John Trindle writes:
>I'm doing a lot of breaking one wheel loose in turns...
>2) For 2 @ $85 I can get 25% uprated leaf springs which also lower
>the car about 1". This is perhaps what I should have done in the
>first place
You said it, not me. But I do agree. This should be top on the to-do
list. This will lower the Center of Gravity in the rear, which will
lessen the amount the car will want to roll.
>3) For an additional 2 @ $70 I can get %30 uprated lever shocks "as
>long as I'm in there". I still don't quite understand how shocks would
>affect my problem, or whether 30% is a significant amount. Also, I'd
>then have 1 month old rebuilt rear levers for sale. Or, for 2 @ $21 I
>can uprate my shock valves (hmm!) 25%. Again, is this a significant change?
Not knowing how much damping you are getting from your current
shocks, I'll guess that they should be good since they've been recently
rebuilt. If you want, try the uprated valves and fine-tune them by
changing oil weights. I personally believe the lever shocks to be fine
if kept in good condition, and the tube shock conversion to be a "demon
tweek" of uncertain benefit.
To help you with the spring/sway bar/shock interaction, picture what
happens in a turn. As a car wants to roll, it gets resistance from all
three parts. However, the shocks will move, while the springs and sway bar
give a fixed resistance. So, shocks effect transient handling (turn-in,
slaloms, etc.) while springs and sway bars effect steady-state handling
(sweepers). Once you get the car lowered equally, if you are still lifting
a wheel in sweepers, you need to increase the roll resistance on the other
end, usually by fitting a larger sway bar (in your case, on the front).
For further reading, I highly suggest the following book, considered the
suspension Bible by most autocrossers:
"How to Make Your Car Handle", Fred Puhn, HPBooks, 1981,
ISBN 0-912656-46-8
Good luck,
Dave Williamson (silikal@aol.com)
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