[Jazzer The Cat]

Got a question for ya...

I have a theory about the weight-jacker style LCA's and how they would IMPROVE the launch of a car that has an excessive rear drop that would otherwise be a detriment. As those of you who drag know, that an LCA that is higher on the axle end will tend to wheel hop and squat too much upon launch. Based on this theory, I think that these:

may help to reduce such action, as they are curved upward due to the dip in them for the adjustable perch. I believe this upward angle would help to "push" the car back upward upon rear wheel grip due to physics.

what say you?

Jazzer

[casper gt]

I had to vote " give some of what your smoking", sorry bro

as has been stated many times, weight jacker control arms are the absolute worst LCA for drag racing period.
I'd rather box the stock ones & throw some poly bushings in them than use weight jackers.

[Jazzer The Cat]

Why I asked

Hadn't seen it mentioned specifically, but don't follow "drag" threads, but play one on Saturday nights

[casper gt]

the worst thing about them is that when you adjust them up or down, you throw off the pinion angle.

also it just makes things a little more difficut to set up because the LCA's (well in theory just the ends) need to parallel to the ground for the car to launch most efficently.
so with the jacking, leveling, pinion angle adjustment twice (gotta re-adjust the pinion angle when you drop the car back down), plus the tire change (the whole point of that stlye of LCA in the first place), it becomes just too much work.

[tbirdscwd]

Originally Posted by casper gt the worst thing about them is that when you adjust them up or down, you throw off the pinion angle. also it just makes things a little more difficut to set up because the LCA's (well in theory just the ends) need to parallel to the ground for the car to launch most efficently. so with the jacking, leveling, pinion angle adjustment twice (gotta re-adjust the pinion angle when you drop the car back down), plus the tire change (the whole point of that stlye of LCA in the first place), it becomes just too much work.

Yup, it's not the angle of the actual control arms that is important.....the front LCA mounting point needs to be level or a little bit higher than the rear LCA mounting point on the axle side.

[Jazzer The Cat]

Thanks, pepes

The kind of info I was looking to find

Jazzer

[cbjohnson9]

Originally Posted by casper gt the worst thing about them is that when you adjust them up or down, you throw off the pinion angle.

would this depend on what style suspension you're running?

stock 4 link vs. TA setup?

[TheUNZippee!]

I want to e-marry Jazzer & casper


knowledgeable boner on deck!

*another thread involving one or both of these weirdos bookmarked*

[therat1989]

I'm following this thread because I just need more traction on the street. ugh...if my next set of tires (275/40/17's) don't fix the issue I am considering throwing 3.55's in the back.

[Jazzer The Cat]

Originally Posted by cbjohnson9 would this depend on what style suspension you're running? stock 4 link vs. TA setup?

This would be a 4 link. The TA will permanently set the pinion and will always be aligned with the driveshaft.

Jazzer

PS.... YAY... I'm pretty!

[bottled2v]

the question i get from this thread is this, IF you have your slicks on, have the lca's set on your height, have the pinion anlge set where you need it, etc, then how would the lca's work for drag? live if you had a set of these and a set of teamz's lowers on a car how much better would the teamz's 60ft if everything is set up properly during the race.

[Jazzer The Cat]

^ well said, bottled and is phrased better than I did

[bottled2v]

Originally Posted by Jazzer The Cat ^ well said, bottled and is phrased better than I did

dont worry, i gotcha back jaz.

[TheUNZippee!]

Originally Posted by Jazzer The Cat This would be a 4 link. The TA will permanently set the pinion and will always be aligned with the driveshaft. Jazzer PS.... YAY... I'm pretty!

[Jazzer The Cat]

^ I love you Zipster... little homo

[tbirdscwd]

IMHO, the problem with a weight jacker style control is not the control arm itself, it what people will try to do with them.

Once the ride height is dialed in to achieve what the car needs for the strip, the you can set the pinion angle (of course this requires the use of adjustable uppers). The instant center and anti-squat is gonna be complete garbage on stock location uppers, so we won't even get into that. After the ride height THEN pinion angle are set, these control arms will behave no different than any other quality built control arm.

The problem is that as soon as guys leave the track they are going to want to lower their car again. Most people mess with the ride height without having any idea of what their pinion angle is afterwards. This can lead to broken parts and poor performance.

[kyle2002stang!]

jazzer asking a suspension question?! i think the world just stopped turning

[Jazzer The Cat]

^ this is how The Jazzer rolls

tbird.... OK, let's say that one has the arms in question here and does NOT adjust them beyond the initial set-up during thier installation. At that time, adjustable UCA's were installed and the pinion was all dialed in for optimum launch.

My theory: Since the arms are curved upward into the TB's, I imagine the following scenario...


As my sweet little SN95 here, is diggin' off the line, I see the forces that are driving the car forward, are translating this force into the TB's... Correct? Due to the upward angle of the LCA as it meets the TB's, I forsee this energy attempting to drive the body UPWARD and not squating as a straight LCA that is higher on the axle end would.... OR, will the wheels just drive the body into the ground

Can I get an Albert Einstein in here please

Jazzer and Microsoft Paint FTMFGDWBITCH

[tbirdscwd]

What is important to recognize is that these control arms do not change the angle of the mounting points. In essence you have a rigid link in between two points. If you do not change the angle of the mounting points in relation to the angle of the upper control arm mounting points, then it doesn't matter the shape of the link in between the two lower points. They could look like bananas (like these weight jackers do), penis shaped, Jazzer shaped, heart shaped or whatever.

[Jazzer The Cat]

OK.. that makes perfect sense

I knew there was a reason I didn't go around recommending these type arms, even though they serve a specific purpose and probably work alright.

Thanks, bird

PS. Jazzer shaped?