My specs: 72 350-4 Skylark w/750 quadrajet Comp 268 Cam (.470 ish lift, 218 dur) Headers, 2.5 dual exhaust Th350 w/ 2200 stall converter 10 bolt posi rear w/ 3.73 gears BFG radial TAs P255/60-15 I get crazy wheel hop when accellerator is floored from a stop. Shakes the whole car. Of course I get out of the gas FAST. I dont like not putting the power to the ground. The only change from stock on the suspension/chassis side of things is I got a set of STIFF rear springs that lift the rear maybe 3 inches. Got em cheap and stuck em in there cause the stockers were sagging bad. Maybe these are contributing? I am aware of boxing control arms, replacing bushings, and adding traction bars as "fixes for wheelhop. Some of this is in the plan for the future. For now, I am looking for more information on how the suspension works and how my spring selection may add or detract from a propensity to wheel hop? What about shocks? What is the best way to modify my suspension to get traction, excepting the boxing, traction bars, or bushings? Any help would be appreciated, I am sure someone has experimented with this stuff.... Ken G.o No:
We have no wheel hop and no tire spinning at all in our car now. We added the rear sway bar, and air bags. No traction bars, bushing changes, boxed arms for us for now. 12.5" M/Ts have a great grip also.
Very first thing I tried was to take out the STIFF 3" lift springs and return the shocks lower mount to the correct position. I put in a used set of stock height rear springs, and the rear wheels dont hop at all any more. They burn like h*ll for a sec then hook up. Will a gear change to 3.42 or 3.23 make em burn more or less off the line...i am running 3.73 now? :3gears:
Instead of a gear change, get a tire that will hook. Lots of geometry and weight shifting that needs to take place. We still don't spin. Just hooks and goes.
You can always tame the gear with a little more tire diameter. Go to a 275-60-15 and it will effectively reduce the overall rear ratio. At the track, find the best diameter to put you through the traps and get a real race tire in that size.
Agreed.. Buy some sticky 275/60s and add a set of air bags BEFORE you try anything else. At least you'll have new tires and an adjustable suspension.. Solved my problem. Just hooks and books.. Or just try a set of air bags first. If you buy No-hop bars, and they don't help. Then you spent all of that time and money for nothing.
Thanks for the advice! I am running 3.73s with a TH350 trans non OD and P255/60-15 BFG radials. I am looking at a gear change because it just revs more than I like on the hiway and the straighter longer roads. Doing the math and looking at RPMS I am considering 3.23 or 3.42 ratios. Probably 3.23 I havent been to the track yet, but am thinking I will go some next year. Musclepalooza or Englishtown. My current thinking is that if at that time I am dissatisfied with whatever gear I am using, then I will consider a 200R4 and hi number gears. So right now I am rebuilding a 3.23 posi 8.5 and a 3.42 posi 8.5. I will try both and decide which to keep. Ill probably sell the 3.73 and the other that I dont use. My goal is not to build a 1/4 mile racer (yet) but a quick cruiser/street car that wont get ate up at the stoplights. Thanks again for the input. I will keep this thread in the file. Ken G.
