Traction ideas???

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Mopar Sam

Mopar Sam

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Not an a body. My '67 short bed step side. I have homemade caltracs (caltrucks?), stock type shocks front and rear, 4.57 8.75 , and 31/10.5/15 regular tires. I know I will need some drag radials, but can't get any yet. Same with the shocks.

I do have a set of 29" slicks that aren't mounted yet.

This has the stock straight axle in front, and it is staying.

I am open to suggestions, especially lo buck, for hooking this thing up.

Are there any gasser guys on here? What do you think about removing the front axle's leaf spring clamps to help weight transfer? I removed the ones on the back of the rear leaves already.

Also, I messed up and adjusted my caltrucks while the bed was off, and so they are both preloaded now that the bed is on. I think I will try putting just a tad of slack in them.

The battery is in the back right corner of the bed, and I put a fuel cell under the bed just behind the rear axle. Heavy 78 lbs rear bumper.

Help!!!
 
Adjust the Calverts so that a credit card will just slip through.

Biggest tires that you can make fit.

I would be concerned about remove all the clamps on front from
a safety issue. On the back springs in the old days I only removed the
clamps behind the axle. However, if the Calvert style are done and adjusted
properly - It will not matter on the back.

The Calvert bars worked GREAT on the 1972 to 1986 trucks.
MY 82 Ram Truck 360 Stocker ran deep in the 11's (Held NHRA National
Record for a long time) many years ago. However, the Leaf Spring Geometry was nearly
identical to the cars from the 60s and 70s. I have not been under the early
generation trucks since early 70's and I do not remember the layout anymore.
 
Last edited:
Put some concrete bags against the tailgate with a 2 x 12 in front of them to keep them from sliding.
 
I think JustMoparJoe did a low buck rear suspension upgrade on a pickup recently. May want to search for that.
 
I think first I will adjust the bars per GTX John's recommendation. I will keep a lookout for some decent drag radials.Usually some pop up for sale when drag season ends.
 
I readjusted the bars today . I also did some checking.

First off, both front brake calipers are dragging, so I will address that.

I also checked how much travel the front leaf springs are giving me. I get right at 2 3/4" from loaded to bringing the tire off the ground.

The front shackles look like they need some work. I'll pull them apart and clean lube and see what that does.
 
I suggest checking the brake rotors to see if they have
any warpage, as that is sometimes the culprit in excessive drag.

I do not ever put more than 1 to 2 degrees down on the pinion angle.
The are not wanting a bunch of pinion angle like SS springs that make the
back of the car lift like a up bound elevator.
 
Traction bars made to fit on my 76 pick up which was lowered and moved shock angle for being lowered. Ran stock springs. Hoosier DOT. tires. Ran high 10s

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Mopar Sam said:
Not an a body. My '67 short bed step side. I have homemade caltracs (caltrucks?), stock type shocks front and rear, 4.57 8.75 , and 31/10.5/15 regular tires. I know I will need some drag radials, but can't get any yet. Same with the shocks.

I do have a set of 29" slicks that aren't mounted yet.

This has the stock straight axle in front, and it is staying.

I am open to suggestions, especially lo buck, for hooking this thing up.

Are there any gasser guys on here? What do you think about removing the front axle's leaf spring clamps to help weight transfer? I removed the ones on the back of the rear leaves already.

Also, I messed up and adjusted my caltrucks while the bed was off, and so they are both preloaded now that the bed is on. I think I will try putting just a tad of slack in them.

The battery is in the back right corner of the bed, and I put a fuel cell under the bed just behind the rear axle. Heavy 78 lbs rear bumper.

Help!!!
Click to expand...


Moving the bar up hits the tire harder and quicker. It also doesn’t keep the tire planted as long.

Moving the bar down will hit the tire softer and slower. It also keeps the tire planted longer.

Lack of bite can be as simple as shock adjustment, too little front end travel or stuff binding up.

The biggest thing I see is being over sprung. On the stuff we are talking about, you need to be able to pitch rotate the chassis. That means do a wheelie.

If you are over sprung in the front, the chassis can’t transfer weight to the rear tires. The higher (stiffer) the spring rate, the more power is required to get the chassis to pitch rotate. A lower spring rate will allow the chassis to pitch rotate easier.

