How good do relocated leafsprings work?

[team39763]

I think I'm leaving the darkside and coming back to traditional motors...I want a BBC.  Somehow I don't feel like I can hook a bbc with caltracs and a small tire.  So I'm looking at buying a truck that is tubbed with relocated leafsprings(inboard).  It's got huge by wide tires on there and a cage too.  I was just wondering if it would work good with my caltracs.  I think I remember reading about somebody relocating the leafs inboard, but he didn't like it for some reason and I think he did ladder bars.  What do ya'll think?

[VileZambonie]

Moving the springs isn't really necessary. I have rear leafs with my bbc

[Flamingbig10]

I would add coil overs

[team39763]

The truck I wanted to buy already has the leafs moved inboard and has 19.5" wide slicks in the back.  I'm thinking I'll need all the help I can get to hook a nasty big block.  I'd like to just add coil-overs and ladder bars, but I think that's a lot of work and money to get that done.

[HAULIN IT]

Team, Why are you giving up on the LS engine? They seem to be pretty durable & have the potential to make good power. What are you having trouble with?
 As far as the inboard springs & big tires goes, there are many guys running high 7's (& I'm not talking in the 1/8 mile) on less than 12" tires with leaves & Cal-Tracs. Once you leave the starting line...those big tires are just sapping power to turn. Unless your planning on upwards of 800 hp, it shouldn't be needed.
 If you want a ladder bar/coil over set-up, why not spend the money that your going to use to buy the new truck & do yours the way you want it? 
 Something to concider is that the farther apart the springs & shocks are, the more stable the vehicle. Just my Two Cents! Lorne   

[team39763]

I've been wanting to run 10's, but the majority opinion is that I'll only run low 11's by adding good heads and cam to my 6.0L.  Building a stroker 402 is gonna cost around $7000...for that price I can have a 540BBC built and have way more power than that 402 ever could.  Another thing is that some people are saying that the MSD/LS ignition setup won't work good for racing and if I'm gonna have to switch to using a distributor I might aswell get a big block.  I think the horsepower is cheaper with a bigblock when you start getting around 500+.  The new truck is $2k, so it'd be a good start for cheap.  It has a narrowed 12bolt, Weld aluminum wheels, huge slicks, funnycar cage, gutted(not as good as mine ), tubular control arms, fuel cell with fuel system, and tubs.
  But now you got me thinkin' about keepin' my truck.  I'm running out of cheap ways to lighten it up and I don't know how much power I can get out of the LS motor without spending big bucks.  I know twin turbos would end all power problems, but they're too complicated for me.  I wanted a roots blower, but BDS and that other company have crappy customer service.  My only other options for increasing power is to build a stroker(408) or get a big block(no smaller than 454).

[Captkaos]

With the right combo on the LS you could easily see 10's.  Huge tires are only going to help off the line.  Like Lorne said guys are running faster on 12" slicks and caltracs.
A valvetrain swap should yeild huge results on a carb'd LS.

[team39763]

Well I'm glad I ran this across you guys first before I made a bad decision.  I really can't talk to the guys around my town because they give me silly advice like "drop in a vortec 350" or "put one of those supercharged cobalt motors"....stuff like that.  I did run into one guy I trust from the next town and he agreed that we should upgrade the valvetrain and also spray a 150 shot.  I still have to do something about the rearend though.  I was planning to call moser and get their spool/axles/CC-elims. kit.  I want hard launches off the line, so I may need to get a nitrous converter too.

[aussie]

Well I'm glad I ran this across you guys first before I made a bad decision.  I really can't talk to the guys around my town because they give me silly advice like "drop in a vortec 350" or "put one of those supercharged cobalt motors"....stuff like that.  I did run into one guy I trust from the next town and he agreed that we should upgrade the valvetrain and also spray a 150 shot.  I still have to do something about the rearend though.  I was planning to call moser and get their spool/axles/CC-elims. kit.  I want hard launches off the line, so I may need to get a nitrous converter too.

what is a nitrous converter ? is it a stall converter or a nitrous kit??

[team39763]

A nitrous converter is a stall converter built up to handle nitrous...I believe they build them a little stronger and set them up a little tighter.