Modified dirt track zbar 4-link chassis suspension setups questions

In today's dirt track world there is an abundance of information. RaceTech Seminars will help you dissect this information and turn it into usable knowledge. This school will help you understand the theories and application to dirt chassis set up and tuning. RaceTech school attendees' performance speaks for itself, with numerous victories, track championships, national championships, and careers full of success.

No matter what Modified chassis brand or sanctioning body your compete under, this is the best way to learn about you race car and optimize your race equipment's performance.

This class is suitable for any level 4 Link rear suspension. Race Tech Chassis Schools help provide technical analysis in a way that you can understand to apply in the shop and at the track.

They run the website, streaming, and hosting of the online service. Please contact barry octanetrade. Suspension components for hands on demonstration.

Working shock displays that shows inside as the shock moves. On track and in car suspension video. Some of the things you will learn and understand how to do at this RaceTech Chassis School:.

Organize and maximize your race team's performance. Create better communication within your entire team. Proper maintenance for a season full of trips to victory lane. Create a base-line set up for different tracks and what the needs are for a different track size, layout, surface, and speed. Ensuring your suspension is gaining enough camber to still maintain good tire-to-track contact is important. This term is widely used when describing a 4-link dirt modified right front shock or asphalt cars front shocks.

This term is widely used when describing a 4-link dirt modified left rear or left front shock. A is considered a tie-down while a is also considered a tie-down. As you can see, this term can describe two very different shocks! Other important settings include: track and weather conditions, tire pressure, and lap times. Here are some recommendations. Flat Tracks: On an asphalt car, utilizing slightly stiffer rebound on the left side, while softening the rebound on the right side, will generally enhance the handling of the car.

On a dirt car, do the opposite — use softer rebound on the left side and stiffer rebound on the right side. Short Tracks: When changing to a shorter track, softer valvings all around usually will improve handling for dirt and asphalt cars.

High Banked Tracks: Stiffer valvings will improve handling on both dirt and asphalt cars on tracks with a higher degree of banking. A commonly overlooked maintenance item on racecars are the shock absorbers. We recommend cleaning the piston rod to help prevent dirt and debris from contaminating the shock and also clean and lubricate the bearings in each end.

A little maintenance in the shop goes a long way on the track and like the saying goes, "races are won and lost in the shop.

Race day can be hectic, so here are a few simple yet important procedures to remember when setting your front suspension. Set the air pressure in your tires, make sure the car is level and set the ride heights. If you have adjustable shocks, soften the rebound and compression. Then, bounce the front of the car and let the suspension settle. Consistency is important, so make sure to bounce the car the same amount after each change. If you plan to set the front end with the driver in the car, make sure to do so each time you set the front end.

Having correct shock travel is very important for any race car. Bottoming out or fully extending a shock can hurt forward drive, consistency and even damage the shock itself. To determine ideal placement or verify that you are maximizing your travel, first remove the spring and shock. Then, place a floor jack under the front control arm and raise the control arm until it has bottomed out on the frame.

In addition, verify that you have clearance for the outer tie rod, as you may have to install a pre-bent tube and rod end for more clearance. In any type of racing, when most of us think about suspension, we think of just shocks and springs. It can sometimes be easy to overlook other critical and equally important suspension components such as rod ends, ball joints, steering linkages, brackets, etc.

Inspecting and cleaning ball joints and rod ends, correcting alignment angles, and replacing tie rod ends are all good places to start when checking important suspension components.

Many of these parts are relatively inexpensive and easy to diagnose at home or by a chassis or alignment shop. While towing your racecar, the suspension is continuously working during the entire trip to the track and back home. All the bumps, pot holes or uneven pavement your towing vehicle feels, your racecar feels even on the trailer. Especially when towing long distance, this causes more stress and wear on the shocks and can lead to the shocks wearing out faster.

Check your shocks after a tow and you may be surprised how warm they are! To help eliminate premature shock and suspension wear, always tie your vehicle down in a manner that minimizes vehicle bouncing.

One way to help prevent the shocks from doing any unnecessary work is to always strap the body or chassis directly to the trailer. Many times, shocks are offered with either polyurethane bushings or spherical bearings for mounting use.

But which is best for your driving style? Polyurethane bushings will provide noise and vibration isolation making them a good choice for street cars. Also, remember to routinely check your suspension set-up to make sure all your components are operating the way they should. Any extra travel, components not tightened enough, etc.

In this day and age in circle track racing, you should be using some type of low-friction ball joint, not just for the low-friction advantage, but for the strength, too. To do this, simply jack the car up and put it on jack stands.

If the ball joint pre-load is set too loose, you will feel a very slight movement or clunk. To tighten the pre-load on a QA1 ball joint, simply use our ball joint tool kit to loosen the outer jam nut.

Once the jam nut is loosened, use the Allen Hex Key to tighten the inner torque nut. This simple check should be done several times throughout the season, especially after any extremely rough tracks or hard contact in the front end. This will ensure a tight-feeling front end and prevent any undesirable front end movement. Some of the most important items to inspect include your ball joints, rod ends and shocks. A bound up rod end or shock eyelet bearing or a bent ball joint can cause weeks of car setup frustration.

Starting out the year right will make for a much more enjoyable season! Inspecting and cleaning ball joints and rod ends and correcting alignment angles are good places to start when checking important suspension areas. Many of these parts are easy to diagnose at home or by a chassis or alignment shop. Remember to regularly inspect these components throughout the season as well, as it will save you time and money during racing season. Know your numbers! While scaling the vehicle, make sure to get not only the overall weight, but also scale the vehicle to find the weight distribution.

Meaning, weigh the front of the car separately, and weigh the back of the car separately. Several factors should be considered when purchasing a set of coil-over springs, such as the intended use of the vehicle, but just knowing the weight of the car is a great place to start.

Unsprung weight should especially be taken into consideration on lighter vehicles since the unsprung weight can make up a larger percentage of the total weight of the car. If you select a spring rate without knowing your unsprung weight, it could likely result in purchasing a spring that is too stiff. Knowing the unsprung weight will help you in selecting the correct spring rate and will result in a better performing and handling car. Do your shock ends look like the picture on the left or the one on the right?

A dirty bearing is more likely to bind up which can cause suspension bind and inconsistent handling. We recommend visually inspecting your shock ends after each race and a thorough cleaning and lubrication after every 3 — 5 nights of racing.

Skip to main content Skip to footer. Tech Center. In the QA1 part numbers, which is first — compression or rebound? If I have a split rate shock such as and I turn the shock degrees, will the shock then be a ?

What is the difference between a monotube and twin tube shock? Can service parts be purchased from QA1? Can QA1 shocks be run upside down? What valving would I have to order so that the shock will be easily revalveable when I get it into my own hands? Is it really reasonable to revalve shocks between qualifying and running my heat or feature races? What can a driver do to keep the dirt and debris out of the shocks? Can I evaluate a shock by hand, or is a dyno required? Will QA1 assist me in determining which product to use for my application?