Just Joel Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 I'm 4" lower than stock (approximately of course) and with the traction bars and 3° pinion correction I have no pinion slap issues on the heaviest of acceleration or over bumps... Joel Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Pic or link of tractions bars Joel? Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Sure thing... Components Installed Ground clearance This is at driving height (for around my pothole ridden town at least) With no air in the shocks, she is about 3/4" lower Later Joel 1 Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Right on. Those the bars I'll be building as well. Good to hear that they actually work. Thanks for sharing. Looks real good. Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Btw Joel, that is without driveshaft/differential tunnel editing I take it? Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Correct... tunnel modifications only compensate for axle wrap by allowing adequate room for it to occur. The traction bars eliminated the wrap completely at the source in turn keeping the pinion out of the floor tin. ;) Joel 1 Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted March 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Boom! Great info! This will be my project for the weekend--T-bars . BTW, nice welding. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Thanks man :) Post up when they'er done ;) Later Joel Quote Link to comment
dakotahchore Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Joel...Interested in selling another bar setup like that? Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Pm'ed you Dako Thanks Joel Quote Link to comment
Loren O Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 I'd like a set also,along with a set of your lowering blocks. I don't weld,so if you're making them i'm interested. Plrase pm me . Thanks! -Loren Quote Link to comment
nullbound Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 I'm also very interested in a set of the traction bars and 3 degree pinion correction. PM coming your way. Quote Link to comment
dakotahchore Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Long story short, he can't make them for us guys! They are unique for each application... gotta do our own or pay someone to do em. Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted April 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 When I originally searched and found this setup it was on Kelvin Dietz wagon (Click). I got in touch with him and he, at the time, was willing to sell me what he felt was his last kit. He quoted me and said he would look for the parts. I hadn't heard for a long while so I began putting together the parts to make my own kit. Last he emailed me last week, he said he had found the parts and was seeing if I still needed the kit/parts. I declined and thanked him for his time, willingness and help. After starting on my kit I think I would have loved to have been given the parts to just weld together instead of the mocking up, cutting, and grinding that I'm having to do. Plus it doesn't help that I don't have a lot of choices for hardware/material and limited by tools. I wasted a few hours trying to get to this point (see pics below) because welding two nuts together to get one long one just isn't easy, as once you weld, it will offset the nuts ever so slightly that it binds. I finally got it, but its still a little tough getting it to thread. No matter, I don't plan to adjust much/if at all--after the initial adjust that is. Anyways, perhaps if someone really wants they can try and get in touch with Kelvin Dietz and see if he wants to sale what he has. His kits still requires welding. Please don't mind the sloppy welds. Being flux core with no gas, doesn't help my cause. lol Question for Joel, I'm assuming the bars are adjusted, preloading the axle. Anyways you can suggest by how much to preload them? Quote Link to comment
jesusno2 Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Those traction bars are cool they work well for anyone interested look up Cal tracs Quote Link to comment
Stitebunny Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 I'd like a set of those too! It sounds like someone with the means and skills could make a few bucks off the rest of us! Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 I would love to make these for you guys and had planned to potentially market these after confirming the design on my car but during the design and construction phase, I realized that this wasn't going to be a "universal kit". The problem is that the bar length, tab locations and angles will change based on ride height and lowering method (de arched springs, blocks only, both... etc.) That said, I can make a kit that will fit but it won't be optimized the same if I built it with your car right in front of me. Also, these kits won't be cheap because of the cost of materials and the labor and time involved. After nailing down the particulars, I may be able to reduce costs but for now these are one off pieces and come with a custom price. If your serious about wanting a set, pm me and I'll see what I can do about putting together a price. Joel Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted April 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Considering the ride height and bar length, what should I shoot for--bars to be parallel with ground, long enought to preload axle so much, etc. Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 I design for ground clearance more than anything. Make the bars as long as possible too increase leverage and yes, as parallel to the body as you can make them ( this kinda works itself out) I don't pre load my bars... instead I set them up neutral as the swing angle of the suspension movement maintains a constant bar length (i.e. no suspension bind during articulation) with my current geometry figures. Joel Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 those front mounts are gonna drag the ground ....alot....... Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 no they won't... they are 1/4" shorter than stock and I never had a problem before ;) Joel Quote Link to comment
Dzaster Posted April 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Thats what i thought too, that is was hanging down lower. However, you've eliminated a bit of the excess--which was insulation--to move the front of the leaves up closer to the undercarriage. Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 still every driveway u pull in it will drag .......it wont take much of incline of a driveway to make those dig in and i thought cal trac made there's with a slip yoke to compensate for binding...edit...nope ... one of the manufacturers did... Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 still every driveway u pull in it will drag .......it wont take much of incline of a driveway to make those dig in and i thought cal trac made there's with a slip yoke to compensate for binding...edit...nope ... one of the manufacturers did... What your referring to is a slip twist joint. What we need to realize is that there are two very different traction bar designs that we're talking about here.The first is a ladder bar which mounts at two points diff side ( one above and one below the pinion) and a single mount at the frame. This configuration will create a force vertical or perpendicular to the frame so a slip twist joint will bind while it's required to dampen axle wrap, but slip and twist inside itself during general suspension movement. A single traction bar mounted under the leaf springs like I've designed creates a forward force or parallel to the frame. In this case, a slip twist joint would only telescope under axle wrap situations, nullifying the benefits of even having a traction bar. I've noticed a couple designs being utilized where this was an issue. Also, I've oriented my mounts in such a way that the length between the two mounting points at the track bar doesn't change during suspension movement. This means that the bar is the same length at ride height, full compression and full droop... it will only bind when the axle tries to wrap during acceleration (like it should) but not during regular driving. And like I said, I've never had a problem dragging the stock mounts so I suspect I will have even better luck with this setup ;) oh and this setup isn't new to me... I've already got a couple thousand miles on it. Joel Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Thats what i thought too, that is was hanging down lower. However, you've eliminated a bit of the excess--which was insulation--to move the front of the leaves up closer to the undercarriage. correct, that and the tire is so close to the front leaf mount that you would have drive over a curb or ledge to make contact. now if the mount we're three foot in front of the tire... Quote Link to comment
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