Drag Springs or NOT? With a scare story.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

Well this kinda starts off me making a pass on a two lane road. Making lots of ponies comes with lots of responsiblity that almost bit me in my ass. So I was going 35 in a 55 behind this truck forever and as soon as all the winding curving roads stopped and I was allowed to pass I punched it got to 80 in a blinding flash and was heading back into my lane. On my way back into the lane I hit a nice bump in my rear tires and obviously this sent me into a little left to right shuffle . Nothing major but it got me thinking. Currently I have FOMOCO B springs, Koni (Yellows) Shocks and Struts Adjustables (set to loose as possible), Hutchkis Upper/Lower Control arms. Now this suspension is a lot more tighter then the stock suspension and it made the car corner and everything much better. However, my car can't plant power to the ground like I would like too (No Squat). So this Friday my roommate was going to be buying me Drag Springs (haven't decided on brand). Now with these new Drag Springs I'm curious to know how the car would have handled that bump? Is this something I should be worried about or not? I really don't know what to do here. I'm looking for someone who has experienced a similar issue. What to do? Drag Springs or Not? I was also thinking Maximum Motorsports TQ ARM and PanHard bar.

D347643 · Sep 14, 2004

well I assume you are talking about getting front drag springs? or are you gonna swap out the rears too? you said that your back tires hit the bump, so personally I think that it really wouldnt have changed much. Its not like you have skinnies on the front, do you? lol

Drew

00 Red SS · Sep 14, 2004

My cars has basically drag suspension and it rides like a cadillac it soaks up all the bumps, handling isnt bad at all but i really dont push it on the streets esp. thru corners.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

00 Red SS said:
My cars has basically drag suspension and it rides like a cadillac it soaks up all the bumps, handling isnt bad at all but i really dont push it on the streets esp. thru corners.

So in other words that softer suspension would have eaten that bump up and I may have not had that problem. It makes sense. I really can't corner the car anymore without tire rub from the 315's on the rear. Tough decision.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

D347643 said:
well I assume you are talking about getting front drag springs? or are you gonna swap out the rears too? you said that your back tires hit the bump, so personally I think that it really wouldnt have changed much. Its not like you have skinnies on the front, do you? lol

Drew

No skinnies... not yet. Maybe never thinking of upgrading to some bigger brakes up front.

krahkin · Sep 14, 2004

I just want to know how you suckered your roomie into buying you a set?

1Slow5oh · Sep 14, 2004

My car seems to handle the same since I put in the 50/50's in the rear. So I dont think you will have a problem...

Are they progressives?

rd · Sep 14, 2004

I have the B springs, and skinnies in the front, with Konis all around. With about 100k on the springs, most of that with regular 225's on front. I think the car handles at least as well as it ever did. It is somewhat unsettled over rough pavement or dirt, but I always slow down for that stuff. I am not much of a corner person, so this has never been an issue with me. I have run many thousands of miles on interstates also and never felt a problem. Remember, this is a short wheelbase, has lots of power and normally has a heavy front weigh bias, so it will respond accordingly. You get a direct bump from the road features, and may therefore lose tire contact for a moment, but it should not set up any swaying or bouncing, from my experience.

I think it is the driving situation more than the car. I would hate to be at that speed in a soflty sprung car that wallowed around.

Just my .02.

DarkMesa8 · Sep 14, 2004

Regardless of your suspension setup, your weight was still transferred to the rear as you hit the bump (from what you're describing). With that traction in the rear, you wouldn't have had a problem with drag springs up front.

Now if your car had started to sway and you needed to correct it with the weight on the rear, you would've been in trouble. That can be solved with releasing the throttle, or even applying the brake.

