At the beginning of my 40-plus years of drag racing, someone with a fairly consistent car and good starting-line reflexes could win his or her share of drag races as I did on national, state, and local levels. When I first started drag racing 60-foot clocks did not exist. I can even remember running time-trials […]

This chapter explains some of the methods to correct or adjust the rear suspension of your ill-handling race car. I discuss methods to improve the car’s 60-foot times. Once those are within reason, the rest of the run will be greatly simplified. Don’t try to accomplish this by yourself. Speaking from experience you might do […]

A torsion bar is a long round spring steel bar that resists twisting and returns to its original position after being twisted, thus providing a spring action for the car. It is a form of a weight-bearing spring. Torsion-bar suspension systems were used in most Chrysler vehicles of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Cadillac Eldorado, […]

The single A-arm suspension was designed by Earle S. MacPherson of General Motors in 1947, and is still widely used today. In contrast to a double A-arm suspension, a single A-arm suspension has the shock and coil spring combined into a single unit. This single unit uses less space allowing for more room, which is […]

Double A-arm front suspension cars are also referred to as double-wish-bone suspensions. Either name is an accurate description of the parts being discussed in this chapter. I refer to them throughout this book as A-arms. Depending upon the vehicle, they can be rather flat and triangular shaped. Looking at the physical part itself, you can […]

This chapter discusses front suspensions with straight axles utilizing leaf springs. These suspensions have fixed caster and camber, but toe can be adjusted just as with the strut or A-arm front suspensions. This style suspension was very popular in the early days of drag racing, particularly in the Gasser classes, due to its weight-saving advantage. […]

This post looks at muscle cars with rear suspension systems using coil springs with two upper and two lower control arms. These cars include GM intermediates built in 1964–1977 (A-Bodies), 1978–1988 (G-Bodies), 1994–1996 Impala SS cars (B-Bodies), and 1979–2004 Ford Mustangs (Fox-Bodies). Rear-wheel-drive cars with rear coil springs and two upper and two lower control […]

This chapter looks at muscle cars with rear-suspension systems using coil springs with two lower control arms and a torque tube. These factory three-link cars include GM 1982 to 2002 Camaros and Firebirds (also referred to as third- and fourth-generation F-Body cars). Since rear-wheel-drive cars with rear coil springs, two lower control arms, and a […]

Rear-wheel-drive cars with leaf springs have the same issues as their coil-sprung competitors. They must have the means to set pinion angle, preload, and get the car to launch as fast as possible. In addition, a leaf-sprung car has to deal with the issue of spring wrap-up. First I discuss some of the more popular […]