Caltracs Pro's and Con's Your answer?

Well after 4 races I'm still not hooked on how much the caltracs have improved my 60 foots.
Now if I would have had a set of slapper bars on instead of South Side Lift bars then maybe I would have another idea.
My best time with the SSL was 1.45 my Best with Caltracs is a 1.44
for 350.00 I was at least hoping for a 1.40

Ok to my question what is the pre-load that you use on your caltracs?
How much on the drivers side and how much on the right?
What shocks are you using?

Thanks for your reply.

Bossmav

 

I just got mine fully installed. Have barely had a chance to even try them out. The one time I did try it hooked well. Last year at the roundup I was smokin em off pretty good and was getting low 2 sec 60ft times. Probably be another few weeks before I get to a track to actually test them. I am all ears to the people who have experience in these.
Dan

 

I actually had the best luck by preloading the LH side more than the RH side, but maybe it was just my combo, and even then, it was minimal...less than a full turn to lengthen it. I did, however, pick up quite a bit by limiting the front suspension travel by about 1 1/2". That made the biggest improvement in ET...dropping .05 instantly. Rather than using energy to pitch rotate , it was using that energy to push the car forward instead. Also, it didn't help ET much, but I also used an old 75 lb. battery mounted in the LR part of the trunk as ballast. Car was MUCH more consistent in the 60' in the last few race days, staying in the low 1.4 range and running a best of 1.38 in the cool weather.

 

Steven (Cometgt1974) should be able to help you guys out on the caltracks advise .

Also If you want to know an EXCELLENT site for Ford drag racing (race car) advise of any kind . Try www.mustangsandmore.com go to forums...then to Ford racing.

Try doing a search for "caltracs" these guys are racers who know there stuff!

 

Thanks MAV... I'll check that out as well.

I got my Cal-Tracs about 4 weeks ago but not ready to install them yet. Would love to hear more about everyones input so, help keep me informed

 

Depends on a ton of other issue's too, a car running 1.40 60's is probably not going to see but 1 or 2 hundreth's improvement. On the other hand a slower one with some traction issue's, may see 4 to 5 hundreth's? Have seen and talked to many younger racers who have read the ads in the various catalogs for items that claim "Big" increases in performance , and then are pi**ed off when they won't do squat for their car. There is a certain point reached in performance that requires several hundred dollars invested to get that elusive .01 or even .001 improvement. What works on one car may not on another for zillion's of reasons, ever wonder where all that used stuff at the swap meets comes from? Exactly my point, that's why most dedicated racers, like me, have empty bank accounts and a garage full of used "Speed Enhancer's" Just my view on the subject.

 

The cal-tracs are an excellent traction device but like Old Guy said, if your not having spinning problems in the first place, then then the cal trac bars are not gonna help that much. My adjustments will be different then most since i'm running fiberglass springs but I can still recommend a good baseline for steel leaf springs.

You need to set the car up like it will be racing, fuel in the tank and the driver in the car.......since it's hard to adjust the bars while sitting in the car, I would suggest having someone close to your weight sit in the car (unless you have really long arms ). I put my car up on blocks every time I adjust the cal tracs.....then I would set the left cal trac with a 1/4 turn preload and set the right side with a 1/2 turn preload.....try that and see what happens....

If you are sure that you are still spinning, add some weight to the trunk and then re-adjust the cal tracs. If you want to start taking full advantage of the cal tracs you will need a good adjustable shock!

What kind of springs are you running? 3 or 4 leaf? are they clamped at all? have you ever checked your pinion angle?

Like MAV said, the guys over at Mustangs and More have TONS of experience with the cal trac bars but making them work to there best ability is usually trial and error! I hope some of this helps!!

 

Re: Caltracs

4 years ago I used caltracs on my maverick in replacment of lakewood J-bolt slapper bars

At that time the car was running 10.60s at 124mph

The 60 foots dropped from 1.48 to 1.44

As the power level in the engine progressed to the low 10s , the 60 foot times didn't seem to get better

there was alot of reaction in the rear end and when the power suddenly hit the tires the rear end housing would violently move downward and ecessively squash the slicks and lift the body

we had adjustable shocks on the rear and they were set on " stiffest possible "

After looking at it for a while I realized the problem was the Maverick's staggered shock arangement

We purchased a set of " Rancho " 5000 shocks for the front a chevy truck mid 80s aplication

On the top end we mounted them to the frame rail about 3" behind the axle centerline [ we drilled and sleeved the frame and used a grade 8 , 1/2" bolt ]

On the bottom we welded brackets to the housing

The cars 60 foots emeadiatly dropped into the 1.3 zone with a best of 1.359
and ran in the 9.90 range

That's the best we ever got out of the caltrac setup even though the cars performance due to increased hp has progressed to 9.40's

The weakest link in traction became the 10 inch tire on the 8 inch rim

Were hitting the wheel with more power , but the tire can not hold it's foot print on the track

As a matter of fact , we always got our best 60s with a 9" slick on the 8" rim !

For this year , we moved the leaf springs in 2" per side , and added inner minitubs to allow for a 10" wheel

we'll see how it works soon

Here's a Link to the latest pulls we made on a " Mustang " chassis dyno
it made 640hp at aprox 8200 and held over 600hp all the way to 9200

http://www.ontariodrags.com/videos/...04/len_dyno.wmv

 

are the caltracs a bolt in or do you have to move one of the shocks?

 

The cal tracs are a bolt in application.....Lentech brings up some great points about Hooking!! The whole package needs to be looked at, the shock is very important in a high horsepower application and as much power as lentech is throwing down, he would benefit from one of the super high dollar double adjustable shocks! And like he said, the shocks should be relocated to behind the rear axle.....like mine....

Check out this picture....
http://mmb.maverick.to/attachment.php?attachmentid=3171

Did I mention that i've seen a car with a setup similar to mine go in the mid 8's in the 1/4!! That's very fast on leaf springs with cal trac bars.......

 

Len-
Great info thanks for the post.
Did you mount your shocks straight up and down or at an angle?
Any chance of a few pictures of your set up?
Thanks.
By the way Steven, I can't wait to see this years video if you make one.
I watched last years about a million times.

 

Thanks Ray ,

They are staight up and down

I will try to get some pics up soon of the latest suspension work

It looks much like " CometGT1974's " in his picture a few posts back
Len.....

 

As a bracket racer here is what I like about my cal-tracks. These are my 60 ft. times from my last race two weeks ago. 1.750/1.749/1.742/1.744/1.745/1.745/1.736/1.709. You just can't beat the consitancy. The last one is lower because they sprayed the track right be for I ran.

 

Thanks everyone for your input.
I'm going to move my shocks from the spring perch to the rearend like CometGt1974 has his.
I've been told that the 1.45's I'm getting in the 60's are a very good number but everyone want's a little more.

Thanks again!

Bossmav

 

I Run The Ssm Bars I Have Had Trouble With The Shock Ears Bending I Had To Rework Them They Work Fine Now Went From The Bar To The Frame I Run 68 Falcon Springs Moves Rear Forward 1" The Shocks Are Hurst 50/50 They Helped More Than Anything Best 60 1.48 It Is Running 1.53 This Year Went To More Cam And Converter But It Runs 11.15 On Motor (302) Went 10.80 Last Year With Less Cam Got The Car Down To 2230 With The Alum Front Hubs The Car Has More Weight In The Rear Than The Front Of The Car All Steel But The Hood With A 28 10.5 Tire I Have No Traction Problem With This Car