LUVTruck.com

Just wondering if anybody know's of any advantages or disadvantages of removing a leaf or 2 or 3 from the rear of a luv for drag racing.

If you don't have ladder bars or minimum a set of slapper bars you will be asking for trouble. If you have bars then just pull the thick bottom overload spring.

it will reduce the sring rate thus lower the stance payload and increase axle wrap. Im guess your looking into this for wieght transfer. If you do pull a few leaves it will squat down like a bastard and i wouldnt be suprised if the rear bumper drags if you have a hot motor.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

yeah i am in the middle of swapin the stock rear with a bullit proof dana and i was just wondering about weight transfer i dont run it on the street becouse it runs on racing fuel (13.1com.) i thought maby i could lift the tires if i took out 1 or 2 leaf springs . i do have slaper bars it hooked good with the stock rear but it broke an axle. i can pull the left front tire about 2 inches off the ground with that rear and no nitrous leavin on the foot brake i don't even have a trans brake or any thing.

Just pull the over load spring out and you will have the results you are looking for,I did and it was a nite day difference.

cool thx

I wanted to ask is the over load spring the most bottom spring in the spring pack? It's thicker than the above 3 springs, basically twice as thick and 1/2 the length also. Thanks for clarification.

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1982 Chevy LUV diesel
2.25" stainless exhaust
w/ MagnaFlow performance muffler

removing leafs should only be done if you are adding som sort of traction device. slapper bar, slide a links or whatever. basically what you are doing is softening up the rear suspension so when you launch the car the traction device can leverage the rear end down and plant the rear end easier. It will also lower the truck a little. I told that chevytoyr1 kid to remove leafs and put slapper bars on and now he killls a lot of cars out of the hole that he wasnt able to beat before. He agreed that it made a HUGE difference in traction.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

yep it made a big diffrence but u have to add some traction bars or something similar.

yes pull the bottom spring off and add some slapper bars. i made mine from 2x3 tubing. run them past the spring perch so they hit the frame under a load. i'm running a 468 with a 9'' and stock springs and slappers. pull 1.47 60ft times 10.2 in the 1/4 @ 130mph. get-r-done

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9.75 @138 496
luv to race

where you from jeff?

when u make ur own slapper bars just make them long enough to put the snubber under the front eye or like Jeff said up under the frame. Instead of a rubber snubber use a poly eurothane skateboard wheel or just put a bolt in it. better yet if u have the money, go with a Cal Trac or Slide-a-link. both of those are the BEST bolt on traction device you can get for a leaf sprung car. got my rig into the 1.27 short times with a Cal trac. making HP is easy... making a front and rear suspension put it to the ground is where it takes a lot of thought.

on a side note, a hard launching LUV with cal tracs will bend ur leaf springs after a few launches(especially if you take a couple out of the pack). It will start to lean so keep an extra leaf pack or 2 around. Good luck with everything.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

i'm from odessa tx.

what i did on the slapper bar is weld it to the bottom of the shock hanger. it's about 6'' or so past the spring perch and hits the frame when i launch. i used a 1/2'' bolt with a nut welded to the inside of the bars. it's adjustable/ cheap and it works. i can buy a 20' joint of the tubing and make 3 pair of traction bars.. i run about 1/2'' space between the bolt and frame. when that baby launches, it does not twist much at all. in fact i pull the left front tire about an inch off the track and that's on the foot brake at 3000 stall.

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9.75 @138 496
luv to race