If you have a 100 pound spring, it takes 100 pounds to compress the spring one inch. It’s the same in reverse. You have to remove 100 pounds to get the spring to extend an inch.

If you have a 100 pound spring and it compresses two inches at ride height you know you are putting 200 pounds on it.

What if you drop the spring rate to 50 pounds? That same 200 pounds will compress the spring 4 inches. Now the vehicle is too low. So we can with torsion bars or adjustable coil overs raise the front back up.

We still have our 4 inches of compressed spring storing energy. And the reverse is still true. If you remove 200 pounds from the front end (like at launch) your front end will separate 4 inches, assuming you are not changing anything else like shock settings.

Once you get the front going too fast, you use your double adjustable shocks to control how quickly the front end comes up.

Works the same for the rear.
 
There is a sticky here on adjustments for caltracs. (Maybe already mentioned)
First thing I would do: get some rims for the rear that fit (diplomat 15x7s, from the boneyard), mount and run the slicks.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Moving the bar up hits the tire harder and quicker. It also doesn’t keep the tire planted as long.

Moving the bar down will hit the tire softer and slower. It also keeps the tire planted longer.

Lack of bite can be as simple as shock adjustment, too little front end travel or stuff binding up.

The biggest thing I see is being over sprung. On the stuff we are talking about, you need to be able to pitch rotate the chassis. That means do a wheelie.

If you are over sprung in the front, the chassis can’t transfer weight to the rear tires. The higher (stiffer) the spring rate, the more power is required to get the chassis to pitch rotate. A lower spring rate will allow the chassis to pitch rotate easier.

If you have a 100 pound spring, it takes 100 pounds to compress the spring one inch. It’s the same in reverse. You have to remove 100 pounds to get the spring to extend an inch.

If you have a 100 pound spring and it compresses two inches at ride height you know you are putting 200 pounds on it.

What if you drop the spring rate to 50 pounds? That same 200 pounds will compress the spring 4 inches. Now the vehicle is too low. So we can with torsion bars or adjustable coil overs raise the front back up.

We still have our 4 inches of compressed spring storing energy. And the reverse is still true. If you remove 200 pounds from the front end (like at launch) your front end will separate 4 inches, assuming you are not changing anything else like shock settings.

Once you get the front going too fast, you use your double adjustable shocks to control how quickly the front end comes up.

Works the same for the rear.
Click to expand...

A lot to think about, thanks. One problem is the lack of travel with the solid axle leaf spring setup on the front. I only have 2 3/4" of rise before the front tires come off the ground. I did move to the lower holes on the bars, but it has rained every day off and on since. I also removed the clamps on the rear section of the front leaf springs, and slightly loosened the front shackles.
 
33IMP said:
There is a sticky here on adjustments for caltracs. (Maybe already mentioned)
First thing I would do: get some rims for the rear that fit (diplomat 15x7s, from the boneyard), mount and run the slicks.
Click to expand...

I have a set of slicks to mount, but would also like to get enough traction to not feel like I'm on ice. Chip and seal roads also don't help. I'd like to get a decent setup before going to the strip, which will unfortunately probably be spring of 2025.
 
The motor also sits a little farther forward in these Sweptlines than in the later trucks. I do have room to go back about 3/4". I don't know if it is worth it though. I would need to make mounts for motor and trans, plus probably shorten the drive shaft.
 
Mopar Sam said:
The motor also sits a little farther forward in these Sweptlines than in the later trucks. I do have room to go back about 3/4". I don't know if it is worth it though. I would need to make mounts for motor and trans, plus probably shorten the drive shaft.
Click to expand...
I very much doubt that little bit of rearward move would be worth the time and effort. Moving the battery into the back of the bed would make more transfer of weight. Especially if you use a group 27. You would need a battery box, I think, and a shutoff if you are gonna race it. Probably not a "budget" option.
I'm assuming since it is a step side, a solid tailgate. Otherwise, a dirt cheap and simple: waterproof a hollow tailgate, and fill it with water. Make a drain, and you could add or subtract as needed.
 
Make sure your leaf spring U-bolts are torqued to factory spec. Most people way overtorque them . The individual springs need to move around a bit on the interleaf shims. This may have no effect for your situation but it can’t hurt to check .
 
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