One of the most important part of your race car is the shocks that are on it. Without them you’d just bounce your ass off and have no hook up.
But shocks
are one of the most overlooked and under utilized component of the race car.
Everyone takes care of that motor, don’t over rev it, change the oil weather it
needs it or not.
But the 4 shocks on the race car gets no respect.
If they go in and out and aren’t making a mess in
the floor, they’re good to go. Rigfht ? – how wrong could you be.
First – the
biggest mistake I see people making is not blocking the car up when it’s being
towed in the trailer.
You think about it, on an average night, on an average micro track you probably
travel about 5 miles total.
Those shocks are getting worked inside that trailer going down the road, you
figure it up how far it is round trip to your track and how many miles you are
putting on those shock.
Second – the shock valving will stay the same until you damage the shock. Wrong again – shocks wears just like the motor, you need to check them just like you check your motor.
Third
– You really do need to change the oil in your shocks, just like you change the
oil in your motor. Just not as often.
The rear shocks on the car are always stiffer valved, do they need to be
changed more than the soft valved fronts.
And if you run on rough tracks or cowboy up on the cushion a lot, they’ll need
to be changed more than on dry slick tracks.
and if you don’t block your car up when traveling the oil will need to be
changed more.
Fourth – you really need to keep on top of the condition your shocks are in. Get with someone and get them dynoed on a regular basis.
Ok, I need to get back to work. I might touch on this again and maybe get more detailed.