i was just wondering the differances between the 2, 3, 4, and z-links....and who likes what....and why they are the good types of suspension

i see some cars that are setup to were they hike up that rear end and have to let off to turn and then get back on it and it just seems like alot of work to drive the car....then i see some cars that dont really hike up the rear alot.....i know there motors make up for some of it....but it just seems like alot of work to drive the car when unless your off the gas you cant turn.....jw

 Hey andrew, you want "off the corner" speed (some call it "forward bite" ) and the predictability/ consistency of leaf springs? then all you have to do is float the rear end on the leaf springs...southwest speed makes some decent ,floated spring perches.. use your traction device of choice ( fifth spring, pull bar, etc.) . just remember you need to go stiffer on the spring rate of the traction device because you will not be wrapping the leaf spring up.. we used to use this on the late models back in the early/mid 80's..
 like i said earlier (see above)... the ideas seem to be recycled every few years...
you will be happy with this setup, and for sure leafs are the way to go for a newbie...and some of the old timers swear by them!

hey andrew....are you related to run? just curious.....well the car we just got is a 2 link....but we were playing around with ideas on what to run......

Who do you mean by "run". I'm not related to anybody in the racing world, so I'm sure the answer is no, but I still would like to know who you mean.

My recomendation to a new IMCA driver would be to run swing arm.  It is real easy to adjust and you cant steer your self to far out of the park.  I converted a 3 link car to a swing arm car in 2001 and ran it my rookie season, huge difference in consistency.  Give yourself a full season on a single system and then change a little at a time, if you dont you have to learn to drive all over again with each different set up.  When it comes down to it, you want to run what someone that you trust is running.  If you have someone telling you 4 bar is the way to go but they wont run it something is wrong.  Just remember KISS (keep it simple stupid).  With all the possibilities you can spend every night of the week changing from one system to another and you wont be having a good time.  I have been racing Mods for 5 years and I have finally learned to change the driving more and the car less.

Troy Morris
www.unrealvinyl.com

what types (chassis) are a swing arm or can any be adjusted to a swing arm?

4-BAR is the way to go always, specially if the tracks smooth and dry slick.

After having tried a bunch of different suspensions on my cars. I have ended up with a good old 4-bar set up. Yes, the set up options can make your head spin and yes it can beat you up on a rough track but it goes forward big time and has killer corner speed. 4link left and swing arm right also works pretty good. Full swing arms seem good if your track doesn't dry our very badly or if its very rough. BTW the Warrior I'm selling can be any one of the above.

hello andrew.. that is correct, floating perches negate all of the spring angle questions.
   that being said...i did not want to jump in on the spring angle topic for one simple reason... this is one of the areas where people do things because the fast guy next door is doing it, so , i have to do it to keep up!
  sound enginerring practice tells us to keep the leaves parralell to each other left to right. its ok to have one side higher or lower, but keep  the mounts parralell..
the leafs tend to bind up as we move one end and not the other. the best practice is to mount front eyes @ same height  left to right and rear sliders / shackles same height left to right. then use lowering blocks/ spring rates to get your ride height and %..
  after reading tech info on this subject many years ago (and really not believing it) i was fighting some really evil handling issues.. unpredictbility,no two laps the same, etc...doing what everybody else was doing..shackels with multiple holes and front mounts with multiple holes and everything in a different hole !! i just went back to the front hole @ 15 inches and put on some fixed shackles ( then sliders ) used lowering blocks to get ride heights and ...instant cure... bad car to fast car...
i will most likley get blasted for my advice... but the " keep it simple" holds true here, once again!
dave lewis      

hello andrew,
 sorry i did not reply sooner, been offline for 4 days.
  ok, are we still talking floated perches here? if so, the only way to get any significant rear steer is with adjustable lowering blocks..
 with a fixed ( non floated) perch you get a small amount of rear steer from the leaf flattening out in roll, but most of the rear steer comes from wrap up...if you floated the perch, you eliminate the wrap up, eliminating most of the rear steer...
  ok..we can get way off track here ( pun intended)
  pm me and i will contact you directly..
dave lewis