CalTracs and Rear Sway Bar

[tonyvol]

Hey everyone, I have Caltracs bars on my 67 Camaro and was wondering if I add a rear sway will these parts work well with each other? I'm looking at buying this Hellwig rear sway bar.



http://www.jegs.com/i/Hellwig/207/55824/10002/-1

[Marcus SC&C]

That`s a great sway bar and Caltracs are among the best traction aids. That said they`re for different things and they don`t really work and play well together on a car build for handling. The traction aids work off the principle of using axle rotation under hard acceleration to push the tires into the blacktop for better traction. So mid turn when you lay into the throttle to accelerate out of the corner they do the same thing but in this case the force is perceived as increased roll rate, which makes the car oversteer. Enough throttle and the traction aids more or less lock the suspension on the outboard side and the outboard side spring more or less becomes the rear suspension`s new roll center. The effect is that the side of the car facing the inside of the turn lifts up and unloads the inboard tire. I have pics of this phenomenon in my book. It`s pretty wild. The solution is to just remove the links from the Caltracs and zip tie the front brackets in place when you`re corner carving. Bolt the links back in at the drags.

[1966longroof]

I have the same setup on my car. I don't disconnect, I just back-off the Bar. But next time I autox, I will bring some zip ties and see what happens.

[tonyvol]

Thanks Marc and David for replying back. The reason I bought the CalTracs was that I have a 67 Camaro that doesn't have the staggered shocks. I was thinking that these would help with wheel hop. This car is mainly a pro touring street car and I won't be taking this car to the track much. Did I make the wrong choice in getting the CalTracs?

[1966longroof]

No. Adding the Cal Tracs actually turns your rear suspension into a crude 4-link. The leaf springs are the top bars and the CalTracs are the bottom. As with anything.....play with them. With Pre load, Neutral, Zip tied, etc. As I stated above, I just back mine off ( take off all pre load) on the tight/small courses. However, I am always open to others knowledge....and reading Marcus's guidance to you. I will disconnect mine the next time I AutoX and see what happens. Gee now I get to play with rear shocks again. Anyway Tony, best of luck.