Will a 9" live axle Cobra w/ spool ever turn into corners?

[David Borden]

Richard,

I was rushed when I made the post and did not think it though. I just saw a bunch of posts on lockers and spools.

You are the last person I would accuse of giving out bad advice. I respect your product and its design and your input on the forum.. so I appologies if it came across that way.

So back to what I was trying to say and did so poorly...

All my suggestions and opinions are based on this situation only and not generalizations...

My point was... Craig is putting a heavy 9 inch rear in his car and not the IRS. From what I gather he is using the stock FFR rear setup that uses the mustang quadra bind design. Frankly it only belongs on the street. Its the budget rear setup and has huge compromises on the track.

Add to that the older less rigid chassis, short wheel base, HUGE HP, limmited track experience(this is my assumption and appologize if wrong), Poor rear suspension geometry, short wheel base, and a locker or spool.

I just dont think its smart. I was talking specifically to Craig and his car and situation. Call it intuition. I just think he has really done a neat job this far on his ride and would hate to see him hurt it up based on generalized advice. I have seen a few guy wad up there cars due to high HP and poor chassis setup.

I agree, if he was running the 3 link or IRS with the appropriate bars, wheel rates, and stiffened up the chassis to the new design, had a number of year under his belt, he could be sucessfull with those diffs. However, there is new technology available that is better and not that much more money. The locker will unsettle the car when it locks and releases, the spool will force the car to drift and slide when cornered at speed.

Heck, I run the stock mustang traction lock. It lasts an entire season and costs $70.00 to rebuild at home.

From your list of cars, your a guy that knows how to do that with high HP cars designed for road racing.. and my assumption is you are an accomplished driver to be behind the wheel of cars such as those. I also assume those cars were setup and prepared with the same care as the JBL's you build.

That is very different that a guy with a new car looking for some track time with a car that is not optimized for it.

.... and my wheel rates on the spec racer are... 247lbs in bump and roll in the front, about 400lbs in bump and 224lbs in roll in the rear. currently no sway bars are legal, and the shock are set valving. the rear frequency is high, but seems to work well for the no-bar compromise we have now. The Spec car chassis rigidity is within your suggested acceptable range.

Peace.. and sorry for the missunderstanding.

David