Does anybody know if LCA Relocation brackets really work in a third gen ? I spoke to someone at S W Racecars and they said not to use them, their stocker guys don't use them and Third Gens are totally different than other cars that they do work on. Does anybody have experience with them?

 

They're a tuning aid. Your LCA should be parallel to the ground or down slightly in the rear. With stock suspension, LCARB do very little but many people want to lower their cars. This is when LCARB are used the most.

Stockers don't lower their suspension so they don't need the relocation brackets.

 

So if I'm parallel to the ground or slightly lower in the rear I should be good then? What about pinon angle, where should that be at? I plan I being mostly track at this point with drag radials for now.

 

Pinion angle is also a tuning aid. It could be anywhere from -2 to -5 down depending on what your car likes best.

 

You know how it goes with opinions, but I will say this: me and every f-body racer I know run reloc brackets, and we run them in the bottom hole. Yes, they were originally designed to correct a lower car, but look at it this way: The LCA is a lever on the rear, when you launch, the lever hold the pinion angle and rear forward. The reloc brackets give it a longer lever to pull on. If you are trying to pry a 500lbs boulder, do you want a 1 foot bar, or a 10 foot bar? Longer is better.

For an experiement, we took my friends 3rd gen drag car to the track, it ran 1.58 60 ft. We put a set of bolt on reloc brackets on the rear in the pits, it went out and cut a 1.54. That may not sound like a lot, but .04 is worth the $75 or so for a set in my book. I also run them on my SCCA SOLO 3rd gen for more bite and control out of the corners.

IMHO, they work, and are a very worthwhile investement. Every F-body racer I know (a lot of very fast cars) run them.

Opinions vary, obviously I swear by them, others do not. My 4th gen runs a solid 1.48 60 ft, so I have some experience getting these cars to hook. (4th gen rear is same a 3rd gen BTW)

Ed

 

I've had them tacked in for a while now I guess I finish welding them in and try tem out, although the LCA's are on a pretty big angel on the bottom hole.

Oh and how do they interact with the torque arm ? Is the torque arm lifting the car or is the LCA's pushing the car up ?

 

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Really, neither...the torque arm keeps the pinion angle in line. I have bent stockers pretty easy. A replacement will hold the angle on hard launches, and allow adjustments too. The LCA's keep the rear in line front to rear, and give a hinge point. The springs hold up the car straight on the rear end. The panhard rod holds the rear in place side to side. Did not catch your mod list, but upgraded LCA's and torque arm are a must for hard launches. Bottom hole is best for drag use!


As listed below, pinion angle varies on the car, with manual trans typically liking a little more. I ran -3 on my auto, my friend ran -5 on his M6.