Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

What kind of chassis seems to work best so far this year on the Goo-dyear tars. Are the torsion tubes reverse or standard rears,fronts,stacked etc. I heard the king used a reverse tube rear car at Volusia

to get the job done . John S.

It depends on your driver and the size of the track. reverse tube works better on big tracks.My first car was an ex Blaney reverse tube. I struggled and switched the tubes back to standard after six races and won rookie of the year. My second season I started with the same car till crashed hard. Bought a stacked chassis and went on to finish third in points.

Double reverse...

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

Looks like the front is a standard arm car from the pics.

Standard arm is long arm on the left side-that shows the long arm on the right side (reverse). There is another victory lane pic in Winning section that appears to show the rear is reversed also (as previously stated).

what shocks is he running? They look like integra shocks.

Interesting observation, I'm pretty sure that he ran PRO shocks on his own stuff. Those are definitely not PRO shocks.

He ran Integra's last year on his own stuff. He used to run Pro Shocks.

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Thanks for the info.

Ahh yes....I stand corrected.....from a little closer inspection of the rear it looks as if the rear tubes are reverse arm as well (judging by the position of the stop).

Hate to stick my neck out here....(with all the AX swinging people on here)....but isn't the rear STACKED?....can't zoom in real close,but the left rear stop sure seems to be aweful high....???? life's short,play hard

no it's reversed, not stacked.

it must be the reflection of the shifter/components on the rearend? (we see high above the RR tube) , although, shouldnt we see a LR stop located behind the RR tube? I dont see it? unless; its anodized black and the stop bolt is unvisable in the photo? I couldnt zoom in ..

Would one of you fine posters please explain the difference between standard and reverse tube for us non-mechanically minded types? Thanks. ( Please- talk to me like I'm 4 years old. Simple the better.)

The torsion tubes are part of the frame,they are on both ends of the car,2 on each end of the car,one mounted in front of the other.They are just round tubes of steel that the torsion bars ride in.They are offset,meaning one of the 2 tubes sticks out farther on one side than the other.On a standard frame the longer tube will be the farthest tube on the front of the frame and the farthest tube on the back of the frame on the left side of the car.On a reverse tube car the opposite tube ,the tube closer to the cockpit,will stick out farther on the left side of the car.It changes what side of the car has the longest torsion arms,some like the reverse tube car for dry slick tracks,and I'm sure some have other reasons for using it,but it's not widely used.

When you view a sprint car from the side, you'll notice that the front and rear tubes are laying next to each other. I'm referring to the tubes that house the torsion bars. Because they are laying next to each other, the distance from the axle to the tube is different, one is in front of the other. Therefore the front tube is further from the axle. The tube that is furthest from the axle, requires a longer arm.

The majority of sprint car frames feature a tube arrangement that places the short arm on the right side of the car and the longer arms on the left side of the car. The shorter arms have less leverage, therefore they produce a stiffer spring rate. Because cars roll to the right, the stiffer spring/shorter arm helps resist roll while cornering.

It's a little more complicated then that when it comes to spring rates, but hopefully you get the idea.

Now, that we understand a standard tube car, the reverse tube is simply the opposite. That means that the long arms are on the right and the short arms are on the left.

I hope that helps, it's a little tricky to explain...

after furthur evaluation of the play I believe it stands SK's is reverse arm (rear) in the photo LOL,

I will knowingly put my fingers on the table for one of you to smash with a hammer ,so, anyway, here it goes,

Murphy, I will assume you understand the pricipals of leverage and the amount of torque guained when (say a cheater bar) is placed on something to guain more torque in the " job within" , the "reverse arm" is just the invert of a "standard car", chassis builders need to alter the cars torsuion tube locations upon assembly/fabrication , the standard chassis used today typically has a shorter torsion arm on the Right Side of the car thus providing less leverage on the torsion bar creating a stiffer bar rate (most drivers would consider the car looser) when the RR arm is lengthened the car will guain the leverage on that particular torsion bar and create mor torque (leverage) on the bar decreasing the bar rate (often drivers would consider more tight ) the amount of weight transferred from wheel to wheel is going to be greatly altered, other pricipals to the reverse arm cars would be on bar reaction and preload are also part of the adjustment /nature of the configuration, but for the most part, IMO, I think the changing of arm lengths makes the most major differance , I personally have never driven a reverse arm car, but, would imagine only mature drivers would be capable of preferring one over the other , and quite possibly, one is better on a given track condition ? , trouble is , this isnt a bolt on adjustment, It just boils down to driver prefferance, you see torsion bars (rates)changed all the time throughout a night, the teams running competitvely will commonly taylor the bars (rates) to the drivers notes and "educated guess" on the future track condition ,

A"stacked bar" is just exactly that, the LR and RR torsion tubes are located one on top of the other vertically "stacked" in the chassis fabrication process,

a "split bar" utilizes one torsion tube with the torsion bars both being half the length of a stadard bar (what proubly 14"?) again Ive never driven one ,but,the car will see the reward in wieght saved , Hodnets car comes to mind for a split bar (rear even) (torsion stops located under the belly of the tail tank) it looked like a pain to set the stops ect.anyway hope that helps ?

Split tubes usually use 18" torsion bars. Not many split tube chassis built anymore cause it takes someone who understands it because it's quite confusing. I think the last split tube car that ran flawlessly was Schatz running a JEI split front and rear tube car at Oskaloosa with Ricky Warner wrenching and Barry jackson helping. That year he took the challenge and was up to fifth in 10 laps, only to pop a valve.

well whatever they are in inches I dont see the noticeable benifit in them I was only assuming since standard is 29" or 30', most common, I guess ive seen the fronts from time to time in a split configuration , last years nationals I noticed Hodnets was a split in the rear Ive seen (and only once) the split tube bar break completely, any testimont to guys running these shorty bars? is that common from time to time? Ive twisted a 30" bar, faded a 30" bar , but never broke one, I tend to keep my racing endevors resembeling the band "KISS" ( Keep It Simple Stupid) seems to work ok thus far.

The reason the short bar is more likely to break is that to get the same amount of twist out of a shorter bar, the metal must undergo more deformation, therefore shortening the life of that bar. For example, if you have a bar with 20 inches of effective length and you want to twist the end of it 10 degrees, then you have 0.5 degrees of twist per inch of bar. For a 10 inch bar to deflect 10 degrees you have 1 degree of twist per inch of bar. This gives the bar a much more aggressive workout, an when the bar gives up it rapidly goes from a fade condition to a broken condition.

Unfortunately KISS doesn't apply to my explanations. To visualize what I just said, get two straws and cut one in half. Twist them between the thumb and forefinger one after the other, twisting the same amount each time. You will see that the shorter straw will be more wrapped up than the longer straw.