Wedge cell made me tight

[dirtslinger71]

Past several years my car has been very competitive with several wins and always in the top 5. Over the winter I put a new wedge cell in the car and now the car is tight on entry. Same everything on the car as past seasons​ except cell. I have softened lf spring and added caster split. All that made it a little better but not what it was. Just seeing if there is a "go to" change with changing these cells. Thanks

[7uptruckracer]

Less Rear.

[Basecircle]

Is it a constant condition, or does it happen with fuel burn off? Either way, the weight is distributed differently and changes differently with burn off. May just be a matter of moving the cell around or other ballast to get it closer to how it was.

[dirtslinger71]

Naturally​ just by changing the cell it dropped almost half a % of rear. So I left like that. It's mounted in the same place as the old cell ( left to right, front to back and height). And it is constant.

[7uptruckracer]

How much rear? You might be able to get away with alot less, Like Mid 53. or less

[dirtslinger71]

How much rear? You might be able to get away with alot less, Like Mid 53. or less

Like 51%. It's a crate on a fast heavy track.

[TRocket8]

Like 51%. It's a crate on a fast heavy track.

How tall is your rear spoiler?

[dirtslinger71]

How tall is your rear spoiler?

8" but layed all the way back

[dorman19]

soften RR spring

[7uptruckracer]

VMS Right? Have you checked for binds? Is static and dynamic rear steer the same? I wasn't expecting that low and still tight...Still using the mastersbilt smack car? Maybe LRL bar if you aren't hiking the car down?

[dirtslinger71]

Not sure what you mean by static and dynamic being the same?(I feel like that's impossible) but if you mean the same as it was last year? Then yes it is. Yes still the smack exactly like it was other than cell. I run the lrl up in qualifying then down to standard in feature.

[7uptruckracer]

Yes I meant compared to last year sorry. It could have raised the overall center of gravity depending on how the mounting position is changed as well and just because it shaped different it could affect the center of gravity If it's made it hire you very well could be a little bit tighter if you have lead in the rear maybe try to mount it a little bit lower to offset if nothing else has changed in your set up shocks anything like that

[dirtslinger71]

My thought is that the cell has moved my weight forward more than up or down.... So the weight hanging more to the rear was acting as pendulum or swing weight that was helping the car turn. Now I don't have the assistance to help turn...? Just my thought. I was wondering if when maybe the chassis mfg's changed to these new cells they had a certain change to compensate...

[billetbirdcage]

My thought is that the cell has moved my weight forward more than up or down.... So the weight hanging more to the rear was acting as pendulum or swing weight that was helping the car turn. Now I don't have the assistance to help turn...? Just my thought. I was wondering if when maybe the chassis mfg's changed to these new cells they had a certain change to compensate...

Getting an overall tightening effect is exactly what I'd expect to see and is typical when guys switch from a square type to a wedge type. That being said, it depends on what cell you replaced and with which one. If you have gone to a smaller wedge cell, you most likely raised the COG and moved it forward, both of which will typically tighten your entry.

To answer your question, how to get back to original handling: I really haven't found just a single adjustment to do this mostly. It's typically not just change this one spring, adjust J-bar, or move just this bar. It varies a ton but usually several small adjustments are required in my experience. Sometimes you can just move the cell, but a lot of times you can't move it where it's needed to compensate due to room. However you could try to move it down slightly so the bottom of the new cell is more in line with where the bottom of the old deeper cell was and see. With out knowing the dimensions on the old and new it's hard to take a guess on how much different the COG and burn off changes there is.

PS: I've seen more then a few go back to old type cells just cause they couldn't figure it out. Now typically these are cars that didn't originally come with the wedge cells, though.

[dirtslinger71]

Thanks billet, those are the answers I was looking for! I went from a 32gal ATL to a 22 gal Superior wedge. The height and width and depth of these cells are almost identical other than the back corner is missing on the wedge. So the mounting is identical front to back, up and down, left to right. I run about 16 gal for the feature (in both cells). After what you have explained I can see that the cog is much higher now. So now atleast I know I'm fighting a cog problem and not what I was thinking. And I can now correct the problem properly.