Relocating engine back and lower
 

I will be relocating the engine in my turbo d50 pickup project back a few inches from stock location and lower it about an inch. With that said, I know moving the engine back will help weigh transfer to the rear, but what will the lowering affect?

Before anyone asks, the lowering is going to help me with a clearance issue.

Re: Relocating engine back and lower
 

it will lower your center of gravity very slightly. this will negativly effect weight transfer, but help stability at the far end of the track. Keep in mind you are talking about 1 inch, so it wont effect anything. my best gestimate is the pinion angle should be close to the same since you are moving the engine back 2" and down 1".

I agree with Steve...

This is a critical factor in dirt circle track cars primarily, and greatly affects the "Moment Center" of the car.

There is an excellent feature article all about this in the February 2010 Circle Track Magazine (yes I said February 2010... I get them early)starting on page 52 called "Race Car Design Basics".

Even though you don't have a circle track chassis, you might grab this issue and read the article anyways before you get started, as it gives a lot of insight about chassis static and dynamic characteristics, and how to manipulate them.

Jim

Thanks for the replies. Since I will be fabbing up my own motor mounts for this, is there an optimal angle that I should have the drivetrain at or will it all depend on ride height and pinion height/angle? Are there any books out there that show how to set all of this up properly?

Yes, there are several books and publications available.

Steve Smith (only one of many) has several race chassis technology books through most race parts catalogs like Summit, Speedway, Jegs, JR Motorsports, etc., as well as most monthly magazines in the back pages.

If you don't have one of these catalogs, they can be found in their online stores.

Jim

I do get Summit and Jegs, I'll look into them. Thanks Jim :)