Left side chain drop

[d3man]

I am new to dirt racing and have a dirt mod and am wondering what is a safe amout of drop on the left rear or is there no limit except shock travel? Thanks

[MM90]

If your shock mount isn't adjustable then I would set the chain so the shock doesn't get topped out at hike. Jack the car up under the driver seat area until the LR tire is just off the ground. Otherwise adjust the chain so the LU bar doesn't go over 45-47 degrees at full drop.

[Modlitefan0]

We do just the opposite of what MM90 said. With our shock topped out our chain is just barely loose. We have found that if the chain gets tight before the shock bottoms out, the car tries to pick the LR off the ground. Everyone has a different opinion on this so it is something else you can try and see if you like it or not.EDIT: We do have an adjustable shock mount though, for what it is worth.

[MM90]

So do you set your bar angle by the shock then? I put a camera under my rear suspenion last week and the LR chain was always tight but never really noticed it picking up the LR tire. I'll try it your way and see how I like it. The guy that had my car before me pulled his LR shock apart because he didn't have it dropped enough so that's why I set mine the way I do.

[speedbuggy]

We do just the opposite of what MM90 said. With our shock topped out our chain is just barely loose. We have found that if the chain gets tight before the shock bottoms out, the car tries to pick the LR off the ground. Everyone has a different opinion on this so it is something else you can try and see if you like it or not.EDIT: We do have an adjustable shock mount though, for what it is worth.

Why is this not a good way to ruin a LR shock?

[Renegade Cust Susp]

That's exactly what using the shock to limit can do. Depending on how the shock is manufactured it varies but I still would rather use a chain to limit my 45 to 47* than ripping a shaft out of my shock.

[MM90]

Been running 5.00 gears the last two weeks, going back to 5.14 this week. But maybe my problem lies on the other thread. Last week I disconnected the secondaries on the carb just to try it once. Other than all the excess fuel running everywhere it wasn't to bad.

[Modlitefan0]

We have never had a shock pull apart, atleast in the 3.5 years I have been around. Surprisingly, we didnt even have a problem with the small Bilstein shaft when it was in our shocks.

[Fraley Racing Ent.]

either way you limit the left rear also make sure you don't let it go far enough to over rotate the bird cage and cause a bind when the car is up on the bars. You could get into a whole mess of trouble if that happens

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

If you are not going to use the chain to save your shock, why carry the weight?

[powerslide]

If you are not going to use the chain to save your shock, why carry the weight?

Incase my shock breaks... ha

[speedbuggy]

Incase my shock breaks... ha

That's a good one...

[HEAVY DUTY]

I have a question. Why would the chain pull the tire off the ground, and the shock topping out at the same point not pull it off the ground? I doubt that topping the shock would pull it apart unless it had some sort of side load on it. If you top the shock out hard, it could mess up the shim stack, which would change the shock rate. If you are topping the shock, or the chain out really hard, you probably need a stiffer rebound on your shock to slow down the movement.

[JustAddDirt]

Another thing to take into account, besides a ripped apart shock, is that if you are using the shock to control hike, and you move a bar, you are effectively changing the hike in the car.
Say you raise the LR bottom bar, you take out birdcage indexing, which will let car hike more, because the birdcage is not rotating out of the shock as far.
So how will you know which adjustment helped the car? increased hike, or bar angle change?

If you had a chain to limit travel, bar angle adjustments would not matter, because you are topping out on chain, instead of shock.

[dukarne]

We have had a "heated" discussion going on around the shop for about a month. Let's say we scale the car, set it up, set the chain length, etc, etc....and we go to the track. At the shop we set the chain to get an upper bar angle of 45 degrees. We get to the track and decide to move the left upper bar up a hole on the chassis. Do we then shorten the chain at the track to get it back to 45 degrees or do we leave the chain the same length (assuming the shock doesn't bind or top out) and let the bar have more then 45 degrees in it?? thanks

[twisterf5]

We have had a "heated" discussion going on around the shop for about a month. Let's say we scale the car, set it up, set the chain length, etc, etc....and we go to the track. At the shop we set the chain to get an upper bar angle of 45 degrees. We get to the track and decide to move the left upper bar up a hole on the chassis. Do we then shorten the chain at the track to get it back to 45 degrees or do we leave the chain the same length (assuming the shock doesn't bind or top out) and let the bar have more then 45 degrees in it?? thanks45 is the sweet spot any thing over 48 then you are putting the car in a bind if you have to go over 45 you need to look some were else for your problem.the chain will also help keep the lf on the ground. we run a chain with a biscuit and we set it at 45 the car is more consistent that way.some sort of chain is a must now a days.

[twisterf5]

45 is the sweet spot any thing over 48 then you are putting the car in a bind if you have to go over 45 you need to look some were else for your problem.the chain will also help keep the lf on the ground. we run a chain with a biscuit and we set it at 45 the car is more consistent that way.some sort of chain is a must now a days.let me add this why would you take your car to the track with your bars maxed out . if you can get your drive out of it at 35/38 why bring it at 45.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

let me add this why would you take your car to the track with your bars maxed out . if you can get your drive out of it at 35/38 why bring it at 45.

You have a lot of other places to look at the track. Don't forget there is a steer component there as well.

[7uptruckracer]

I always max out my traction then get it to turn with other means I never take potential traction away I like to go lefter faster!

[oldtrackchamp4x]

Dukarne, Read the last sentence that Justadddirt wrote. It answers your question. JMO