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What will trailing
arms, a panhard rod, and a torque arm do for me?
What
tires work the best at the drag strip?
How can I convert my
old tire size (F60x15) to its metric equivalent?
Where can
I get longer wheel studs from?
What is engine braking and
is it advisable?
What will trailing
arms, a panhard rod, and a torque arm do for me?
Trailing arms will keep the rear straight, relative
to the body, in the forward/aft direction. When you accelerate, they push the
car forward. When you brake, they pull back on the body. They allow for the
up/down motion of the axle when, for example, you hit a bump.
The panhard rod (probably called a "track bar" in the
service manual) locates the rear axle, relative to the body, in the lateral,
side-to-side direction. When you go around a turn, the centrifugal force
generated on the body is transmitted to the rear end (which hopefully is
sticking to the ground) via the panhard rod.
The torque arm locates the rear axle, relative to the
body, rotationally. When you accelerate or brake, a torque moment is generated
around the axle. The torque arm prevents the rear axle from rotating, and
transmits the torque to the body of the car. So when you accelerate, the torque
arm is pushing up on the body of the car.
A number of companies produce aftermarkets pieces
which prvoide even better handling characteristics than the stock ones, but a
harsher ride usually results as well (even over slight bumps).
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What tires work the
best at the drag strip?
Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro rear tires
(26x9.50-16LT) are one of the better brands. But they're just barely DOT
approved. M&H Racemaster street/ strip are also a good choice. They are
great for drag racing, offering much more traction than the stock tires.
Unfortunately, the tires are worthless for anything else. Cornering or driving
in the rain with the M&H tires is a bad idea. Even on dry pavement at
highway speeds is strange as the back of the car tends to wander back and
forth. It's probably best to only use them at the strip.
It's also a good idea to screw the tires to the rims
as the tires tend to slip around the rim. Drill a series of holes through the
rims into the tires and put in rim screws. These hold the tires in place.
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How can I convert my
old tire size (F60x15) to its metric equivalent?
The letters correspond to metric measurements with
A=155mm through L=235mm ("I" is skipped). The number is the sidewall height to
tread width ratio (just as it is now). For the F-bodies, the following
conversion should work properly: E70x15 = P205/70R15, E60x15 = P225/60R15,
F60-15 = P235/60R15, and G60x15 = P245/60R15. You want to make sure your try to
keep the same height otherwise your speedometer is going to be off. A smaller
diameter wheel will means that each revolution of the wheel covers less ground
and you're going slower than the speedometer actually indicates. This also
means the odometer reading is going have a lower amount of miles than you
actually traveled. Remember that the gauges are calibrated to the stock tire
size (diameter) from the factory and they will be thrown off by a change in
tire diameter.
Although you can vary the width (to a certain point
without rubbing the wheel well), you should try to keep the tire's overall
height between 25.5" and 26.5" (stock size of just about all F-bodies).
Computing the diameter of a metric sized tire (in inches) is easy. The metric
tire size is given in a format of: width/aspect/rimsize (i.e. 245/50/16). To
find the overall tire height, multiply the width by the aspect and then divide
by 100. Multiply that number by .0394 to convert from millimeters to inches.
Multiply that by 2 and finally add it to the
rimsize. So a 245/50/16 tire would
come out to roughly 25.65". Staying between 25.5" and 26.6" will maintain the
factory look and your speedometer and odometer will remain fairly accurate.
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Where can I get
longer wheel studs from?
Vette Brakes (1-800-237-9991) carries them.
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What is engine
braking and is it advisable?
Engine braking is where you downshift approaching a
stop rather than using the brakes. The shift of the tranny causes a shift in
the momentum of the car, there by slowing it down naturally. It is NOT
advisable. Engine braking leads to engine BREAKING! Use your brakes - they're
much cheaper to replace than your clutch (excessive wear) or your engine
(excessive revs).
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