how much suspension travel???

[pacman1967]

I am building an 85C10 leaf spring street/strip truck . I am having issues with hooking up. So I am doing my homework and putting some time and money into my suspension. I already have Cal-Tracs on it but I am not getting a lot of weight transfer. So I plant on upgrading to a double adjustable shocks and relocating them so they sit straight up and down instead of one angled forward and one angled rearward. How much travel should my rear suspension have. I know the stock shocks have around 10" of travel but that seems a little excessive. I read though my shop manuals and looked around online and cant really find how much travel these trucks had. I also dropped the rear end 4 inches with spring hangers and shackels. Thanks in advance.

[Marv D]

I don't know if this helps you or not,,, but I just happen to be screwing with the gopro at a race last year and took a piece of the bed floor out for some suspension video. It's a 4link chassis with Strange single adjustable shocks. Only a 10.5 truck but will sixty mid 1.4's (with a lot of tire) The Strange shocks don't have but about a 5-6" stroke,, and I bet I'm not using 1/3 of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tF3...=youtube_gdata

[HAULIN' IT]

There are some variables that could lead to "not hooking up" & without knowing some more details, it may be hard to say what is or isn't going on.
Like Marv, my shocks/suspension have 6" or so of travel & only use about 2" of it (I do have overload bags for times when I carry some weight to keep from bottoming out the shocks)

I'm using stock type springs with the overload removed, home made Cal-trac copies & Rancho/Caltrac shocks mounted vertical. I set them on 5 or 6 when I installed them & haven't ever changed them.

I did a flip on the rear axle & flipped over the rear hanger/shackle...not sure it was needed, but seemed "right" to me.

Not sure what you have done to "aid" in the traction dept. but moving to a fuelcell behind the axle was one of the best things I did. We carry a bit more fuel than needed, but it helps plant the tires. If you still have the original side tank...my advice would be to relocate the gas tank before you get into the cost of double adjustable shocks, ect. Same with the battery...it was in the worst place (ahead of the wheel on the Left) & now is in the ideal (behind the axle on the Right)

We're not making all that much power, however the suspension works well & translates into repeatable launches in the 1.56-7 range. More power & an anti-roll bar are in the works!
Hope This Helps, Lorne

At rest, no additional weight on board. This would be how it is ready for a pass;

[vin63]

Just a question from my personal experience from doing a lot of suspension set ups based on scaling vehicles: Have you scaled your truck (total weight, side-to-side, front-to-rear, and corner-to-corner)? With the large front-to-rear and corner-to-corner weight bias of our trucks, having a little more front suspension travel will help in a leaf spring rear application. Also, using double adjustable rear shock where you can make incremental changes to compression and rebound will help. With the significant front weight bias, you may have to pay a little closer attention to a little stiffer rebound setting to help maintain the weight you transfer to the rear when the front suspension reaches full extension.