Originally Posted by doorracer
kod99, a hardtail car has no suspension of any kind. A slipjoint car has no shocks but does have a suspension of sorts, there are different ways of achieving a slip joint. Our slip car has uprights on both sides in front of the footbox that has a pipe coming down from the top rail into a larger diameter pipe on the bottom rail allowing the chassis to bow. Not many uprights on our car so you have to stay on top of chassis maintenance. There are single, double and triple slip cars, where the slip joints are in different places, ours is just how Victory chassis did it. You can have a hardtail that has front suspension, David Lanning AKA- Hammertime on here has that on his car.
A fourlink car has a rear suspension just like a fourlink door car with a wishbone and drive shaft. Some people claim that a fourlink is not as good as a swimgarm car because fast cars can be upset going on and off the stop or when whipping the throttle at the big end because of roll rotation.
A swingarm car has the bottom bars tied together and pivots like the swingarm of a motorcyle except that the heim ends allow it to roll rotate more but not as much as a fourlink. It's possible maybe someone has some pics of the rearend of a foulink and swingarm car they can post up for comparison. David???
Suspended cars are definitely smoother to drive and are better on rough tracks and bad shutdown areas. I don't believe they are more consistent than our car on the tracks we race on and we have data to prove it, although the resale on them is better. You would have to make the judgment call on your racing surface. I can say our slipjoint car hits like a truck ran into you when it takes off compared to a suspended car, it's a blast. I hope this helps some.
Curtis Reed
He hit the nail on the head here. A smooth track with a good shut down a hardtail or slipjoint can be made to work. Everyone thinks different on this subject but not every non-suspended car can make it down a bad track a suspended car can. I look to want to get down a track consistent, all track in any conditions so the choice for me was simple shocks were a must. Like stated mine is Dual Suspended front mono shock and dual rear shock with a swingarm setup.
Body/Chassis roll is the biggest reason I do not run a standard 4 link setup even with a anti-roll they still roll. A swingarm will not do this. A 4 link car is better then a hardtail or slipjoint though. A lot of guys will tell you they can get down any track my car can, yep sure they can and I've been down them without shocks also. But I can promise them my car will do it smoother, more consistent and when it does I can flat out park my car between the cones at the finish line, they can not do that.