Matts89LX5.0 · Sep 14, 2004

I have 4 cylinder springs up front which kind of work like the poor man's drag launch kit. Car rides decently, but I feel all the bumps. Also with Drag springs, you can't fly around sharp turns. Eibach drag springs are pretty good form what I've heard. Good Luck.

jerry beach · Sep 14, 2004

I have drag springs, shocks, struts. My car was on lowering springs (eibach pro-kit) before I installed this stuff. Accelerating fast over bumps and rough surfaces is a bad idea with a tight suspension. The rear wheels leave the ground a bit and speed up, then they grab and jerk the drive train when they land. My car is much better at this than with lowering springs, but its still rough on the drive train and I try to avoid hard acceleration except on smooth surfaces. Now when you add turning at the same time (you were changing lanes) things start to get a little scary. This has happened to me too. I just let off the gas and let go of the wheel and my car corrects itself quickly. If you were to start yanking the wheel and nailing the brakes this could get much worse.

So yes, the softer springs will help you accelerate over bumps better, but its still a bad idea to try that. In fact I have been to the drag strip once since I installed my suspension parts and my times were worse than with lowering springs. I still cant launch my car at the track, prolly will never be able to. I dont think I will be racing it anymore like it is. It does ride nice for a mustang though. The parts were worth the $ in that respect.

88POSLX · Sep 14, 2004

I've got the eibach drag launch kit, no front swaybar and have skinnies up front. I love the ride of my car. As for handling I don't even think about it. It handles fine IMO. I haven't ran into an emergency situation, but knowing how I've made some turns on yellow lights, I'm not too worried.

QDRHRSE · Sep 14, 2004

Piston,

If you are putting in drag springs you need to swap out the Koni's- the handling shocks and struts contradict the drag springs and vise-versa. Cars suspended for drag have a much more plush and compliant ride.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

krahkin said:
I just want to know how you suckered your roomie into buying you a set?

It's in lieu of rent.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

jerry beach said:
I have drag springs, shocks, struts. My car was on lowering springs (eibach pro-kit) before I installed this stuff. Accelerating fast over bumps and rough surfaces is a bad idea with a tight suspension. The rear wheels leave the ground a bit and speed up, then they grab and jerk the drive train when they land. My car is much better at this than with lowering springs, but its still rough on the drive train and I try to avoid hard acceleration except on smooth surfaces. Now when you add turning at the same time (you were changing lanes) things start to get a little scary. This has happened to me too. I just let off the gas and let go of the wheel and my car corrects itself quickly. If you were to start yanking the wheel and nailing the brakes this could get much worse.

So yes, the softer springs will help you accelerate over bumps better, but its still a bad idea to try that. In fact I have been to the drag strip once since I installed my suspension parts and my times were worse than with lowering springs. I still cant launch my car at the track, prolly will never be able to. I dont think I will be racing it anymore like it is. It does ride nice for a mustang though. The parts were worth the $ in that respect.

Yeah that's exactly what has happened to me. I was thinking about it more and it is cause of the tighter suspension and the mph that did that. Like you said just let off the gas and didn't even try to correct it all shifted back inline very quickly. Just a lesson under the belt without bad repercussions cause I don't know if I would have walked away from that one. Too many trees everywhere.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

QDRHRSE said:
Piston,

If you are putting in drag springs you need to swap out the Koni's- the handling shocks and struts contradict the drag springs and vise-versa. Cars suspended for drag have a much more plush and compliant ride.

Not exactly what I needed to hear. Damn. Thanks for the heads up.

Piston · Sep 14, 2004

rd said:
I have the B springs, and skinnies in the front, with Konis all around. With about 100k on the springs, most of that with regular 225's on front. I think the car handles at least as well as it ever did. It is somewhat unsettled over rough pavement or dirt, but I always slow down for that stuff. I am not much of a corner person, so this has never been an issue with me. I have run many thousands of miles on interstates also and never felt a problem. Remember, this is a short wheelbase, has lots of power and normally has a heavy front weigh bias, so it will respond accordingly. You get a direct bump from the road features, and may therefore lose tire contact for a moment, but it should not set up any swaying or bouncing, from my experience.

I think it is the driving situation more than the car. I would hate to be at that speed in a soflty sprung car that wallowed around.

Just my .02.

I'm with you on the "softly sprung car that wallowed around". So i'm trying to find a way to make that car hook without the wallowing. Any suggestions?

Drag Springs or NOT? With a scare story.

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