Hey, y’all! I’m looking for a good drag suspension setup for my 98 C5. Something for the front and something for the rear. I’d like something adjustable as well. I have a stock transmission with a 4.10 rear diff. Was going to throw on Mickey Street SS’s. Any suggestions?

 

For drag racing:

1 - remove or unhook front sway bar
2 - in some manner, adjustable shocks in the front, setting them to a loose setting. You will have to play a bit to get it right. Rear shocks can be a standard setting. QA1a are quite popular for this.
3 - I don't know who is running a cradle or not, or if most people have now gone the C6 route for reinforcement, but you do want probably do something to protect the rear when running slicks. Otherwise I just suggest not launching the hardest out of the hole to protect the rear.

Do you have to do any of the above? No. Each piece will help, however.

 

One of the thing you would probably add is an alignment. Get the rear camber zeroed out and set the front up for a little extra stability with added caster. Drag strips aren't typically crowned so you don't need the extra caster on the front right that is typically used for street alignments. On crowned roads this will make it pull to the right but it'll track straight on a drag strip, runway (half mile, etc events), or other flat surface.

Unless you're getting really crazy shocks aren't an absolute must have but you want a good thick rear sway bar and personally I just ripped the front sway bar out of my car it's not that hard of a job if I want to put a new one in there I left the little mounting straps there with the four bolts and I can just put a new one in if I ever want to in the future.

As for shocks I would definitely go with QA1 shocks, no doubt. They have everything from simple stock replacements all the way up to double adjustables with all the valve settings you could ever need.

Previously what I have discovered for drag racing is honestly most of the time stock valving works just fine in the rear it's the fronts that you might want some adjustability with. So if you want to save a bit of cash just replace the fronts first and then if that isn't enough replace the rears later. Just understand that a lot of guys have went really fast with even ZO6 shocks and springs on a drag strip cutting some really good 60 ft times with the right tires and set up.

I'm running skinny Mickey Thompson sportsman S/R's in the front and 275/40/17 Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S' in the rear. I'm definitely all about hook and book and those tires definitely get the job done.

 

You gave the OP some excellent suggestions. One thing I would like to add. Raise BOTH of your seats as high as they'll go. Why? Let's exaggerate things. Let's say it was legal (and safe!!) to mount a 20ft tall flagpole in the trunk of a C5. Now add 500lbs at the top of the flagpole. When launching, this amounts to a tremendous breaker bar, and shifts a lot of weight to the rear tires. Of course, your seats won't have nearly that effect, but after a friend gave me this tip, the best 60ft times I've ever gotten in my 2000 vert was with both seats as high as they'd go. Most of the effects will be from the drivers seat, now that the the driver's weight is as high as possible. Every little bit helps. I could never get under 2.0 seconds in 60' with runflats. I got it down to 1.90 with runflats using the high seat adjustment. 1.90 with runflats back in 2003 on a stock LS1 A4 isn't bad, at least that's what I thought. Good luck....