Ladder bar tuning / adjusting

[Bob Mulry]

Why don't you guys that don't understand how suspension works in a racecar with suspension read a book???????

"Door Slammers, The Chassis Book" by Dave Morgan would be an excellent place to start........

Stop guessing what works and listening to other people that know even less than you do and just buy and read a book that was written by an expert and has been useful for years.............

OR

Pay "an expert" to set up your chassis......

Either solution will be cheaper that guessing....

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Bob Mulry

Stop guessing what works and listening to other people that know even less than you do and just buy and read a book that was written by an expert and has been useful for years.............

OR

Pay "an expert" to set up your chassis......

Either solution will be cheaper that guessing....

WHO'S he talkin' to?
Yeah , a friend of mine has that book.......I'll borrow it.

[Hacksaw]

The original post asked for a result from experiences. I'm sure he knows how to read a book.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

The original post asked for a result from experiences. I'm sure he knows how to read a book.

Yes ....... in fact I'm so good I can even read with one eye closed.........
BTW , someone suggested "modifying" my bars or getting and adjuster.
My bars are real good n' beefy Chassis Works bars that DO have said adjuster...............also use a 1'' eye bolts in front.....very beefy ,indeed.
What I was saying was..............if I move the bars UP 1 hole , I don't think I'll be able to adjust the bottom adjuster enough to get the pinion down..........without losing alignment of the upper housing bracket hole.........I'm going to try.

[b.guggenmos]

I am by no means an expert but I have been running a leaf spring/ladder bar car for about 25 years. There really is no correct answer to your question. Way to many variables. The Dave Morgan chassis book is very good and I have one as well.

The tried and true for most cars as a starting point is to have the bottom bar parallel to the bottom of the car not the ground. You can put an angle finder under your drivers door and then match that angle to the bottom bar.

Pinion angle is another hot debate topic on ladder bar cars. You will see people say 1-5 degrees down.

My car is a 10.90 bracket car with a Jerico. Move your bar and see what happens. Nothing to loose.

[Hacksaw]

Originally Posted by joespanova

Yes ....... in fact I'm so good I can even read with one eye closed.........
BTW , someone suggested "modifying" my bars or getting and adjuster.
My bars are real good n' beefy Chassis Works bars that DO have said adjuster...............also use a 1'' eye bolts in front.....very beefy ,indeed.
What I was saying was..............if I move the bars UP 1 hole , I don't think I'll be able to adjust the bottom adjuster enough to get the pinion down..........without losing alignment of the upper housing bracket hole.........I'm going to try.

You should leave the top housing bolt alone, move the front up one hole and then adjust the bottom rear "adjusting link" to reset the pinion angle.

[Greenlight]

Check out the link below (page 6);

http://chassisengineering.com/documents/3606.pdf

[Bruce Schoenbaechler]

I always made any adjustment on my ladder bar car with weights in the drivers seat that was equal to my own weight. That way the bars were adjusted as the car would normally sit ready to race. I would set any pre-load the same way.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

You should leave the top housing bolt alone, move the front up one hole and then adjust the bottom rear "adjusting link" to reset the pinion angle.

I probably said that wrong......what I was saying is the hole geometry will "conflict" with the bars once I start moving the adjuster as much as I need to get the angle down.......in other words you really only have a limited amount of range to move /adjust.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Greenlight

Check out the link below (page 6);

http://chassisengineering.com/documents/3606.pdf

I looked through that.........
"raising the front of the bar DECREASES the "hit' ? Really , I thought it was the other way around....
Raising the front of the bar INCREASES hit , lowering puts more "squat" in the car and LESS hit.........or so some think.