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I started thinking of these after I bought the gears. And I looked at them and they didnt look that hard to make.
Anybody have experience with making them? Pics? suggestions?
I was wondering why nobody has them connecting to the bottom of the shock mount. Its welded to the axle housing, so wouldnt that help with axle wrap. The u bolts look like they might slip.
I dunno, But I want to make some for my truck.
Thanx guys.
See if you can find a guy named Randy Ussery. He made some for his SWB 81 13 years ago out of scrap. They worked well and I think he's back down that SA way now days.
Jeff I just made my own set up a few months back and they seem to work awesome...I bought the lakewood universal traction bars from summit for like $40 I think. I used 3/8"x1" flat stock and made 4 "plates" you could say. I drilled holes in the ends so I could bolt them from front to back on the traction bar itself (one per side, 2 plates per bar). Next I measured for holes where the stock Ubolts hang down and drilled those, 5/8" I believe. Finally I dropped the nuts off the stock ubolts and slipped these up and used washed in the back to space it down to get the snubber close to the framerail and buzzed the nuts back on. Sounds real confusing, but I can take pics of the finished setup if you want.
If you have pics, that would be awsome... Cant believe how much caltracs cost.
I'll get some tomorrow for ya and post em up..I know when I started shopping for them and saw caltrac's over $300 I decided to make my own.
Cal trac's are adjustable though, you can pre load one side more than the other to help launch straight..... Hey Jeff holla at me when you wanna do the gear install.......
Why not? They are a proven design that a lot of time & effort went into.Quote:
Originally Posted by ff_jeff
Cowl327 has some homemade ones that work well, also.
Not saying that its not a great product. I'm just saying I believe I could Make my own Traction bar for ALLOT less. But I have allot of down time in my career, to build things and tinker around. So I can experiment with different stuff. Allot of people don't.Quote:
Originally Posted by SCIV
One of the easiest ways is to just buy radius rods from one of the motorsport companies. They come in one inch increments. So the length is not a problem. You can add heim joints and double adjusters. They also sell universal mounting brackets if you don't fabricate. The last rods and ends I bought I got from Day Motor Sports ~ Circle Track Racing Parts. You can also get them through Speedway Motors - Street Rod Parts, Race Parts, Ford Flathead Parts, Sprint and Midget Racing Parts, Pedal Car Parts. The price is reasonable.
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/mecha...tion-bars.html
Linky with in .
Here's some pics of my setup- 1st pic is from the front, kinda shows the snubber. 2nd pic is how I used washers to space the back down so the front would get pushed up. 3rd pic is how the brackets/plates look and how it's all bolted up...this is on a 4wd.
the link that use2bfo posted is for a home made set of caltracs... or you can just spend the money to buy a set...
Or you could go with these Lakewood Suspension 21710 - Lakewood Traction Bars for Trucks - summitracing.com but they only list them from 1988-2000. Surely it wouldn't take much to make them work on later models.
Ok stay with me. I know it will sound weird. Message Notsosane on here. he runs a red colorado. He went to autozone. Took a set of helper springs or something. Something weird. Flipped them upside down. Mounted them at the front of the lead springs. Making them work EXACTLY opposite of helper springs. instead of evening out the bed under a load. they hold the wheel to the ground. Talk to him about it. It was pretty freakin smooth. And if your truck was lowerd it wont affect you any. That was his problem. his colorado is so low a set of traction bars made it where his wheel wouldnt touch the ground
I made some....but they are top secret!
LOL mine are heavy...38lbs each
I dont think his even weigh 10lbs. Got rid of his wheel hop 100 percent. think it cost him like 40 bucks
pics of this Ian? its worthless other wise...lol
This is what he's talking about.. Just flip them over and mount them towards the front of the truck.. Killed all of my wheel-hop and cost me $32.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/Notsosane/Bars.jpg
Hey what exactly did you get from auto zone? And would you mind taking more pics?Quote:
Originally Posted by Notsosane
I like this idea, and I might make some rods to connect the frame to the axle as well. Get rid of axle wrap, and help with spring flex, and wheel hop.
Orielly has those...they are helper springs..turned upside down! Good idea
The spring clamps that hold the helper spring on are supposed to be enough to do the job. :thumb:
They didnt on mine Greg....the spring slips....
That's good to know. How many leafs are left in your spring pack, Dale? I like the long bar idea. They do that on 4wd suspensions to stop spring wrap-up. Going to a 3 link could be even better.
i have 2 springs Greg....and hell yeah...I like the long bar setup too!
So should I do the helper springs? Should I make a rod with rod ends, weld on some tabs and connect the frame to the axle? Should I build a caltrac style? or should I try the lakewoods? And whats a 3 link?
I am fixing to build me a long bar setup on my OBS when I get it running. Think I may do this little trick also what can it hurt?
4 link set up here I come.. all custom made by jon :D
Lower that mother first...:hyper2:
the lakewoods seem fairly strait forward... I am going to do either that or make a long bar... I will post pics. This will be after the gears and locker go in.
You talking to me? 4 link will lower it probably 5 or 6 inches in the rear.Quote:
Originally Posted by aarolar