Junk in the Trunk (or just under it

Some time ago I ordered rims and slicks for my mustang. This was in attempt to fix my 2 second 60 foot time I had at the drag strip, as well as for looks. I have always liked the way the American Racing Torq Thrust rim looked, and have wanted to buy a set ever since highschool. Well, I am halfway there. I still need to get the front rims, but since I have the pizza cutter drag tired up front right now, its not a big deal.

The tires I ordered are 26x10.5R15 BFG Comp T/A Drag Radials. They sat a bit higher than what was listed in the catalog, and the rim offset was less than the original rim (which I expected), so I realized that I was going to have more clearance issues than I thought. I could slip my hand between the rim and fender, and that was it. If I were to launch hard, the rear of the car would squat, and the fender would plant directly down in the tire.

My solution was to do a shackle drop. Its pretty much 4 straps of metal (2 for each leaf spring) which bolt to the original shackle locations on the rear of the leaf and have several holes drilled in it for adjustable height. After much, fighting, prying, cussing, and throwing things across the garage (36 year old bolts suck) I was able to get it done. And I had more clearance, so I was off to the races.

Or not. I took my car to the strip, and still had a 2 second 60 foot time. actually, it was worse, and my ET was slower. So I had to figure out what was happening. I noticed when I launched that it didnt feel like I was planting my rearend. I crawled under my car,and I realized my leafsprings were sitting completely flat, and actually resting on the traction baaadrs. I hadnt noticed this before as I had spent so much time with the car up in the air and never got under it on the ground. So, the rearend had nowhere to move, and was incapable of weight transfer.

The easy $150 fix is to just order new leafsprings. This would fix the issue, and get me back out on the track the quickest. However, a leaf spring rearend isnt the most ideal suspension setup for drag racing. Instead, I am going to have to save my money, and go with a set of ladder bars, panhard bar, and coil overs. This will cost about $200 for the ladderbars, $450 for the coilover kit, $100 for the panhard bar, and $60 for the ladder bar crossmemeber, plus installation costs. Unfortunetly, the bill doesnt stop there. If I go with coilovers, I will be putting a set of soft spings on so that I can better transfer weight, which will make the rearend more prone to squatting when both sitting still and especially during hard launches.

This takes me back to the original issue of the tires hitting the fenders. So, I took some measurements, and figured out that I can narrow my rear axle 2.5" on either side, and the tires would fit perfectly inside the wheel wells. Moser Engineering, one of the best known names in rear axles in drag racing, is just north of Indianapolis. On Tuesday I am going to give them a call, and see about having my axle housing narrowed. If I have these rims and tires tucked nicely in my fenders with a fully aftermarket ladderbar suspension, I think I will have a great setup. I have spent TONS of time and money on my engine, and I know it has plenty of power, I just need a better way of getting it to the ground.