Mono shock front suspension dragsters

[sgchevy2nova]

hey i'm looking at buying a mono shock front suspension dragster that is 235" long but is a hardtail in the rear does anybody have any input on this type of dragster if so please either post it on here or give me a call 601-720-5139 thanks
Kevin

[hammertime]

hey i'm looking at buying a mono shock front suspension dragster that is 235" long but is a hardtail in the rear does anybody have any input on this type of dragster if so please either post it on here or give me a call 601-720-5139 thanks
Kevin

Kevin is it a diamond front shock setup ? If so I can give you some good info

[sgchevy2nova]

yes it is a diamond front end

[hammertime]

yes it is a diamond front end


Here is my best thoughts on this, as good as a rear suspended car No, does it help yes. Helps in a few ways,
1. The main reason I have it on my car even with the rear suspension, a typical 4 link/swingarm car lifts the left front tire up and out of the beams, the front suspension leaves both front tires on the ground improving your reaction times.

2. It helps with chassis flex on small bumps on a track, and on the brakes.Not saying you can slam them like you can with a rear suspended car but can get on them harder then a slipjoint or hardtail car. A little safer setup IMO

3. In the pits, your body wont be hurting the next day after one of the tracks that has less then great pits, you really have to hit a hole hard to even feel it.

Most people go the front suspension route because its a cheaper alternative to doing the rear suspension. Diamonds front setup is the nicest out there and works great. If you would like any other info about them feel free to give me a call tomorrow 517-677-6406

[sgchevy2nova]

thank you for all the input its helped alot i just haven't ever really heard of the front suspension on dragsters and i didnt want to trade my corvette off that works amazing for a dragster that had a suspension on the front incase it wasnt any good but once again thanks for the input on this its really helped alot

[dparker]

David problably knows as much as anyone one front suspension dragster. But although the front suspension is better than without, if I had to choose I'd much rather have a rear suspension 4 link car with no front suspension over a front suspension no rear 4 link car. JMO

[hammertime]

thank you for all the input its helped alot i just haven't ever really heard of the front suspension on dragsters and i didnt want to trade my corvette off that works amazing for a dragster that had a suspension on the front incase it wasnt any good but once again thanks for the input on this its really helped alot

If you want I can take a peak at some pics of the cars and give you my input.

[sgchevy2nova]

i'd love to have a swingarm car or 4link dont get me wrong but i'm really looking to get into a dragster next year and this is the first thing that has really popped up to us is this car with the front suspension and i'm just not sure what to think about it the one person that lives down here around me says stay away from it but another person says go for it so i dont know

[hammertime]

David problably knows as much as anyone one front suspension dragster. But although the front suspension is better than without, if I had to choose I'd much rather have a rear suspension 4 link car with no front suspension over a front suspension no rear 4 link car. JMO


I agree, I have a few buddies who have only front suspended cars that swears they would drive as good as a rear suspended, problem is they havent drove a rear suspended car. Rear suspended has a lot of upsides but a front suspension has a lot of upsides over no suspension.

[sgchevy2nova]

david if you have a racespace you can go on there and search for profiles and type in cx89 and it will pop up and will have pictures of it

[hammertime]

david if you have a racespace you can go on there and search for profiles and type in cx89 and it will pop up and will have pictures of it

This car is actually somewhat local for me, I've seen it a few times. Actually my dad talked to him a bit at bracket finals this past year. Car went deep a few times, I think you'd be more then happy with it.

[sgchevy2nova]

well good i'm glad i talked to you tonight..what'd your dad talk to him about? if you dont mind me askin

[hammertime]

well good i'm glad i talked to you tonight..what'd your dad talk to him about? if you dont mind me askin

My dad is a talker (more then me) he see's a car with the front suspension he always ask about it, yet to find someone who isnt happy with it. Diamond does awesome work.

