IMO, none of those used strictly by themselves would be a very good choice. Each has its intended application and inherent design flaws.. and generally speaking have more to do with straightline acceleration than turning corners. There's always some compromise to be made involving the balancing act of dual purpose cars and cost is the biggest one by far. So, the same old.. "speed cost's.. how fast you wanna go?" rule still applies here too. The laws of diminishing returns starts to hit pretty hard at the upper end too.. unless you're making mad power at the rear wheels and need that last bit of edge for the competition. If you really look at each design unto itself.. they have varying degrees of leverage points/load transfer and some potential issues for corner carvers. The caltrac's are more of a sliding(or floating) solution that literally pivots..then ratchets against the spring just behind the front eye in a downwards fashion to avoid spring wrap for benefiting acceleration/torque plant. And while Bryant is certainly right that solid front bushings help locate the springs laterally(that same mod can be done with many other types of bushing material and even bearings too).. they do nothing in the way of making the car more comfortable to drive on rough roads. Even dehlrin or poly bushings can jar your fillings out and rattle bolts loose over time as well. Especially with the shorter sidewalled tires typically needed for increased cornering stability. Competitoin Engineering also has some very similar to the caltracs too and they are somewhat more adjustable. My buddy has them on a big-block 68 Camaro that car hooks VERY well despite its 700+ ft lbs or torque. Just like the caltrac's though.. they are intended for straightline grip which is why they don't advertise them for road racing either. The slappers merely prevent spring wrap under spring compression and do absolutely nothing for preventing brake wrap since they only work under compression. The under rider type bars are more along the lines of a torque arm suspension in that they locate the perch while working to prevent wrap in both directions(compression and rebound) and would be better for reducing spring wrap under braking.. although the rear shackle/springs eye rotation will still allow the back half of the spring to wrap slightly under brake torque despite the front half being rigidly held in place. Still somewhat better than the other "compression only" designs though. Unfortunately, they also potentially cause binding issues since their travel arc is slightly different compared to what the leaf/axle arc is trying to do under full compression and full rebound. To most effectively set the front mounting point(many of which are permanently welded in place).. to better correlate with the "average swing path" of the rear axle under typical loads(how often are we at full compression or full extension, right?).. it is always best to preload the suspension as much as possible to simulate the final ride height the car typically sits at before final placement/welding of the front mounting points. Otherwise, if the suspension is at full droop when they are installed you will be into bind much quicker when the car squats down under hard accelleration since you've quite literally added preload by installing them further back while at full droop. I have however seen a few who mod them to be adjustable which lessons the need for optimum placement out of fear for improper preloads once the vehicle is back down on the ground and/or after the rear ride height is changed(such as using adjustable coilovers would allow). These types of bars are best used on cars with limited range of suspension travel(reduces the likelyhood of binding issues) when combined with panhard or wattslink setups. There are many other lower budget ways of getting rid of axle wrap that don't get very complex at all. Such as using an extra full leaf that's been cut to mainly extend forward of the perch along with solid clamps for all the smaller leaf intersections will help considerably without altering ride height and spring rates in the process. Many of the old timers made/still make their own spring packs like this.. and IIRC Meier Racing has some I've been eyeing for quite some time as well but they are pretty spendy. If you're really serious about autocross you may want to look into torque arm/trailing link type suspensions and/or panhard or watts link setups. Again with the "speed cost's" though. Hope that helps.
could you maybe...categorize... the next one... #1 for babbling... #2 for baffling... it would save some of us from a lot of unnecessary reading...:Handshake ......
LOL.. ok then. # 1 I thought I kept on point pretty well that time.. and there were 3 various designs being mentioned here to make it a bit longer to give overview. Plus, personal firsthand experience adds value and perspective. # 2 Some folks learn faster than others.. some like to learn more than others.. which is why they ask questions in the first place.. and of course some already know it all and won't be bothered. And finally.. maybe.. just maybe.. some shouldn't waste their time reading longer posts if they have shorter attention spans. Not everyone likes to take 2 weeks and 70 posts to learn answers for questions asked in thier very first post.
here.. let me help with a refresher even though I realize you're just yankin' chains like you do so well around here. then we all got into personal taste, various designs, and whatnot. I think we all just need to hack out the leafs and go with something like this. It's good enough for nascar road racers and might just do the job on these little corner carvers too. lol
I think he said he is more at this level..."I think my next purchase will be some new shackles (mine got destroyed in removal thus the lift shackles) and springs." ...Baby steps...
Saved up and went with calvert split leaf monos. New stock rear shackles, and a roll cage to help stiffen it up. Its not all here yet but im ready when it arrives. I likely will try the shelby bars first since they are only 99$ on ebay. Man i got a list of stuff i want but cant afford a mile long!
