4 link starting point

[RTK]

i haven't plotted original 4 link setting on this new to me car yet, but was looking for a recommendation on where to start for my combination. the motor I'm installing is more potent than previous owners. they had rear suspension very stiff, very short 4 link intersect point & no weight on front end. yes it has wheelie bars, but the top bars of them are bent, so that will require attention as well. Combo is 406 sbc dynoed at 645hp/585 torque with alcohol carb, robbed from my chevelle for this project. powerglide is fresh 180 first gear, altered came with 4.10 rear gear, want to start with it for now. installing the hat injection that came with car, it was turn key. weight is 1674 with me in it. 32/14 goodyears (maybe too big?) but new & came with car. i'm looking for recommendations please, this altered thing is brand new to me, just always wanted one & now is the time... Thanks for any & all input!

[Curly1]

Well first off I like very soft springs on my shocks and I like the AFCO shocks. My Altered was at 1675 and had about 650 Hp and had the IC set around 58 inches out and 11 inches up if I remember right. Car has 62% on rear wheels and would wheelie hard and make a right turn. Also it would pop tires out of the lights and just did not handle good. By the way if the car is turning when front wheels are up you correct that with preload or four link and or shock spring. Some use the Anti-Roll bar but I prefer to do most of preload with the four link and fine tune it with the shock spring.
I moved the IC back to about 42 inches out and it is very nice now. It does work the shocks hard but the car drives out and slowly pulls front wheels up. Probably on my car the best location would be about 46 inches but it is not possible with my chassis. If possible on your car I would suggest starting at around 46 inches out if your car has 125 wheelbase and most of weight on rear. Further forward it is the more it lifts front more to rear the more it lifts rear of car and plants rear tires down but you do not want shocks to top out as it will unload rear tires.
I like the wheelie bars fairly low to keep wheelies under 1 foot high. With my chassis set up like this it has carried front tires several hundred feet out just a few inches off the ground and straight as an arrow. You can private message me and I will give you my phone number and will teach you everything I know if you have about 6 minutes. LOL.
I am now at 755 Hp and running 4.90's but it is still working good. PS, my car has 4.10 rear gear and 1.80 trans gears so it sounds as if your combo is close to my older combo.

[RTK]

thanks for the quick response, I have been working a lot & will get more into this over the weekend

[Curly1]

Let me know after your testing and then you can fine tune it from there. If the chassis is not just right with an Altered it can be an evil animal. I think you have my number so you can call me if you have any more questions and I will try to help as best I can.

[RTK]

I enjoyed our talk, you were vey helpful. I have 4 link adjusted now, I'm going to recheck pinion angle & preload & lock it down. I hope to be firing the engine Monday & doing a complete check over for anything I have missed. Plan to test in a couple of weeks. i'll keep you updated, thanks again for the help.

[dreracecar]

Build or have somebody build you a set of solid struts to replace the shocks and run the car as a hard-tail first. Make sure the left front wheel is at least 1/4 lower than the right to start with. Trying to learn a new to you car with a different power output will have your plate pretty full for the moment. once you get comfortable and the car running good, and have a base line. at that point you can go after the 4 link to see if there is an improvement .

  Never give a racer a car that he can adjust because 9 outta 10 times they will adjust the wrong direction

[masracingtd1167]

Going in the wrong direction is how you learn to go in the right direction .

[ricardo1967]

Going in the wrong direction is how you learn to go in the right direction .

Sure thing Bill, it works most of the time

[dreracecar]

Going in the wrong direction is how you learn to go in the right direction .

also can get you purchase another car

[Rodchucker]

Curly1,
Was your altered lifting the front wheels out of the beams and red lighting?
Thx
Chris

[RTK]

Hey all, I finally got some t&t in this weekend at local 1/8 mile track. first passes ever in one of these things, what a ride! started with just launching & going left hard, made adjustments all day saturday to preload, wheelie bars & tire pressure. its not perfect yet but did get one full pass. 1.11 60' 5.17@ 134. still paddling the tires a bit. i'm going to put it back on scales & see where weights are now. need to make a weight bar for the nose & upgrade the brakes! maybe then we can work on tuning the fuel. all in all a very successful first outing. Thanks again to Curly for the insight, & all who responded.     Todd

[Curly1]

Awesome, now that you have made some passes you should now know what direction you need to go to tune the chassis. If it is going hard left then you have too much right rear preload or possibly the anti-roll bar is not neutral. Once you get it very close you can fine tune it with wheelie bars.

I set up my car somewhat different than many others, I have it set up with IC fairly short and up kind of high. Also the top bar is down fairly low. What those things do is limit the tendancy to wheelie at the hit. It will power wheelie up peaking around 60 to 80 foot out but it is smooth and easy. When the front wheels are in the air it is 1. your four link. 2. the anti-roll -bar. 3. Wheelie bars. 4. tire pressure that steers the car.  My thinking on an altered is they are like a 175 MPH unicycle under power almost all the  way down the track they have almost 100% of the weight on the rear tires when they are set up right.

Your 60 foot and MPH is good for that ET so it is working pretty good there. For your first time in one of those animals running a 5.17 had to be a blast!

[Rodchucker]

Curly,
Which Afco's are you using?
Thx
Chris

[Curly1]

Curly1,
Was your altered lifting the front wheels out of the beams and red lighting?
Thx
Chris

Up until last week I would have said no it does not pull front wheels out of beams but last race it certainly did and went RED. One thing the air and traction was the best I have ran this car on. Generally my car leaves the line and starts a slow power wheelie up peaking at about 12" high around the 60 foot or less, hits the wheelie bars light and it comes back down smoothly.
My four link is set up very aggressive and short so it works the rear suspension a lot but does not wheelie much and hooks good.
The AFCO shocks I use are the double adjustable (I think 14") and springs are 85 Lbs.
Let me know a little more about what your car is doing and I will try to point you in right direction. I do not  know or claim to know everything but can tell you what works on my car and why I think it works so you can try it.
If you are pulling the front tires out of the beams with out knowing much about your car I think the IC may be too long and low. That will pick up front of car. Also on the top bar if you lower it even while keeping same IC it will reduce the tendency to pull front wheels up. The top bars pull back pulling front up, lowering it reduces that leverage and tendency to wheelie. Many will add weight to front of car to prevent wheelies but I prefer to do it with chassis settings, fine tune it with wheelie bars and use a weight bar only as a last resort.
There are people who can tell you almost exactly where the four link needs to be set at on a door car but nobody really has it down perfect on an Altered.
My thinking is the Altered has more weight on the rear and center of gravity is further to the rear but the chassis is longer so it is different than a door car.