[sgchevy2nova]

good deal we had just heard about the front suspension allowing the car to bounce top end when it is under power which caused a guy to have a wreck is what we heard but we also heard that he had hit the transbrake top end so who knows the truth there haha and yeh he said he was running 5.0 in the car for 1/8th mile and 8.0 quarter mile so the car has to work halfway decent to do that haha but we should run some 4.90s or 4.80s with our motor and hope to put a 555 or 565 in it in the next year or so which should get it down to 4.60s like most of the dragster down here run now

[hammertime]

good deal we had just heard about the front suspension allowing the car to bounce top end when it is under power which caused a guy to have a wreck is what we heard but we also heard that he had hit the transbrake top end so who knows the truth there haha and yeh he said he was running 5.0 in the car for 1/8th mile and 8.0 quarter mile so the car has to work halfway decent to do that haha but we should run some 4.90s or 4.80s with our motor and hope to put a 555 or 565 in it in the next year or so which should get it down to 4.60s like most of the dragster down here run now

The front would bottom out the shock before it bounced that far, I'd bet no fault of the front. There has been a lot of "copy cats" to the front but Dan Davies (owner of Diamond) & Ricky Adkins when they worked together designed the deal. A 4.80 car gets down any track anytime, I changed parts and added stuff to make my car go from 4.6's to high 4.7's. Would get down a side street now :D

[sgchevy2nova]

so you would trust this thing at 4.50s or 4.60s easily?

[sgchevy2nova]

do you think the car would need slip joints from what i understood is that he had the slipjoints tied off or welded up so all it is now is just the front suspension only

[hammertime]

so you would trust this thing at 4.50s or 4.60s easily?

Yes easily, I've been 4.6's@147 without any type of suspension and seen the front only go 4.44 before.

[hammertime]

do you think the car would need slip joints from what i understood is that he had the slipjoints tied off or welded up so all it is now is just the front suspension only

It should have no slips now, Dan gets rid of them when adding the front, no real need for them the front suspension does all of the work they used to do.

If you go to the search on rj and type in Diamond, there is a 2007 Diamond, notice how the front is lifting up square and taking all the hit of the launch. There was a guy @ Diamond last winter getting his car updated , he had his old hardtail updated for some outlaw track down south the winter before. No other changes picked up a tenth, most of which was in the 60ft.

[sgchevy2nova]

wow now your making us wana go get it tomorrow instead of having to wait till next saturday haha we've never traded before and just real worried about getting something that were not sure about but the way your talking and the guy who owns the car are talking i should be very happy with the car

[hammertime]

wow now your making us wana go get it tomorrow instead of having to wait till next saturday haha we've never traded before and just real worried about getting something that were not sure about but the way your talking and the guy who owns the car are talking i should be very happy with the car

I've been more then happy with what Dan has did for me.
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/100_0431.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/100_0433.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/100_0434.jpg

[sgchevy2nova]

beautiful work by dan there and that is a gorgeous car you have i love that chassis color

[hammertime]

thanks

[john858]

hammer is there any adjusting to the front suspension?
thanks john

[hammertime]

hammer is there any adjusting to the front suspension?
thanks john

Yes, it has shock adjustment and heims joints to move it around. I have my shock set 3 from all the way soft. I started the year with it all the way hard making it like a hardtail then changed it after a few passes to feel the difference :)

[sgchevy2nova]

the shock have the same type of adjustment as rear shocks would with the knob or how do you adjust it?

[hammertime]

the shock have the same type of adjustment as rear shocks would with the knob or how do you adjust it?

Yes same type of adjusment, think it has 12 clicks on it, mine is 3 from all the way soft. You will know which way soft is by just lifting the car up.

[hammertime]

Here is a few more pics of when I first got mine back from Diamond



http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/101_0952.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/101_0953-1.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/101_0951.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/101_0948-1.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/Dragster387b/101_0947.jpg

[sgchevy2nova]

thanks for the pictures i put another forum on bracketnews.com and the first post was by a guy telling me to contact you haha so i guess i got the right guy to talk to obviously...what kind of 60ft did you have before the front suspension and after? what size motor do you run?

[hammertime]

I changed everything up so I cant give you a good front vs non front.
I rear suspended my car when doing so, changed converters and tires, added 100lbs to the car. 60's doing this went from 1.04 to 1.10, 4.67-8@147 to 4.79-80@145. This would all be shocks and driveshaft doing this.
Its a 582 makes just under 1000hp, loose converter 6700 stall spragless, and weighs 1960 with me in it.

[sgchevy2nova]

we have a 468bbc right now in our vette that weighs 2705 with me in it and its been 5.91 at 119mph and he said this dragster weighs 1760 with 210lb drive so it will be 1780lbs with me in it i figured it would run 4.90s with my motor what do you think?

