Front Suspension Tuning for Drag Racing
Your drag car's front suspension plays a crucial role in determining your performance on the track. It is responsible for a multitude of tasks, such as optimizing weight transfer, improving your 60-foot times, and maintaining front end control throughout the entire run. Therefore, ensuring that your front suspension is properly tuned is essential for achieving peak performance.
IN THIS ARTICLE, WE'LL COVER
- Front Sway Bar: What it Does and When to Remove It
- Front Springs: Why Softer is Better
- Front Shocks: Tuning is Key
- Front End Travel: Controlling Movement
- Experimentation is Key
FRONT SWAY BAR: WHAT IS DOES AND WHEN TO REMOVE IT
If you're looking to improve your car's handling and cornering, a front sway bar is an essential piece of equipment. However, when it comes to drag racing, a front sway bar may not be necessary. In fact, removing the front sway bar will help the front end move more freely, allowing weight to transfer from front to rear and giving you more grip off the line during launch. It also removes weight off the front end of your car, which can be beneficial for drag racing.
FRONT SPRINGS: SOFTER IS BETTER
Springs play a huge role in how your car behaves during launch. Going to a softer spring rate gives your springs more stored energy, which means they'll have more force during launch, lifting the front end to transfer weight more quickly to the rear. On a drag car, you generally want your front springs compressed 30-35% when the car is at ride height.
FRONT SHOCKS: TUNING IS KEY
Tuning your front shocks at the drag strip is crucial to achieving the best possible launch. Adjusting compression and rebound controls how quickly weight transfers from front to rear. Firming up the rebound setting can help you slow down the upward movement if the car tries to wheelie off the line. Double adjustable shocks can also help slow the front end down as it comes back to earth. If you wheelie, a firmer compression will help keep the car from embedding the oil pan into the track.
Check out QA1's selection of drag race & street performance shocks.
FRONT END TRAVEL: CONTROLLING MOVEMENT
Tuning how much movement your front end has can change the way your car behaves significantly. A droop stop or limiting straps can keep your vehicle from lifting too far or transferring too much weight to the rear of the car. This is especially helpful if you're having trouble keeping the front end down, both during launch and down the track.
EXPERIMENTATION IS KEY
Ultimately, there are a lot of things you can adjust on the front end to help your car get faster. It just comes down to some experimentation. Try different combinations and see what works best for you. Be sure to keep detailed notes of the changes you make and how they affect your car. Follow us on social media and check out our other tech tips on YouTube or in our digital Tech Center for more information on how to improve your car's performance.