This is topic Shock settings for drag racing? in forum Drag Racing at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by MiniMEE (Member # 1009) on :
 
I have Tokico Illuminas all around on my 89 stang and I have asked many ppl what setting I should have for lauching. Some say soft in rear hard in front, some say hard in rear soft in front, but after reading the tokico website they say soft in front and rear. Boy am I confused, so what does everyone think I should set it at?
Here is the link
http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/car/dragracing.html
 
Posted by Black94 5.0 (Member # 655) on :
 
Scott,

Soft in the back: This will help with weight tranfer.(weight over the rear tires on rear wheel drv.)..

Going hard in the back increases the chance of traction loss, (wheel-spin).It puts power to the wheels faster..Which is ok if your tires "hook up".

soft in the front: This will help get the nose of the car up quicker, because on soft it makes it easier to extend and also makes it slower to come back down..

*I used to think that the hard settings in the front strut would make the cars front end go up quicker, but it actually makes it harder to rise up..

I hope that this clears it up a little.. [patriot]
 
Posted by shade-tree (Member # 298) on :
 
I have the 5-way adjustables out back too and I usually run them on '3' out back, right in the middle. Any softer and I get some wicked shimmying'hopping back there from a clutch dump on slicks. Sometimes I try '2' though as I believe compared to the mustangs stock shocks, even '1' is stiffer than the factory jobbies.

Up front, softer the better, and unhook the swaybar up there.
 
Posted by bunchmyfunky (Member # 360) on :
 
I run the softest in the front and the hardest in the back. It's good for 1.7x 60fts. as soon as it dropped into the 1.6s the car starts to jump sideways. So I think I will need to set them to 4 or 3. If I were you I would leave it softest in the front. Set the back to 3 make a pass then set it to 4 make a pass and then 5 and see what works best for you. Good luck
 
Posted by bunchmyfunky (Member # 360) on :
 
Double post

[ January 29, 2003, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: bunchmyfunky ]
 
Posted by Jeff S (Member # 371) on :
 
MiniMEE,

The better preped the track is the stiffer you want to rear. If the rear is soft you are not hitting the tires as hard.
 
Posted by MR GO FAST (Member # 2088) on :
 
I have me slow stang set at 1 in the front and set at 5 in the rear. Best 60ft is 1.84 with my AOD and 373 gears. I love the ride of my tokicos.
 
Posted by TRY2PAZ (Member # 97) on :
 
I still say soft in the rear. I thought you would want the weight to transfer w/o any problems?
 
Posted by Jeff S (Member # 371) on :
 
TRY2PAZ,

Having the rear stiff doesn't prevent weight transfer it simply takes the transfered weight and applies it to the rear tires. Whereas a soft rear end takes the weight transfered and absorbs it in the springs/shocks as they compress.
 
Posted by 88gt (Member # 579) on :
 
Doesn't it also depend on what tire you are running? For example, if you're running street tires wouldn't you want the rear to be softer so that your weak tires don't have to absorb all the power or weight transfer. However, if you're running something like a full slick you should set the rears to be stiffer so all the load is placed on the tires because the slicks will actually be able to launch you with minimal spin.
 
Posted by 88gt (Member # 579) on :
 
I know its an old topic, but does anyone care to shed some more light or theory on this topic. In particular, does someone want to agree or disagree with my previous post.
 
Posted by Andrew WOT (Member # 1249) on :
 
Here's some theory on the topic
http://www.geocities.com/kdslaby/Launching_A_Drag_Car.html
 
Posted by 1990GT50 (Member # 2119) on :
 
adjust it the hardest you can without losing traction
 
Posted by 347Saleen (Member # 2548) on :
 
i have kyb agx's and they are 8 way in rear and 4 way in front, i put em soft in front and 8 on driver side and 6 on pass side because the stangs tend to have traction probs on the pass side thats my set up u see what works best 4 u
 




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