I firmly believe that right now, headers are not the big issue.

You can box the rear control arms if you'd like. That's what I did when I replaced the bushings. Relocation brackets for the control arms will help as well. For drag racing, you want a shorter torque arm not longer. Getting it off the tail shaft is a good start regardless of what you're doing.

If wheel spin is the only issue, you need to work on limiting it with either a better limited slip in the rear or by helping the weight of the car to transfer to the back tires to allow them to catch traction effectively.

 

I guess im not understanding how a short torque arm will help traction. As i understand it the longer torque arm pulls up more on the front end to transfer more weight rearward as the the axle wraps upward. A short torque arm would have less mechanical advantage.

Anyone using UMI rear suspension parts?

 

A shorter arm allows for less axle wrap and moves the instant center of the car rearward helping with traction and acceleration. That's the best I can explain it. BMR, UMI, or Spohn could certainly explain it better.

Good thread on it here:

http://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension...orque-arm.html

 

i still think the 255s are not going to hold the street no matter what you do with the torque bar. if you are looking for suspension inprovements look at strano's site and if interested in buying any of his stuff give a call and he will let you know your best setup for what you want to do. what shocks you using? what rubber in tires. r2?

 

i have to agree about the headers not making any difference ,there was a kid that put some 315 35s on his car ,an upgraged the control arms ,said he hooked up a lot better ,an got like 1 second better 1/4th mile

 

Coconuts i read that thread and think u should read it again. UMI vendor rep backed down when questioned to substantiate the short TA idea and the BMR rep said his customers liked the longer TA for drag racing. The UMI rep started throwing out buzz words that he couldnt explain. Instant center is what? Shorter or longer TA have the same amount of rotation - neither one moves at all. They just transfer the force from the tires then axle to up front to a forward location. What a torque arm does is the same as the "ladder bars" of legacy racing. The ladder bars stop the axle wrap and transfer that force up forward to help transfer weight rearward. Ive seen drag only cars with ladder bar extending all the way from axle to just behind the front tires.

After reading that link i think BMR is the more honest of the 2 and will shop their products first.

As far as compound of tires they are what ever MT puts in their DR's. I ran the press down to 18psi and still spun'm. What im afraid of with larger tires is it will lighten the load on the tire "patch" and produce more spin and less hook. I think i need a larger cam with less low rpm torque. Yea maybe the Hot Cam. Cant beat that price.

 

yours look like this only not as wide, these have r2 and have much better traction if you warm them up good.

 

Ok craby i looked on the MT w/s and didnt find any DR's that looked like those or in 315/35 on 16" rim.

 

UMI didn't back down, he further explained his original response.

For most vehicles you could get away with a stock length torque arm, even ones used strictly for the strip, if the rest of the suspension was set up well enough that the tires hooked at launch. The big thing with the shorter arm though, is it will help keep the nose down while also planting the tires better. That's why in BMRs photo the front is so far in the air.

There was another thread on LS1Tech that went into instant center and the short/longer T/A debate but I couldn't find it when I originally posted. I will do digging tonight if I get the chance and find it because it was what made me ultimately decide to buy a shorter torque arm when the time comes....and my car will only see the street and strip, no autocross.

In all honesty, you'd probably be fine with an aftermarket length torque arm that was mounted somewhere other than the trans, but you seemed to want what was going to give you the best 60'ft times and most cars I've seen that drag race use a shorter torque arm...or a mini ladder bar set up.

 

well crab,,, my bad, used wrong pic. they were kumho and sucked, my first pair of 315s. should have been these