Chassis Setup

nascardriver0723 · Post by **nascardriver0723** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:34 am

Im looking for a good chassis setup book for a circle track stock car. Im looking for something that tells you how to set one up and kind of trouble shoot your problems.. Like if your real loose, it tells you to try wedge ajustments, spring rubbers, ect.. Any suggestions? If its more than 1 book, let me have the name of them all

BillyShope · Post by **BillyShope** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:44 pm

This should take you to an ad for Steve Smith's book.

http://www.ssapubl.com/index.cfm?do=detail&productid=1

I don't always agree with his reasoning behind his answers, but the answers themselves are usually pretty sound. You certainly can't go too far wrong.

nascardriver0723 · Post by **nascardriver0723** » Thu May 05, 2005 8:39 am

somebody else reccomended him. he must be good, thanks

BillyShope · Post by **BillyShope** » Thu May 05, 2005 10:14 am

I should have also mentioned that, for more personalized help, you could subscribe to Mark Ortiz' Chassis Newsletter. If I'm not mistaken, the subscription also entitles you to a certain amount of personalized assistance. Mark is VERY knowledgeable!

d4490 · Post by **d4490** » Thu May 05, 2005 3:24 pm

Mark Ortiz is a very good source, when was the last news letter sent to you? It has been a while since I received one.

nascardriver0723 · Post by **nascardriver0723** » Thu May 05, 2005 3:41 pm

have a website for him?

BillyShope · Post by **BillyShope** » Thu May 05, 2005 4:40 pm

Email him at :

markortiz@vnet.net

nascardriver0723 · Post by **nascardriver0723** » Thu May 05, 2005 8:27 pm

thanks

#84Dave · Post by **#84Dave** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 1:17 pm

Nascardriver...... I've spent 30+ years dinking with chassis setup on everything from a Street Stock Chevelle to full tube frame chassis' with coil-overs. Only the last 3 years have been pure joy in the chassis world for me personally. We began a very serious study of the books and software offered by Chassis R&D out of FL. It turned our chassis world upside down. Three Championships in four years. Go to pitstopusa.com and click 'software' and 'books'. The software to use is 'Front Geometry' and 'Chassis Setup'. The books to read are 'Stock Car Setup Secrets' and a new book (ISBN 0-7603-1859-X) entitled 'Chassis and Suspension'. The Chassis and Suspension book is a compilation of the large majority of the chassis articles that appeared in Circle Track over the last 2+ years. You can contact Bob Bolles at chassisrd@aol.com . Chassis R&D now has three software programs and we use them all. One of their programs has a U.S. Patent applied. As I said, their product completely turned our chassis program around. We have not tried the Performance Trends or Bill Mitchell software. Simply because the Chassis R&D product has worked extremely well for us at our 'hobby' level. I also agree with Billy. Mark Ortiz has a lot to offer in the chassis department.

Dave

MikeLeone · Post by **MikeLeone** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:04 am

I'm partial to the street stock setup manual. Probably because I wrote it!

It is written specifically for entry level street stock divisions. It was written for asphalt cars, but I've been told the stuff works on dirt too.

http://racingsecrets.com/street_stock_racing.shtml

DavidNJ · Post by **DavidNJ** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:24 pm

A little late but I thought I would chime in.

I haven't found a book or program that does it all. The one that's best about the basics is John Rowley's "Race Car Engineering Vol 1". He has a web site, but it also available from Bill Mitchell. it uses the Bill Mitchell software for its examples. The book is huge, accurate (I haven't found any errors) but won't teach what to do at the track. At least not in a practical way.

It is even worse with the big bar/soft spring setups, which really should be called high reboutd dynamic setups.

If you have a name factory car--Port City, Lefthander, RanderCar, Troyer, etc.--it should be in the right direction geometry wise. The shock companies--Pro, Bilstein--can point you in the right direction spring, shock and bar wise. Before going to the track make sure you are bump steered and the rear trailing arm angles are right (which sets rear bump steer). The programs can help with this.

After that, test days with different shocks, springs, bars, etc. and try things until it works. You can use revalvable shocks, however unless you have a large, skilled crew you will never have time to do it at the track. You will need a good set of scales and some sort of ride height measuring tool and toe plates.

First, you have to get the car to turn in. Nothing will work if doesn't turn it. Then work your way through the turn. If you are really lost, other people on track test days will sometimes offer help. Try to get advice from someone doing well in your class.

I am not a Bolles fan, however he does actually make recommendations in his software, which none of the others do.

gew522 · Post by **gew522** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:14 pm

If you're going to get the programs you have to be prepared to spend the time to get all of the measurements - and there's lots of them.

Lefthander has a chassis setup / cheatsheet kind of booklet that is handy. You'll have to call them and ask for it, think it was like $5. Is handy for at the track fine tuning.

ROMPRON · Post by **ROMPRON** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:21 pm

Great little book for someone getting started. http://racingsecrets.com and click on street stock tips. Its worth the money and then some.

Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Chassis Setup

Chassis Setup

Street Stock set up manual

book