WildBlue goes RideTech

[GeoffP]

[WICKED_SS]

Nice Job!

[GeoffP]

Thanks!

[Quickboat]

I like your steering stop pad..original. What is the first pic of? You got a picture of the muscle bar arm and how much it clears the wheel going to the end link? That is one big radiator!

Hawaii is so pretty this time of year. If we are lucky we can get to see the whales migrating.

[GeoffP]

Thanks. The top pic is the end of the sway bar where the tire rubbed the powder coat off. The end of the arm and link connection get no where near the wheel. Yah, the radiator does a great job. I drove the car about 12-15 miles out to my wife's grandma's house. The car is pretty much finished performance mod-wise other than the rear axle noise, fuel tank, tail pipes, and I plan to buy a new drive shaft when I replace the rear axle.

One thing I've learned is that the heim ends really transmit the gear noise into the car. It's so loud at highway speeds it's just about unbearable. Hopefully I can get this fixed soon after DSE's event. It's tolerable for the time being.

[Quickboat]

One thing I've learned is that the heim ends really transmit the gear noise into the car. It's so loud at highway speeds it's just about unbearable. Hopefully I can get this fixed soon after DSE's event. It's tolerable for the time being.

Do you have to standard poly/heim upper links? This is that loud? Is your rear going out?

[GeoffP]

The links I have are heim on both ends upper and lower. The rear is loud because...well, it's a long story but I guess I've got time to tell it. My brother bought the 12 bolt with a mid-3 something series gear in it. He bought a "good used" 4.11 gear and had a buddy install it. It was noisy but he didn't care because the car was only drag raced and some moderate street driving but never on the highway. Plus it wasn't overly noticeable with 3" Flowmaster mufflers on it. To put it mildly the engine was VERY loud (396 big block with a pretty good sized cam). Fast forward to when I bought the car, I changed it to something more drivable and have been slowly modding the car into a street drivable, fun to drive car that's also a capable autocross'er. I knew the axle was noisy. I just wasn't expecting it to increase the interior noise so dramatically. I've been planning to either get a new rear axle built or get the one I have fixed. Obviously it's cheaper to get what I have fixed but I just don't know anyone local I trust to fix it right.

[regal454]

I have a set of 3.55:1 gears for a 12 bolt if you are intrerested I can sell. They are GM gears. They were fine and didnt make noise when I removed them from my 12 bolt when I changed gear ratios. If you are interested, i'll bring them to Summer Slam?

[Quickboat]

Well a 4.11 gear is a bit tall for auto-x anyway isn't it? so if you change it out you'ld be back to the 3 seies carrier again. I am going with a 3.55 gear. Thought about a 3.73 but the TKO has a pretty good 1st and I loved the low rpm on the highway with my old 3.36 10bolt gearing. this will be a good compromise. I opted for the poly/heim links I was thinking about throwing johnny's in place of the heims. not sure if that would make any difference or not.

[Quickboat]

I have already purchased my gears, thanks. Are you staying with 4.11's?

[GeoffP]

I've found the 4.11's to be great for short autocross layouts but they are very low for anything else. I've hit the rev limiter at the last two RTTH and last year at RTOS. I think it would do well with a 3.73 or maybe even a 3.55 but my .5 6th gear would be absolutely useless with the 3.55 gear unless I'm really haulin' the mail. I've thought that 3.90's would be a good fit for tranny gearing but may still be too low for autocrossing without really revving the engine and I've got the redline at stock LS2 limit (6200?).

Marc - I will definitely think about it. PM me what you want for them - if you can install them, PM me what you'd charge to put them in. If you can put them in, what would you charge me to fix my pinion angle error and weld on new upper tabs? Just curious and thought I'd ask cause it never hurts to ask, right?

[Quickboat]

I've found the 4.11's to be great for short autocross layouts but they are very low for anything else. I've hit the rev limiter at the last two RTTH and last year at RTOS. I think it would do well with a 3.73 or maybe even a 3.55 but my .5 6th gear would be absolutely useless with the 3.55 gear unless I'm really haulin' the mail. I've thought that 3.90's would be a good fit for tranny gearing but may still be too low for autocrossing without really revving the engine and I've got the redline at stock LS2 limit (6200?).

Wow I didn't know the T56 had a .5 OD gear, crap that is low. I think my TKO is a .68 which is usable with the 3.55. Having a long stroke small block helps too...

[GeoffP]

Yah the F-body ones have a .5 6th except for the 93 model year trans. I think it has a .68 6th. The 93 unit works great with a 3.73 because it has a steep first gear and not so much OD so it teams well with 3.73:1. You can easily change the 5th/6th combination just by removing the tail housing. I think it's a couple hundred for the 5/6 cluster gear and matching driven gears.

[SparkyRnD]

can't wait to see the car on the track this year

[GeoffP]

Thanks I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure how many events I'll find my way to this year but I am definitely going to DSE's event and hopefully RTTH. I can't make the Music City event due to timing but would love to go to that one next year. This year's priority is to get the rear axle straightened out and try to get a better gas tank/pump setup. I'm currently running a stock tank with an external MSD in-line high pressure pump and a 'Vette regulator/filter.

[GeoffP]

Not much progress made today. I really needed to nut and bolt the car today but I got lazy and just installed the new CD player I had from my wife's Tahoe because it has an AUX input for hooking up an iPod. I've driven the car to work a couple times and it really does handle great. It just feels "different" from the old setup but in a good way. I can't wait to get it to the alignment shop next week to get it aligned and ready to go for next weekend. I'm leaving sometime Friday afternoon after my wife and I get off work with camper and car in tow. I hope we can get there early enough to meander around and say Hi to a few people and I would love to be there early enough to get a spot near one of the power poles so I can have power!

[Quickboat]

Out in LA now getting ready to get back on a plane Sunday for the islands! To be honest I would have liked to take a couple of days vacation to get some more workdone on the bomber. Maybe later this season. Get some video of your runs Geoff. Would love to see her perform. Have fun good luck!

[GeoffP]

I've got a GoPro so I'll have at least a couple. Hopefully I don't completely stink with the new setup! Have fun in Hawaii!

[GeoffP]

I "nut and bolt"ed the car tonight. I guess it's about as good as it's going to get before Kershaw.

On a side note, my neighbor let me drive his 2011 Mustang GT California Special with an SVO supercharger tonight. All I can say is,"Wow." The power that thing has is unbelievable and it comes in so smoothly! Makes me want a new car!

[carguy502]

Hi Geoff! I have been studying your 4 link install and was curious if you ever called Alston to see if their jig would work for setting up the ridetech 4 link.

Thanks,
Don