Mopar Suspension Upgrade - Burnouts Are Cool, But Traction Is The Action!

As Mopar drivers, we know how much fun it is to incinerate the rear tires while doing a pavement-destroying burnout. Burnouts are a fun way to demonstrate power and attract attention, as long as your friendly law enforcement officer isn't watching. a pre-launch burnout is mandatory for optimum traction if your car is on the dragstrip and equipped with slicks. As fun as burnouts can be, however, it's no fun to be left at the line or at a stoplight, spinning your wheels while the driver in the other lane hooks up and shows you his or her taillights. In this month's Quick Tech segment, we'll show you some high-- and low-tech ways to improve traction.

Where the Power Meets the PavementNo matter how much power your engine makes, you'll still be left on the starting line if your car won't hook up and get that power to the pavement. So whether you're racing or street driving, tires are an important consideration when trying to optimize traction. The basic rule of thumb is simple: bigger tires made of softer compound rubber simply work better. So our first recommendation is to put as big a tire as you can safely fit under the rear of your car. We're not saying you should hack your fenders out with a Sawz-All, just install the largest tire you can reasonably fit under your car for the best chance at traction.

Having a big tire with a large contact patch is great, but equally as important is the rubber compound the tire is made from. Softer compound tires will generally hook up better and respond better to being heated up by doing a burnout. If you're an all-out racer, super-soft drag slicks will provide great traction, but in a street car you generally need to compromise between tire life, traction, and drivability. Soft compound tires will wear out quicker, needing to be replaced more often, so only install super-soft drag-radial-style tires if you're willing to replace them every couple thousand miles.

Springs, Shocks, and Torsion BarsAxle wind-up is one of the biggest contributing factors to poor traction, and can be caused by weak, old suspension components, or a suspension that was never designed to handle the power that modern Mopar engines are capable of. Luckily, there are many sources that can supply new springs, shocks, torsion bars, and other suspension components to replace the weak factory stuff. Mopar's Super-Stock leaf springs are a great way to stiffen up the rear of the car, preventing axle wind-up and improving traction, and we consider an adjustable pinion snubber mandatory on a performance Mopar with leaf springs. Adjustable shocks will also allow you to tune the compression and extension times, keeping the tires planted to the pavement for optimum grip.

Up front, torsion bars with less spring load and shocks that extend easily will allow the front of the car to rise during the launch, transferring weight to the rear wheels to help traction. Be careful, however, as drag racing shocks and weaker torsion bars will compromise your car's cornering ability. Again, you need to decide how much you're willing to compromise handling for improved starting line traction.

While four-link or ladder-bar suspensions are probably the best way to get a Mopar hooking up, most of our cars are equipped with a leaf-spring rear suspension. There are kits to eliminate the factory springs, or to add a bar between the axle tubes and the front spring mount, but unless you're making serious power, simply attaining the proper geometry can help you achieve great traction with the parts you have. A leaf-spring car should have six to eight degrees of positive pinion angle to plant the tires firmly during a hard launch, and pinion angle is easily corrected with shims between the axle tubes and the springs. Additionally, a four-wheel alignment will ensure the car is tracking properly.