[I972Nova]

My car was done at Diamond over the winter. It is a hard tail rear and they put the front suspension and new body on it. I have never has such quality work done before.

I would say you should run 5.05 ish to be honest with ya. My door car was 700 pounds heavier than my dragster and I picked up right at .70 by going to the dragster.

With the same drivetrain my 60 foot picked up .04. and my et picked up about .08 but the feel of the car is unbelieveable, especially in the pits!

The biggest thing about the front suspension is that now my lights can usually stay within about .007 all day. Before you would get a crazy one here and there, because it would snap the front wheels up.

here are a few pics of mine...

Now:

http://shutter14.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/24/005/37/DF/57/92/JSM4wBo6leQ2mwe7daQ0LK4SBMnLEv8o0300.jpg

Suspension:

http://shutter12.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/18/00A/2F/FD/1F/A6/kSeg7T1v8YCp8fCF0ms0nw0K1nbUA26M0300.jpg

Here is what it looked like before:

http://shutter04.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/10/005/37/BE/F4/50/nUyXrREnWnQ1bt-JKayJ4d6bhcJhj4XL0300.jpg

[hammertime]

we have a 468bbc right now in our vette that weighs 2705 with me in it and its been 5.91 at 119mph and he said this dragster weighs 1760 with 210lb drive so it will be 1780lbs with me in it i figured it would run 4.90s with my motor what do you think?

1780 is light 4.90's should be had for sure, as long as converter is right you'll be fine.

[sgchevy2nova]

i dunno what convertor we should use really because we have always had door cars mine right now flashes at 6400

[hammertime]

i dunno what convertor we should use really because we have always had door cars mine right now flashes at 6400

My suggestion a 8" 6000-6200 stall converter would be the trick, a B&M 20608 if you have to buy one will work well.

When I ran 468 I had a 5800 stall but I like them a little looser now more consistent.

Is the converter you have now a 8" ?

[sgchevy2nova]

yes it is but i just talked to a guy and he wants my convertor for his convertor and he said that it was set up for his 496 and was built for the car from PTC but he didnt tell me the stall on it

[hammertime]

yes it is but i just talked to a guy and he wants my convertor for his convertor and he said that it was set up for his 496 and was built for the car from PTC but he didnt tell me the stall on it

If his is a 8" then you'll be fine.

[sgchevy2nova]

yeh its a 8" i'm going to find out what it stalls to before i go and trade my convertor for his but i'm thinking it will be fine since he was running 5.0's and 8.0's with the car with a mild 496

[hammertime]

I agree, anything between say 5700-6300 will work fine, fastest most consistent will be between 6000-6200 though.

[sgchevy2nova]

hmm i wonder if i wouldnt be better off just keeping my convertor since i know its a 6400 stall and only has about 50 passes on it

[hammertime]

It'd be close, i'd find out what his is first.

[sgchevy2nova]

yeh thats what i'm going to do i just dont know how good that PTE or PTC convertor is

[hammertime]

yeh thats what i'm going to do i just dont know how good that PTE or PTC convertor is

PTC, lot of people use them, I never have.

[sgchevy2nova]

yeh all i have ever ran is ati

[hammertime]

yeh all i have ever ran is ati



Is this your first dragster or had one before ?

[sgchevy2nova]

it will be my first dragster...i drove one for a guy for a few times that is a 250" danny nelson slip joint car that runs 5.20's and i love it that is what got me hooked on dragsters my first ever time in a dragster was last year and my first pass was a 5.25 at 130mph and before that my fastest past in the 1/8th mile period was a 6.46 at 103

[hammertime]

it will be my first dragster...i drove one for a guy for a few times that is a 250" danny nelson slip joint car that runs 5.20's and i love it that is what got me hooked on dragsters my first ever time in a dragster was last year and my first pass was a 5.25 at 130mph and before that my fastest past in the 1/8th mile period was a 6.46 at 103

I've let several door car guys drive my cars in the past, most now own dragsters. Ya get hooked fast. :D

[sgchevy2nova]

yes you do i went from a door car with a 350 small block that ran 6.30's in a 2850lbs door car to a dragster that ran 5.20s and went from 1.40 60ft to a 1.12 which was a huge difference and got me hooked automatically

