Have these traction bars I guess you call them on 1971 dart. Do they do any good or should I just replace it with factory stuff? Car used to be raced and then put back on the street and has sat for 20 years. I dont care for the way it twists the bottom shock bolt at all.
Anyone know the brand of traction bars? Any good?
- Thread starter milo123
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mopar head
DoD Alien/Squatch slayer
Take that junk off there, That`s why Chrysler gave them pinion snubbers.
Looks like their below the scrub line anyway.
Looks like their below the scrub line anyway.
4mulas
Fixem'up
You have a WHOLE LOT of wrongness going on there. Get it off. You may need to find new shock/leaf spring mounting plates that the u bolts go through from the looks of things.
Traction bars can be made to work very well. Those are actually the better design since they have the leaf spring plate integral to the traction bars. The problem is, they are for a different application other than Mopar. They are too short for one thing. Where they are clamped to the front spring segment should extend all the way under the front spring eye bolt with a rubber snubber and the shock stud is very obviously at the wrong angle. If those two problems were addressed, they would plant the rear axle hard enough to remove some asphalt. While it's true Mopar used pinion snubbers, traction bars can work equally well and better if properly set up.
Get rid of them! A pinion snubber & leaf spring clamps on the front section of the springs is what Mopar used.
Just my opinion.
Just my opinion.
dirty white boy
50 yr old Juvenal delinquent
ran both on my duster, it kinda worked,..well it worked on track,..not so much on the street...
Usually there's a rubber snubber on the front of those and so that angle is crazy wrong as you've noticed by the shock bolt.
Dave999
Well-Known Member
look backwards to me...odd design... probably works
usually bolt to or either side of the shock mounting plate and have the snubber hit the front eye.
I have some lakewood ones. On a car with rear springs like string, they make a difference. i can leave the line without loosing my teeth, horrible wheel hop and and impending feeling of doom GONE. Got me a 13.9 with my mainly standard stick shift 6, would never have done it without em. can now turn up, do a 1/4mile and not embarress myself as much as i used to.
usually bolt to or either side of the shock mounting plate and have the snubber hit the front eye.
I have some lakewood ones. On a car with rear springs like string, they make a difference. i can leave the line without loosing my teeth, horrible wheel hop and and impending feeling of doom GONE. Got me a 13.9 with my mainly standard stick shift 6, would never have done it without em. can now turn up, do a 1/4mile and not embarress myself as much as i used to.
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kesteb
Well-Known Member
They were called "south side traction bars" and they worked the same as additional spring clamps on the front of the spring.
Dfr360cuda
Diagnosis... Plum Crazy.
And they dig into speed bumps.
Rat Bastid
Dunamis Metron
If you Have to have them on your mopar they should at least fit like this...
Dale Davies
Well-Known Member
Shelby used traction bars to great effect. Sort of similar but much better build than these ones.
The lower spring plate had two ears welded on separate from the shock mount. The front mount bolted to the subframe and the front spring bolt. A bushing at each end of the traction bar allowed mounting the bars and prevented axle windup on the springs while not affecting the spring rate or ride quality.
Deltatech
Well-Known Member
Sacrilidge= traction bars on a Mopar. Leave those to the Chebby guys and get an adjustable pinion snubber with new XHD or super stock leafs.
65TTCuda
Well-Known Member
I'm with Rusty Rat Rod. They can work really well if they are the correct length, and the snubbers adjusted correctly. They are not just for Chebby's and Fowds, they are for leaf spring cars period. And if you can't afford new set of SS springs, Mono Leafs, and Caltracs bars, adjustable pinion snubbers and clamps. Traction bars are the way to go if you just want to use the springs you have and eliminate wheel hop and spring wrap. They can really plant the tires into the pavement and give you good traction. I'm going to use them on my 65 Barracuda to give it that 60's look. Even a new set of traction bars will cost less than all the other devises I mentioned previously. I bought mine at a swap meet for $50 and all they needed was a new can of paint. Looks great and fits perfect.
Rat Bastid
Dunamis Metron
Exactly. A leaf spring doesn’t know if it’s on a Chrysler or a Chevy or a Ford. They all work the same.
I know guys swear by the pinion snubber but I have found them to be marginal at best. With traction bars like the Assassin and Cal Track there is no need for a snubber.
If you need more hook than that skip the barely adjustable ladder bar and go right to a 4 link.
All True! and I tried that... made me giggle tho So, I put them on My Dakota instead and went with the SS Springs on the '65. Love It!
Owen 340+6
Bang em till it breaks
I have traction bars on my 67 coronet and when I shift at high rpm I can physically feel them twist and slap the bottom of the car so to say they don't work is crazy talk. My car plants the tires pretty damn hard for a street car and a pretty built 340
So back to the OP. Imo, Remove those and put proper ones on if you like the look and function of traction bars.
Dale Davies
Well-Known Member
Welllll, many ways to skin a cat. Net results could be similar but achieved through a different manner. Mopar seems to have embraced the pinion snubber method. Inexpensive to build and install, and light.
Ask yourself "what is the problem and by what means can I solve it?"
Pinion snubber: yes they stop spring windup and release causing wheel hop. On a hard bump the pinion could rise enough to hit the snubber which could cause the pinion to be pushed down.
Conventional traction bars: store bought, cheap to make hillbilly POS in my mind. They can alleviate spring windup and axle hop, but need to be set up correctly.
Shelby style traction bars: control the rotation of the rear axle without affecting suspension tuning. These are well engineered components. Shelby had cost cutting methods and easy fixes that he applied, but no half ***, poorly engineered stuff.
Chrysler leafs have a shorter front segment. That's what makes them different.
Clamp the front to make it even more like an arm, and/or add a half leaf.
Yes a slapper bar with a bumper can be used. @CPDave used them on the Zebra Dart for several years. But around 2010 switched to Afco leaf springs with an additional half leaf and found it a better setup.
Clamp the front to make it even more like an arm, and/or add a half leaf.
Yes a slapper bar with a bumper can be used. @CPDave used them on the Zebra Dart for several years. But around 2010 switched to Afco leaf springs with an additional half leaf and found it a better setup.
I'd remove that traction bar.
Strongly consider a pair of new shock plates. It's hard to tell from the photo if that's a home made thing or just a repair.
Check the driveshaft angles and install pinion angle shims as needed. IIRC need 2.5" wide shims.
How much more than that you need to do will depend on its future use.
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