Shock settings

[justcruisin]

I have not been to the track for some time but I will be hopefully going in a couple of weeks. I have Viking DA shocks on all 4 corners, can someone give me a base line for settings at the track and how to adjust them according to how the car reacts. 71 charger - 4050lbs with driver, stock stroke 440, edelbrock rpm's, xe282s. 727 trans, 11" converter, 4.10 gear 8 3/4, 275/60r15  MT ET Street R's. Factory bias springs with additional leaf. The car has 1.03" T bars that I don't want to change out as it is a street car that I drive often. I have removed the front sway bar.

[Mike DC]

  
I don't have any specific thoughts for Vikings.  

General thoughts (aside from "start with everything in the middle") - ask around for what other guys are running them at.  Maybe call the company.  Etc.  The ideal settings for a Chevelle or Torino won't be wildy different from our cars.

 
Speaking really basically - drag race shock setups are done to hit the rear tires hard (so, the rear shocks are stiff on compression) and let the front suspension unload easily (soft on front rebound damping).  That's the reason for the classic "50/50" rear shocks and "90/10" front shocks.



BTW, a standard generic passenger vehicle shock (no racing tuning) is more like 30/70 valving.  30% resistance for the compression and 70% for rebound.  

This is rooted in the ratio between the sprung & unsprung weight of the vehicle.  So when there is a bit more unsprung weight (like a solid rear axle rather than front independent), the valving needs to be a little closer to even, like 40/60.  But a good modern sports car (with very low unsprung weight at all 4 corners) is the other way, like closer to 20/80.  The rebound damping is always stiffer (except in weird applications like drag racing) because the vehicle chassis is always a good bit heavier than the unsprung suspension parts (except on a stadium monster truck or something).        

[justcruisin]

Thanks for the reply, I did contact Viking and this was their recommendation - Front 12c, 3r.   Rear 8c, 4r.
I am not sure as to what changes are required from those settings based on how the car reacts. It's just a street car so no big deal really but I do want to learn how to get the best out of it.

[cdr]

when you go to the track get someone to video in slow motion from the side, then you can tell what the car & shocks want

[justcruisin]

So been to the track a couple of times last month. Only once with a prepped track and I was getting a fair bit of separation but hooking up good, not mating the throttle hard though, clearly need to tighten up the rears. I am a little concerned with axle wrap. XHD springs with extra clamps on the front half and none on the rear, adjustable pinion snubber no traction bars. My thoughts are to put one clamp on the rear and add some rebound. I would like to try some caltracs or smith assassin bars but I am a little tight on the budget presently. Best 60ft is 1.650. What is best to try with my set up?

[cdr]

keep clamps on the front, NONE on the back, use the shock to control body separation.