I have a 1969 442 with a M20 and 3:91 gears. I removed the after market Lakewood ladder bars to perform a factory correct restoration. I did not have a problem with wheel hop before but do now that the ladder bars have been removed. I've read a little about torqueing the suspension bolts without the weight of the car on the suspension. I did just that and suspect that the suspension is binding up. How do I fix this? Should I jack the body up then loosen the suspension bolts or loosen them up with the weight on the suspension before retorqueing?

 

Loosen the bolts plenty, with the wheels on the ground bounce the car several times, retighten the components with the weight still on the car.

This is easiest on a drive on lift. My next choice would be to safely put all 4 wheels on equal height blocks to gain some ground clearance. Be certain it is blocked safely and the lower the better.

Good luck!!!

 

What your doing is pre loading the rubber bushings and making them stiffer by tightening in place with weight off of them. I would replace with urethane bushings and air bags. No air when cruising. and maybe start with 10lbs of air if racing. The other alternative is the no-hop bars mounted on upper control arms. We have them on a street driven malibu and work well and can be driven daily with no problems. Im sure you are aware that enough wheel hop when launching will break first gear in that trans or spider gears or axle.

 

I just set the rear diff on jack stands (same as weight on wheels) at equal heights and spaced enough to allow access to the suspension bolts. Loosen it all up and retorque.

 

Thanks for all the great advice!

 

I doubt that its the torque on bushings. This is a very common problem with stick shift cars. More than likely its your shocks.

 

1) do like stated above, fix the bushing preload.
1b) check all link mounting points for cracks, braking away from frame including the upperlinks crossmember
2) check the pinion Angle is in spec.
3)shocks.

 

Did you change tires?

Tires with less traction sometimes hop.