cal-tracs question

I was thinking about building my own caltracs because I don't have the money for the new ones, plus I have access to all the materials needed and the tools. What springs should I use? I know monos are good with caltracs but a bit pricey. Also, are they stiff enough to support the car on the street? The car is a 66 Dart GT, engine will be a 470 BB shooting for high 10's. Can you use caltracs with stock multileaf springs? I just have all the materials to build them and thought I could save a few bucks, or should I "spring" for some SS's and ditch the cal-trac idea?? Should I just make the cal-tracs and buy some of the cheap JC whitney $60 springs and call it a deal. Thanks for your advice!!

I haven't built mine yet, so please don't take this as the final word from anyone with any prior knowledge on the subject. I've done a ton of research on the subject and have accumulated all the materials and parts to build my own, much like you plan to do. My Vart will be primarily a street machine, with the occassional blast down the strip just to get the old juices flowing again, with a 360/904/8.75" rear end with 3.91 gears, and sub-frame connectors. I currently have a set of leaf springs from a 70 Duster 340, which I had re-arched and an extra leaf added, and that's what I'll be running with my Cal-Trak type bars, after removing the pinion snubber. From what I've read, this should work correctly on the street with my combo, in which I hopefully should be running close to the 400 HP mark after this update. If you buy the bars, the company suggests you run their mono leaf spring setup. I'm not sure if this makes the car hook better, or if the're just trying to sell more of their product. Quite a few of the folks on the board are running the Cal-Traks, some with the mono leafs and some with stock springs, so I'm sure some of them will chime in with their experiences - which will be much more realistic and helpful than my opinions.

Any leaf-type spring (mono, SS, stock, whatever) will exhibit spring wrap, given enough torque, provided something else doesn't break first. Mono-leafs are obviously the most prone to this phenomenon, so I suspect that is why Caltrac pushes their combination. I'm also sure the monos are good in other ways, so along with the Caltracs, probably makes a really sweet package.

People say you don't need anything with the SS springs, because they are stiff enough as it is. Probably so in most cases, but refer to #1 above. I'm running homemade Caltracs with SS springs on my Duster. Overkill, maybe. But it is way solid out back and hooks real good with a 340 pushing through the open diff in it now. No worries about the driveline if I ever install the 440 I have waiting in the wings.

The way I understand mono-leafs is the front half of the spring is primarily just to locate the axle fore-and-aft. It contributes very little to the 'spring' effect, which is the job of the rear half of the mono-leaf spring. Also, the reason mono-leaf springs works so well with the Cal-Trac bar is because together they mimic a 4-link setup.

GotDart said:

The way I understand mono-leafs is the front half of the spring is primarily just to locate the axle fore-and-aft. It contributes very little to the 'spring' effect, which is the job of the rear half of the mono-leaf spring. Also, the reason mono-leaf springs works so well with the Cal-Trac bar is because together they mimic a 4-link setup.

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Yeah, but how are mono's on the street??

Greg, I never quite thought of it that way, but now that you put it in writing, it makes a lot of sense.

mopowers said:

Yeah, but how are mono's on the street??

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I don't have mono's yet, so I can't really answer that. I do plan to get a set eventually though. But if I am not mistaken, you can custom order the spring rate as well as specify the ride height you want. So you should be able to get them dialed in pretty much just the way you want them.

Well, I don't have the money for their mono leafs. And my stock springs are shot. I wanted to go with JC whitney springs because I've heard good things about them plus they're only $60 each!! I'm just wondering If i should go with the heavy duty 5 leaf or the stock replacement 4 leaf. Any thoughts?? I was leaning towards the 5 leaf just because they will probably last longer and will take longer to sag after all the abuse I plan on putting them through.
Cheers!

here's the link

Spring link

If you use a multi leaf spring, go with the 5 leaf. the calvert bar is a poor mans 4 link,therefore it requires a stiff front half leaf spring. the S/Ssprings do not work well with a bar, it causes the rear end housing to twist and toe in. been there, done that!! the calvert mono leafs are not just a gimmick spring. they do work very well. like he said, can order ride heights, etc. they will work on a street car. chev novas, cameros had em from the factory back in late 60's. I have the calvert springs under my duster, with a copy of calvert bars, the calvert spring works better over my multi leaf springs. another item, use the rancho 9 way rear shocks, calvert uses them with his package. you can control the rear end on launch better.

Here is my set up Stock springs, CalTracs, and QA-1 adjustable shocks.
Works great on street and strip!

I plan on making my own cal tracs, I circle track, so making my own swedge tubes is easy, and I have 3/4 rod ends laying all over.
I rode in a 69 Dart with three other guys, it had a 440 in it and it rode really nice, and it had a mono leafed caltrac setup, I was impressed, I put three people in my Valiant and Im scraping the ground and riding on the bumpstops.

My problem as of late is my car wheel hops real bad after I put the 3.91 sure grip in it last week, so I am hoping the cal tracs will solve that problem, as I dont want the back end all up in the air, if I have to go to the ss springs.