[hammertime]

yes you do i went from a door car with a 350 small block that ran 6.30's in a 2850lbs door car to a dragster that ran 5.20s and went from 1.40 60ft to a 1.12 which was a huge difference and got me hooked automatically

I actually had a older guy I race with 60-62, his camaro best 60ft 1.36 ran 6.2's, my dragster at the time 1.10, 4.90's. His car was the fastest thing he had drove untill then, he was smiling ear to ear when he was done :D

Let another buddy that ran 8.6's with a 55 chevy drive it, got down to 10 cars in a 10k race first time he doubled it with me. He now owns a 04 mullis that runs 4.5's. I drove it when he got it, nothing like wheels in the air to the 60ft in a suspended dragster, 4.52@155 on the motor sure was a fun ride :lol:

[I972Nova]

Thats what happened to me. I spent my life cussin dragsters, then when I took mine on a "test drive" I couldnt believe how awesome it was.

And the first time you work on it, you will think that you have been doin it wrong all these years...lol

[sgchevy2nova]

haha everybody says there boring to drive i love it haha and yeh thats the one thing i cant wait for if you have ever seen a 66 chevy II in person you know how hard it is to work on anything under the hood it takes us around 3 hours to pull the motor trans and headers if everything goes perfect on the car i cant wait to pull everything in 15 minutes

[I972Nova]

I tore up a flywheel and had a new one in and ready to go back up to the lanes in less than 20 mins. Cant do that with a door car. I have a toyota mini truck with a 406 in it. Its almost as fun as your 66 is to work on.

When we swapped the flywheels out my dad was in disbelief at the ease.

[sgchevy2nova]

man i cant wait just to be able to do something with ease on a race car finally haha...what kinda case do yall run on your transmissions just standard or something like a dedenbear or jw?

[hammertime]

man i cant wait just to be able to do something with ease on a race car finally haha...what kinda case do yall run on your transmissions just standard or something like a dedenbear or jw?

I run a Reid right now, you can get away with a stock case if you have one though.

[sgchevy2nova]

both of my cars have jw case on them but this dragster is coming with just a standard case on the shorty i was wondering if i would need to change it out or will it be fine?

[I972Nova]

Mine is a stock case. I am debating the Reid or ATI case, but with my little small block I dont really need one.

I ran my 468 with the stock case and didnt have a problem, the only downfall is the shields.

[sgchevy2nova]

yeh i'm only going to have this 468 in the car for a half a year or so then i'm putting my 555 in that should make around 1,000 hp i have a buddy of mine that has a dedenbear case for a shorty that i could get if i needed to do you think it will be best? i'm running the sportsnationals this year again is it a requirement to have one?

[hammertime]

Not a requirment to have it but if you dont you have to run flexplate and trans shields that are upto date.

I've been 4.67 with a stock case it'd work fine for sure. You could also make one of yours a shorty.

[sgchevy2nova]

yeh the only reason we really had one on the door cars was for safety incase the transmission blew up didnt want something coming through the floor of the car i think it might be easier to just put that dedenbear case on there from my buddy than it would be to run both of those shields and try to keep both of them up to date

[hammertime]

Yes the shields are a pain for sure, they look at them hard in tech also

[hammertime]

looked are your racespaces you trade chevy 2 or corvette for dragster ?

[sgchevy2nova]

corvette

[hammertime]

love that chevy 2 .. one of my favorite cars

[sgchevy2nova]

ours to it used to run ss/dm and set the world record in it and then we bought it from the guy back in 1990 and did some changes to and ran just bracket races with it and between me and dad in about the past 6 or 7 years of racing with the car about 10 times a year we would win about 4 of them the car is deadly it went a 6.46 9 times in a row at one race and my worst light was a .009 and got beat in the semi finals with it i was .001 on the tree and 6.460 on a 6.46

[hammertime]

its a sweet looking car

[sgchevy2nova]

thank you we cant decide what we wana do with it now last time the car was out was about this time last year and it won 3 straight races and then i brought the corvette out and started to run it so i dont know if we are going to rebuild the 358 in it now and back off the compression and the cam and make it a street car with a 5 speed in it or put this 418sbc 18 degree motor in it dad wants a street car again but he still wants to get back and race it again so who knows what it will end up being in the next few months to a year

[hammertime]

You end up with digger ?