Some general leafspring setup questions

[David Pozzi]

About those suspension bars that are pointing forward on the new rearend. Ford calls them anti-wrap bars and I assume that they perform the function of preventing pinion rise during acceleration. They are pretty short, though, only 19" eye to eye.



I understand that one of the problems with arms like this, and ladderbars, is that the bars and the leaf springs move in seperate arcs and bind because of that. As to why Ford would put arms this short on the Explorer is a mystery to me if that's the case.

How about if I made some new arms that were longer. I could make them the exact length of the leaf front half distance (25 5/8") and could set their front mount positon to be exactly the same as the leaf springs. That would give both the leaves and the bars a common origin centerline and eliminate the seperate arc business. A single stout bar on each side along with an axle over spring setup should control any wheel hop, I would think. This is a street truck and if I can get by without a bunch of ladder bar or 4-link stuff hanging down below the axles and springs, the better, I guess.

If those links run parallel to the leaf, then there won't be any bind. I think it's called a Link/Leaf system. The rubber bushings in the links can handle some convergence towards the front. If you made them pivot off the front leaf bolt as you suggest, you would be making a huge anti-roll bar out of your rear axle housing, because you would have a triangulated link/leaf arrangement on each side.

David