Copied from another site." If both suspensions have the same spindles, then the drop resistance will
come from the ball joints used and/or the rock in your heims at the radius rods.
1) First the rocking heims, as the suspension moves up/down, the heims
rotate as well as rock inside/outside. They can rock only so far before they
run out of rock range and then bind up the suspension. Many times racers do not
center the heim rock when they tighten the jam nut. If you want more
down/rebound movement, then set the heim such that suspension will move more
before the heim rock locks it up.
2) There have been many different balll joints, aka tie rod ends,
sold by 600 Racing over the years. Each has its own range of movement. For a
couple of years, after the era of the Taiwan made, INEX stamped ball joints
which pulled apart, 600 Racing sold '4004' Moog ball joints made in USA. The
current ball joint which has been sold by 600 Racing since late last summer
carries a 5 digit number & is slightly different than the '4004' ball joint.
When both are fully lubricated and loosened up by holding the joint in a vise
and working the stem through full range of motion, I have found their range of
motion to be approx the same. So the different ball joints in the case should
not be a concern.
A question you need to answer is "should I be concerned about the
range of motion of the front suspension" with the shock unhooked and moving it
fully up/down. You should really be concerned only about the range of motion
which is needed by your race car when racing. Most setups for asphalt oval & RC
racing will not produce more than 2 1/2" shock movement (distance between max
rebound and max compression) during a race. Now for Gimpster running rutted
dirt tracks in the great north central USA, he may see 5 inches of movement.
For the asphalt racer, you probably have more than enough range of motion even
with heim rock and tight ball joints to satisfy your racing needs. The
guys/gals who need to be really concerned are the dirt racers. As Gimpster
already described a couple of days ago, dirt racers often have to go to the
extreme to find more suspension travel so they can keep their cars hooked up".
Mike Patrick
Little Race Cars
6601 Charles City Rd
Richmond, VA 23231
804 507-0106
