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modular93fox
03-07-2011, 07:42 PM
Looking to help out with wheel hop on the cheap. Since I installed 3.73 and an eaton posi, the truck wheel hops pretty bad on concrert. Cal Tracs are nice, but 400 isnt so nice. A quick search shows something pretty simple and basically the same thing w/o the adjustability and almost no ride quality loss.
What do you guys think? anyone here run something similar? The Ford Ligthing owners speak highly of these types of traction improvers :)
heres an article:
http://www.timskelton.com/lightning/race_prep/suspension/traction_bars.htm
and some photos from it:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
From the threads ive been reading, it completly gets rid of the axle wrap which is the problem im having.
the attached photo is the Rancho trac bar... cant find any links to the product but this is the layout I intend to replicate on my truck... with the bar being either single adjustable or double...
clint

so if the bar is mounted to the bottom of the axle with a rubber busing and attached to the frame the same way would that impare suspension travel.. howver much it moves?45168

Skip Fix
03-09-2011, 06:56 AM
The old Camaros had a link like that I think maybe even some of the original Shelby/Mustangs. The issue is similar to using a ladder bar setup on a leaf spring. The length of the bar has to be the same as the front half of the leaf or you will get bind. As the rear axle moves up and down the arcs are not simialr if they are different and they can fight each other. The old drag guys using a ladder setup used a "floater" setup on the axle to leaf spring to allow the axle to move around and not bind. Probably not the trick for any cornering.

MIKE67
03-09-2011, 09:14 AM
Agree. The "arc" that the rear housing moves in isn't obvious. Depends on the leaf spring length, arc and if the front portion is stiffer than the rear part of the spring. The forces generated if the "arcs" aren't the same are unknown and can be very large. There have been failures in similar designs. However, there are lots of similar designs out there. Where I work we are doing a design that is fixed at the rear housing and uses a shackle at the frame to account for the different "arcs".

The Stickman
03-09-2011, 09:47 AM
That's an S-10 right? If so I had huge wheel hop problems. My solution was to simply not get on it hard from a stop. Once I was moving it seemed to be ok unless I lost traction bad. I think some might be the staggered shock arrangement. And my problem too started after installing a posi.

Randy67
03-09-2011, 11:48 AM
One old trick is to put a 1/4" piece of steel on top of the front half of the leaf spring (same width as spring) and clamp it with leaf spring clamps or similar (Friend did this on a stock appearing Nova). Works in drag racing, but not sure how it would be in a pro-touring vehicle, probably the same as the traction bars.

Skip Fix
03-09-2011, 04:24 PM
I have some Tri City "Launcher" springs under my TA. They are made like the old Mopar Super Stock springs with the front spring more biased and the second leaf goes to the spring eye. Clamps on the front half -got 1.51 60 fts on a 9" slick! The NHRA stockers used them alot until Cal Tracs came on the scene.