Been awhile since I posted on here..I guess work and life got the best of me recently...
I've been having problems getting my Duster to hook up on drag radials and slicks pretty much since I put it together five years ago. Traction is really inconsistent...sometimes it hooks, sometimes it doesn't.
The best MPH I've wrung out of it is right at 111 and a 12.08 ET a couple years ago. I managed a 1.60 out of it at a different time on old, rock-hard, short, narrow slicks...about a 25x7 and 3.91 gears, which was about 5 years ago. I think that may have been on air shocks in the rear and 90/10 Lakewood drag shocks in the front. I have been running Mopar 002/003 super stock springs (clamped and unclamped), with and without a pinion snubber, and using small block front torsion bars (.850/.870?). The rear shackles are at the correct angle, according to the chassis manual. I'm also pretty certain that the pinion angle is right around 4 to 5 degrees down, though I was planning on rechecking it this weekend.
Since that time, I tried swapping out the air shocks for CE 3-ways in the rear, set to the firmest extension, front 90/10 Lakewood drag shocks for cheap Monroes with no real change. I swapped the rears to cheapie Monroes and had it out at the track last night, just to see if it wanted a softer shock...it annihilated the tires, spinning through 1st for a 2.02 60ft. Those shocks are going in the garbage tonight.
I also tried 28x9.0 slicks, which usually hooked, but not always, and 275/60/15 MT drag radials with the same result. I'm on Nitto 275/60/15 drag radials, which are about a 50/50 chance of hooking, but I figure I might as well get some life out of them on the street since traction is hit or miss anyway.
I have a video of the car that is a nice, slow-mo close up of the rear suspension, but I can't seem to find it. Below is the best I could find. At about the 0:39 mark, the car is leaving the line. I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it spun since the front is coming back down right away. The suspension is pretty much unchanged since this time and will typically run from the mid-1.6s to 1.8-something on the CE 3-ways.
My theory at this point is that the extension of the rear is happening too fast and it's trying to hop the rear off the ground or just running out of travel.
I'm not planning on going to go much faster with it than mid-11s, since I don't want to put a cage in it...I just want it to be consistent and predictable. The current configuration of the car is small block 360 at about 420 flywheel horse, around 3400 race weight, 8 3/4 with posi/4.30 gears, A727 auto trans, 9.5" PTC converter (flashed to 4400 on a data log). I plan on using the Nitto 275/60/15 drag radials and Lakewood 90/10 front shocks with the new rear shocks.
I'm currently looking at either putting the Rancho 9-ways on it or the Viking DA Warrior shocks, though Viking suggested that I use their Crusader DAs, which at $250+ a shock, I think is a bit much for a 12-second street car.
Any suggestions? Will the Ranchos do what I need them to do or will I need to pony up the cash for the Warrior or Crusader shocks?
