Suspension Notice for S/SS by NHRA

[Capri]

Jason, if you have no dog in this hunt, take a hike.

The spherical bearings in question were allowed 10 years ago with no issues. Now out of nowhere, someone decided they didnt like what they saw. How do I know? WE GOT THEM OK'd in Vegas 2003. I would not call that stretching the rules.

I was there when it was fine to use the stuff in question, and I was there when they didnt like what they saw on a mopar this past July.

What I do know, is on a Ford, the way the replacement parts work, it does not allow the lower control arms to flex and will keep them in check, without damaging the frame horns of the suspension after an over violent wheelstand, repetitive wheelstands, or any braking. There is absolutely NO performance advantage to this stuff. It makes the car more stable at speed, and controlable when the car lands the front end. Period.

[69Cobra]

Well I asked if they could explain how this is a safety issue in SS but not Stock and here's the reply.

Kris,

Super Stock can use the spherical bearings / rod ends, just like they are allowed to use a 14 ½ inch tire or a four link, or ported cylinder heads, or a sheet metal intake manifold, etc. As mentioned in my previous reply the decision has been made; should our position change in the future, that change would be reflected in the then current NHRA Rulebook or amendments thereto.

Pat Cvengros

Pacific Division Technical Director

(626) 250-2295

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[Hudlow66]

Still didnt answer your question, did he...?

[Alex Denysenko]

Originally Posted by 69cobra

well i asked if they could explain how this is a safety issue in ss but not stock and here's the reply.

pretty much the same answer we got. And i went ahead and asked the magic question what ever happened to " dedicated to safety"?

[69Cobra]

4:1 ALIGNMENT
Each car in competition, regardless of class, must have sufficient positive front-end alignment to ensure proper handling of car at all speeds.

Right out of the rule book! Kind of hard to keep a positive alignment when the brake strut rod's rubber bushings are letting everything move around.

[Tom Nolan]

Safety & Strut rod conversation with Bruce @ NHRA
I talked to Bruce today regarding the safety issues with stock strut rods, deflecting and causing the front wheels to skid on cars like my '64 Thunderbolt, they feel that it's OK to have safe Super-stock cars but not stock eliminator!???! Please take the time ASAP to e-mail NHRA's tech department with your safety concerns regarding the use of aftermarket strut rods to control the unsafe movement, during wheel stands and braking! There is no performance advantage here......strictly safety. Tom Nolan A/SA 6015

[69Cobra]

Originally Posted by Tom Nolan

Safety & Strut rod conversation with Bruce @ NHRA
I talked to Bruce today regarding the safety issues with stock strut rods, deflecting and causing the front wheels to skid on cars like my '64 Thunderbolt, they feel that it's OK to have safe Super-stock cars but not stock eliminator!???! Please take the time ASAP to e-mail NHRA's tech department with your safety concerns regarding the use of aftermarket strut rods to control the unsafe movement, during wheel stands and braking! There is no performance advantage here......strictly safety. Tom Nolan A/SA 6015

Unfortunately, it seems that the safety of the racers is not their concern nor the investment we have in our race cars. Very sad state of affairs NHRA.

[Larry Hill]

Tom Nolan, thanks for your work on this.

Larry

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Capri

Jason, if you have no dog in this hunt, take a hike.

The spherical bearings in question were allowed 10 years ago with no issues. Now out of nowhere, someone decided they didnt like what they saw. How do I know? WE GOT THEM OK'd in Vegas 2003. I would not call that stretching the rules.

I was there when it was fine to use the stuff in question, and I was there when they didnt like what they saw on a mopar this past July.

What I do know, is on a Ford, the way the replacement parts work, it does not allow the lower control arms to flex and will keep them in check, without damaging the frame horns of the suspension after an over violent wheelstand, repetitive wheelstands, or any braking. There is absolutely NO performance advantage to this stuff. It makes the car more stable at speed, and controlable when the car lands the front end. Period.

My dog can hunt wherever and whenever I want it to!!!!!!!

So it is in writing that this modification to Stock frontend suspension parts was okayed 10 years ago? Not a problem. I'm sure showing that letter to the tech dept will put an end to all the controversy. Thanks for letting everyone know that you have the answer.

[69Cobra]

Originally Posted by Jason

My dog can hunt wherever and whenever I want it to!!!!!!!

So it is in writing that this modification to Stock frontend suspension parts was okayed 10 years ago? Not a problem. I'm sure showing that letter to the tech dept will put an end to all the controversy. Thanks for letting everyone know that you have the answer.

Hey Tough Guy,
Since you are so smart and this is your fight can you tell me what NHRA's logic is for correcting a safety issue in one class but not the other when there is absolutely zero performance advantage here and like I said earlier some of these Stockers weight more and are faster than a comparable SS'r. Please tell me how that makes sense. Matter of fact if my info is correct and I understand it correctly there has already been an on track incident related to the rubber bushings in the front suspension on a Mopar that took out about 4 or 5 sections of guardrail out at Mason Dixon in 2007 at a division 1 race. In case you haven't noticed Jason there has been over 22,000 views on this topic. I think its important to 99% of Stock and SS racers for one reason or another. Now that SS racers are in the clear and not sh!ting their pants anymore as far as the ruling in their class we probably wont hear from them anymore on this. But I can promise you if NHRA wasn't passing this for SS there would be more people than me and the few others here wanting answers. You've got million dollar cars going down at 130mph with OEM rubber strut rod bushings. Make sense to you Jason?