Anyone here ever try autocrossing a c4 corvette with a solid Axle in it?
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Anyone here ever try autocrossing a c4 corvette with a solid Axle in it?
I keep braking rear end parts on my car and am getting tired of working on the car more than getting to drive it. Last weekend I broke another ujoint in the rear and it cut the batwing in half and the brand new spring I just installed two months ago with a new used batwing from the last brakage I had. I am seriously thinking of putting a solid rear end in since there doesn't seem to be anything out there that will hold up to a little bit of horsepower.
#2
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
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What U Joints are you using? I heard the greasable ones are weaker and fail much easier than the ones without any holes in them for adding grease.
Bill
Bill
#3
Racer
Thread Starter
I have been using the spicer ujoints. It's not just the ujoints I've been breaking. In the last 5 years I've tore the nose off my Diferential twice, I have 6 broken outer axles , 4 ujoints,have 5 twisted in half half shafts, two broken in half batwings, 2 new rear springs that are in two pieces, and many other things that are connected to the broken parts. When I get home now from a race the first thing my wife asks me is the car broken again and how much I'd it going to cost this time. She try's to keep tabs on things like that so when she wants new furniture I don't have much to say about it.
#4
Melting Slicks
With all the motor you have I'm assuming already that you have the Dana 44 in there.. Also look at your shaft anlges. If the car is lowered so the shafts aren't straight you are asking for trouble.
Given that you already have D44, you really don't need or want that much power for an autocross car. You are just going to spin the rear wheels or the car if you try to use it.
I am assuming that you are on slicks too, since you are twisting off half shafts, but for an autocross car that much power is just overkill. That much torque in first is just going to twist off the half shafts when multliplied by short gears. With the power you have you need to look at a taller rear axle ratio. You will be able to run almost any event in first gear and still have a lot of grunt coming off of the corners. Either that or take it easy and short shift into second and don't ever think of going back to first.
Work on the cornering power and not the power under the hood.
If you are maintaining speed coming off of corners, you can't simply hammer it without spinning. I suspect that you are slowing down too much and have a low exit speed, and then you are hammering the gas when you get it pointed in the right direction. That isn't the fast way around most autocorss courses.
Autocrosses are won by the guy who slows down the least, not by the guy who accelerates the fastest.
Given that you already have D44, you really don't need or want that much power for an autocross car. You are just going to spin the rear wheels or the car if you try to use it.
I am assuming that you are on slicks too, since you are twisting off half shafts, but for an autocross car that much power is just overkill. That much torque in first is just going to twist off the half shafts when multliplied by short gears. With the power you have you need to look at a taller rear axle ratio. You will be able to run almost any event in first gear and still have a lot of grunt coming off of the corners. Either that or take it easy and short shift into second and don't ever think of going back to first.
Work on the cornering power and not the power under the hood.
If you are maintaining speed coming off of corners, you can't simply hammer it without spinning. I suspect that you are slowing down too much and have a low exit speed, and then you are hammering the gas when you get it pointed in the right direction. That isn't the fast way around most autocorss courses.
Autocrosses are won by the guy who slows down the least, not by the guy who accelerates the fastest.