Front end rise

[Eman]

Not sure what you mean by recoil. My 90/10's do keep the frt. up, if you let the car down on the lift it takes a while for the frt. to settle. Global West makes bushings that won't bind. I don't have a stocker but I had steel bushings made with grease fittings so the arm just drops freely. It took a few in and outs to cut the Moroso springs down enough to get the reaction I wanted. Those springs can get your heart pumping! Morgan's book is good, but it's not an easy read.

[STR001]

Enman: What I meant by recoil was that on the launch the nose would rise and transfer the weight. Then the nose would come down (recoil) and raise up a second time. Only this time the nose would stay up throughout the entire run. I think I have that issue solved since I have freed up the lower control arm resistance. I did come across some nice heavy duty steel bushings for the lower control arms at www.ubmachine.com They look like good quality stuff. Should have them here in a few weeks. For now I shaved down the polyurathane bushings to free up the lower control arms to see if my theory will work. Plan on testing the car this weekend so i will let you know how it goes. Jason

[Eman]

I had a similar problem. The car would launch and the frt. would rise then drop and rise again. A video showed tire spin causing the frt. to drop suddenly. Weight transfer and adjustable rear coilover shocks helped mine.

[SSDiv6]

The use of Polyurethane bushings have been discussed to death on this site.
They are effected by temperature changes and can bind the control arm travel.
When Polyurethane material does not deflect, therefore, it stiffens the travel of the control arm.
Recognizing that everyone wants to save their pennies, for drag racing, you need to use Global West, AFCO or UB Machine control arm bushings. My preference and recommendation is Global West.

[Ed Wright]

I have always just cut the teeth from the ends of the inner tube in stock replacement bushings. Cheaper, and never bind. Bolts in the uppers long enough to bottom in the upper-inner shaft, then shortened just enough to not bind, should be able to rotate the washers under the bolt heads. My lowers right now have steel self locking nuts so I can adjsut the drag on the control arms. they should just drop from their own weight, not connected to the spindals. Been doing it like this since the Jr Stock days in the mid 1960s. Cheap and never a bind issue.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

I have always just cut the teeth from the ends of the inner tube in stock replacement bushings. Cheaper, and never bind. Bolts in the uppers long enough to bottom in the upper-inner shaft, then shortened just enough to not bind, should be able to rotate the washers under the bolt heads. My lowers right now have steel self locking nuts so I can adjsut the drag on the control arms. they should just drop from their own weight, not connected to the spindals. Been doing it like this since the Jr Stock days in the mid 1960s. Cheap and never a bind issue.

Yep, an old trick that still works; I believe either Moroso or Competition Engineering used to sell bushings that were already modified.

The difference on the OEM version of the control arm bushings is the inner sleeve is bonded to the rubber material. Therefore, it pivots on the steel sleeve and does not rotate on the rubber material.

In Polyurethane bushings, the sleeve, instead of remaining static in the bushing, also tries to turn inside the bushing when pivoting.

Polyurethane does not have the low friction and the load bearing characteristics of Teflon or Nylon thermoplastics, therefore, while pivoting, it will flex under load.

[Alan Nyhus]

Originally Posted by SSDiv6

In Polyurethane bushings, the sleeve, instead of remaining static in the bushing, also tries to turn inside the bushing when pivoting. Polyurethane does not have the low friction and the load bearing characteristics of Teflon or Nylon thermoplastics, therefore, while pivoting, it will flex under load.

There are definite differences in polyurethane control arm bushings from brand to brand. Some polyurethane compounds are 'sticky', for lack of a better term. A lube like Permatex Super Lube between the bushing and the sleeve makes a big difference.

[Signman]

Similar to Ed on my stocker:

Used stock rubber bushings on the lower arm assembled with never seeze on the bolt and inside the steel tube for lube that never leaves. Added lock nut tightened until bind the loosened til free. Intall bolts front to back for added safety and peace of mind.

For the strut / shock use the best you can afford. Started with the Koni adjustable strut but when I got the car to leave hard the front end would slam down and upset the rear suspension. Santhuff is well worth the money not only for the full adjustability and good valving but the fact that they stand behind their produtct.

[Ed Wright]

I do lube the shafts where the bushings pivot. Guess I left that out. I certainly agree about the Santuffs! I have used about everything else. Had them re-valved, etc. Nothing had the adjustability or control of the Santuff.