.

. He has been a member since 2007 I'm just saying

Mid 10 sec. car has outgrown the 1960s technology 90/10 shock and would benefit from an upgrade I would think. You really only need or want the car to pitch rotate as much as it needs to help out the rear suspension. You're not making so much power that it doesn't need some help, unless it has big tires on it.

Buy a shock that allows you to grow in the future.

For the money, the Viking DA shocks are hard to beat. I'm very happy w/ the set on my cuda. Did some chassis tuning this weekend at the track and they responded VERY well.

The only reason why I'm OK w/ having S-A front dampers is because they're the QA-1 'R' series that have a very firm fixed compression circuit and a wide range of adjustment on the rebound (extension) circuit. For my nose-heavy junk, a stiff compression setting is kind of a given, so the primary changes of the front suspension are the ride height & available travel from the static ride height and the rate of extension off the line.

However, I'm still equipped with ancient 5-adjustment Rancho rear dampers. At some point I'm sure the car will benefit from D-A rear dampers, but I need to see how far I can take it using what's paid for already.

As someone else mentioned, I'm also used to having the wide range of suspension tuning adjustments with modern off-road motorcycles. Most Joe Average drag car components are comparatively stone-age.

I went to Vikings DA last year and have struggled to get them to work with the super stock springs. But... that's just my lack of testing. Gotta find that sweet spot

There may not be a sweet spot with that spring and shock combo. Think about what you are doing with the spring and how the shock is not helping.

That spring is designed to arc and cause separation and smash the tire into the ground. For that to happen, the shock can have almost little to no rebound dampening. The shock you are using at its least amount of extension is too much dampening to allow the spring to work.

IMHO, you're better off going to a split mono spring and a set of Asassin bars. I like them better than the Calverts for the adjustability. I also prefer the slide-a-links better than Calverts for street/strip stuff.

With what you are doing, you are beating against the air. You want to make the shock control a spring that functions by not being controlled.

Just my thoughts on your situation.

After smashing so many oil pans I went back to stock Monroe matics front shocks. $30. bucks each. Out of control wheelies with 90-10's was ridiculous . Now 10.30 at 130mph. is good enough with the wheels just up a little at launch. Could a multi adjustable be better? Not from my wallets view.

You need DA shocks way more than you think. A stick DEMANDS a good shock.

So what will the DA shock do , I have weight transfer , I don't want the wheels in the air to shift , been there done that transmission carnage. It caries the wheels out 40-50 feet now , down for the shift then back up again.

Nothing. Sounds like you have it tuned perfect.

I ran these same shocks on my 64 Belvedere before swapping to double adjustable Afcos. Ran them 2 clicks from full stiff. They were actually pretty good. Got the car below 1.3 60ft with them.
Doug

Buy the best DA shock you can afford. Not everone wants to, or has the money for Santhuffs. Strange Eng, Viking or AFCO's are more wallet friendly, all can be rebuilt and re-valved down the track.

Its really to bad that Koni doesn't still sell the SPA speed sensing front shocks any more

Currently swapping out my Strange single adj for some Afco doubles on the front. Car went into some crazy wheel stands at the New Years race. Hope to calm it down and retain the low 1.2ish 60 times I was getting, but also to catch the fall if I don’t. Luckily with my tube k set up my oil pan is wide, not deep or i would have really gotten a treat $$$.

Jay, did you order the bounce control also?

No great loss: they aren't very good compared to what's available now since they had limited extension adjustment and no compression adjustment (and were extremely soft on compression, which is why they recommended not using them on big-block cars).

I had a set for B/E bodies where one stopped working. Koni said they could still rebuild them, but the cost was at least twice what I paid for the set originally. I got tired of them taking up shelf space about a year ago and sent 'em to the scrap heap.

BTW, any good hydraulic valving design is "speed sensitive". A progressive shim stack allows for light damping at slow shaft speeds and increased damping at faster speeds. This goes back to the fact that "traditional" car dampers are freakin' archaic compared to what any production motocrosser made in the last 30 years came with.

I'll need to tighten up mine a few clicks next time the car makes it to the track. IIRC, they were on the lightest extension setting and I could hear & feel the suspension bang up against the bumpers. If I can slow 'em down a tad w/o hurting the 60-ft, that'll be an improvement.

This is where slow motion video, and a good person filming is valuable.

Your shock requirements depend on your current situation. If you are a bracket racer with a 13.0 car that dead gooks every time with stock shocks drilled to let the oil out, why spend any money? You don't need to! But if you plan to eventually eun low nines and the cage just came from the chassis builder and you are building an 800 hp motor , now you REALLY need to plan. A faster car can pull the front up high and need a very good double adjustable shock to control the landing. Other things are rear suspension. The more leverage (SSsprings are very high, 20 inch from axle to front of spring) you will need a very good shock
*f you get into the low 11s or faster. Do the math. I have a 11.17 SLR with 800 ft lbs of torque, which works out to about 16000 lbs! Of torque on the axles at the hit. I need a VERY STOUT shock to control that with a 30 inch ladderbar.

You might be able to lower those wheelstands with front end travel limiters. But be sure and use some form of soft stops. I use rubber from old bayonette shocks. Softens the transition and lowers the chance hitting a hard stop will create spin.

They have all my data and are building to suit.... tried a bit longer, but no-go. 3.25” should be here Friday

I don't Limit the travel at all. We control the front end with rebound adjustment.
Doug

I am sorta in the same boat as I am a very low buck street/strip car owner. And that's just how things ended up in my life when I got divorced after 25 years of marriage and then had to retire on disability. I was asked by one guy what my rear shock settings are and I told him they have no settings. They are the older MP longer extending shocks with no adjustments. And my front shocks are just the CE 90/10's. I just run SS springs and stock suspension on the rest of my car. But I use what fits my budget and what worked in the 70's when I did bracket race. Sure adjustable shocks should help my car but its run 10.70's at almost 125 with a 1.50 sixty and I can race in NSS and have a lot of fun just foot braking. But honestly if I had the money for the best shocks out there and went to Cal Tracs how much faster would I really go ? I would guess a tenth or two at the most which just is not in my budget to spend the money on great shocks for that little bit. If I could afford to race a lot and wanted all the performance I could get then heck yea I would have good adjustable shocks on my car. But I have to make the best of what I have as I am sure many low budget guys also do. Basically my car is an old school street car that I drive a lot on the street and have a lot of fun with it and race it about once a year or maybe twice some years. I have had guys tell me how my car will go much faster if I get rid of the Accel Coil I use and go to all MSD ign and so on. I asked him why and he says because my coil is 30 year old technology ? LoL. I said yea and it still works. By far using the best shocks they make today will make a difference but at the price of the real good ones they are not in everyone's budget for sure. Ron

I wouldn't skimp on shocks. I assume you are having traction issues or are planning to run faster so in either case I'd spend the money and get good Dual Adjustable shocks on all fours.

Viking seems to be the pick for a good shock at a good price. I went with Afco's with Mencer valving because of their reputation and support (their techs provide support even on weekends). I now have a car that hooks in a car wash and have no concerns with them being able to handle anything I throw at them in the future.

I know there’s been a lot talk about DA Viking shocks but has anyone used strange? I’m looking at shocks myself right now and came across them. Not much talk about them so wondering if there any good.

I bought a set of speed sensing Koni SPA for my old Duster that ran low tens on pump gas weighing 3450 lbs., they flat worked very well
That car was built with a set of single adjustable Strange coil over with ladder bars, I ended up changing them to Strange double adjustable later