Spring Ascutney 2011 - Videos and Pictures Here

[Mopar 151]

It all has to do with the extreme amount of road crown below Check 3. On big bias-ply slicks, this acts like excessive toe-out. Trying to compensate by cranking in more toe-in will A) screw you up bad on the top half and B) leave you with a problem with rear toe. Excessive rear toe-in or toe out is evil incarnate

[3rdgendennis]

Not sure what Josh was doing, but with no power steering, big slicks, and 4000 lbs, the Dart kinda did what it wanted, and I just held on. My line was just keeping it on the road. I now think my dad is crazier than I did previously (he did a 3:11 at Ascutney in that car)

[KevinGale]

. I now think my dad is crazier than I did previously (he did a 3:11 at Ascutney in that car)

That is a Scary thought!

[KevinGale]

Excessive rear toe-in or toe out is evil incarnate

I'll second that! Major toe out seems to have been the main factor in my crash at Ascutney in 2006. I didn't know it at the time but I had 3/4" toe out in the rear. Just before the tree of fear the rear end decided that it wanted to steer sharply to the right and the front was doing no such thing. About a second later I hit a tree hard. This was on a straight section of road!

I got away with the rear toe out at all the other hills but not Ascutney!

[honda#72]

Major toe out seems to have been the main factor in my crash at Ascutney in 2006. I didn't know it at the time but I had 3/4" toe out. I got away with the rear toe out at all the other hills but not Ascutney!

3/4" toe out !!?? Man that must have been one hell of a scary ride up that hill . I ran 0 toe front and just under 1/4" toe in, in the rear, and found the crown barely manageable, with a narrower car and thinner tires.

[KevinGale]

It was scary but then again it's always scary. I start getting butterflies in my stomach about three days before Ascutney. They don't go away until I stop running on Sunday.

[walterclark]

Was that toe out inadvertent or something left over from circle track? I didnt find anything using a search that suggested toe out was desirable with modified cars.

[KevinGale]

Was that toe out inadvertent or something left over from circle track? I didnt find anything using a search that suggested toe out was desirable with modified cars.

It came with the car and I never checked it until after the crash. I suspect it was a leftover from contact with something during its circle track career. Dave Dennis's stock car that he just crashed at the tree of fear also had some rear toe out. If I ever buy a new car the rear end toe will be the first thing I check. Lol!

The car has been a bit less tail happy at other hills without the toe out. The problem I had is the car is always in danger of being tail happy since in lots of situations I have more power than traction. And having not driven a lot of other modfieds I wasn't sure what was normal.

After the 2006 crash I went through the whole suspension. I fixed the rear toe out and replaced all the shocks and figured out a much softer set of springs. Some formulas that John Reed got from a stock car suspension class helped a lot. The car is much happier now. It still hates the crown but the bumps at the top of Ascutney don't upset it at all. It just kinda floats over them with the big soft tires and soft springs.

[3rdgendennis]

It came with the car and I never checked it until after the crash. I suspect it was a leftover from contact with something during its circle track career. Dave Dennis's stock car that he just crashed at the tree of fear also had some rear toe out. If I ever buy a new car the rear end toe will be the first thing I check. Lol!

3/4" is pretty excessive, but I believe circle track cars use the toe out in the rear because they want the rear to come around in the corners, just makes it easier to drive. But when they spin out, they know what they are going to hit

My dad ordered new axle tubes, and pulled the rear end apart tonight...He was suprised to find a spool diff (very pretty too ), not the locker he thought he had. We've changed gears, but never had the diff apart before. Anyway, the new axle tubes will be going in straight, and hopefully eliminate the rear toe in his car.

[Mopar 151]

You don't usually need new axle tubes to fix toe issues with a full floating rear. Torch straightening is an old art, but it takes a while to get the knack - so Kevin and I have both pulled the rear housing out of our cars, washed them out (to avoid smoke & flame from burning lube), and schlepped them to a stock car wizard for the treatment. Pat Murphy at Cabral's (now at his own MASS Chassis) did mine, Rusty Ball did Kevin's.
Last I knew, no one was advocating much rear toe +/-. though some get kinda radical with rear camber - enough so that they are using machined snouts on the axle tubes so that the axles will line up, and crowned splines on the axle (crude CV joint) to prevent binding.