traction bars! yay or NEY

[lucahemi]

Im thinking about putting these lakewood chrome traction bars on my demon. People tell me they dont increase traction at all and may even reduce traction. so i was figuring i might put them on just for looks. Do the traction bars even look good on a bodies? and is it true they decrease traction? Thanks!

 

[805moparkid]

number one rule for mopars... why add a big heavy piece to your rear suspension when you can bolt a little thing called a adjustable pinion snubber in...

 

[1BadDodge71]

my 71 Duster in the 80s had traction bars =),was the look then,lol,and primer

 

[RustyRatRod]

Bein centrally located, I think the snubber actually does a better job. It caint bias from one side to the other.

 

[CUDA69]

For only $40 try them out. It doesn't take long to install them. If you have old leaf springs, they will get rid of the axle hop. They do limit suspension travel on the street though.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

I had them on a super bee in the 70's they were adjustable they seemed to work, They were real popular on the mono leaf Camaros and Novas. If you like the look and don't mind the ride, I would use them. They are of the era of your cars age.

 

[greenhornet]

The chrome ones are junk, they will be rusting before you get them bolted on.. The ole' school traction bars look wicked as hell on a duster or demon, not the cheap ones, but the lakewood type in the pic, paint them yellow and throw some 60's on the rear and they'll look cool.. These are kinda costly new, I'd hunt a good used pair..

 

[dustergal]

lol, we got a set for free for our street Dart, bolted them on just to piss off the purists. It really works too, Mopar guys get personally offended when they see them. Might take them off some day, might not. My Duster, that I actually race, uses a snubber, SS springs and good shocks.

 

[66fs]

First thing to hit the trash can...

 

[greenhornet]

People can argue until the end of time about t-bars VS snubber.. I'm going to use both on my '66 valiant gasser, not the cheap bars but the ones like in the pic, I have total faith in t-bars if there installed correctly..

 

[moper]

I'm a purist. It's an instant "My other car is a Camaro" signal to many Mopar guys. Me included. Make the snubber work for pennies and save your cash and rep.

 

[greenhornet]

I'm a purist. It's an instant "My other car is a Camaro" signal to many Mopar guys. Me included. Make the snubber work for pennies and save your cash and rep.

It's kinda like the tunnel ram arguement on the other thread, it really makes no performance sence to run a t-ram but they look cool as hell..

 

[chryslerfat]

It's kinda like the tunnel ram arguement on the other thread, it really makes no performance sence to run a t-ram but they look cool as hell..

I agree if its the look you are after why not put them one. Oh I forget most guys here like to be different. I guess if thats the case there wouldnt be so many damn Petty Blue or other bright colors on Mopars.

 

[THE STEVE]

if you like the look and you think they might help, run them.

its your car, dont let numbers matching purist pressure you into making a cookie cutter mopar. purists at the nats in ohio always give me hell about my car. but everybody else seems to love it. either way, i dont care. I love my car.

and to the people that think anything from the 80s looks hideous no matter what. well, go eat pocket lint. yea some things might be cheesy, but some people just like to relive those days and some actually dig the style.


rant over.

 

[65Vart]

I was always told that track bars dont work on Mopars. Good springs and an adj. pinion snubber

 

[lucahemi]

i already have a pair of lakewood traction bars that came with the car. they are chrome however. you think i should sand em, primer and paint? if so what color? the car is orange.

 

[greenhornet]

i already have a pair of lakewood traction bars that came with the car. they are chrome however. you think i should sand em, primer and paint? if so what color? the car is orange.

I'd wait until they start rusting, which probably won't be to long, dark yellow is the ole' school look.. I think most people that like t-bars just like the era look and ain't really worried about hookin' at the track..

 

[lucahemi]

ha well a couple month ago i wentat em with cleaner and steel wool so they are pretty nice right now lol

 

[greenhornet]

ha well a couple month ago i wentat em with cleaner and steel wool so they are pretty nice right now lol

I think they put like one coat of cheap chrome on them just to get them out the door.. I may have an old pair in my parts pile if I do I'll show ya what they look like rusted... :-\"

 

[duster340]

there is only one thing i can see being bad about tractionbars that are properly designed and fited is that they make for a harder hit on where the axletubes go into the centersection,this is the advantage that the snubber has, that all that force rotating the rearend upwards are stoped by the centersection instead of out by the leafspringmounts. a few things to think about you want your tractionbars to hit the front springeye,NOT the weakest part of the spring right behind it.

sometimes these threads makes me wonder if people actualy think about why and how stuff works in this example direct connection adviced in a diferent direction than traction bars and most never put any thought towards WHY and HOW the stuff works.

 

[airwoofer]

I have a set laying around loose that came with the pile of stuff I got with the fish. Thing is the car has no wheel hop at all even during severe dry road burnouts, so why put them on and add the weight? I want less weight, not more.

On the other hand, my 01 chebby 4wd PU truck has a very bad case of wheel hop even in light slippage.

 

[greenhornet]

Some of y'all will never understand that some people just like the ole' school look and don't really give a crap about hooking at a drag strip..

The top pic is old chrome cheap lakewoods, the second pic is the ole' school cool lakewoods..

 

[LXguy]

Caltracs.

Look cool. Work better than they look. Powdercoated, so they are pretty tough against rust.

Basically traction bars (and pinion snubber) serve to turn the energy that would be spent turning pinion upward into pushing tires downward. Set up properly they also help maintain a good pinion angle and control spring wrap, which controls wheel hop.

Neither encourages weight transfer, so a solution like caltracs works much better.

I saw a fox mustang with some Lakewood bars on it once. Not sure what they're supposed to accomplish on a 4-link setup. LOL.

 

[greenhornet]

That's a cool looking Dart...

This thread keeps getting off the OP main topic which is " so i was figuring i might put them on just for looks ", not what hooks best...

 

[moper]

They work.. Don't get me wrong. The second "speed part" I ever bought for my first car was chrome Lakewood slapper bars. I set and ran them. The 318 2bbl in my Cuda (E body) couldnt spin anyway, but they looked cool. Then like most others, I learned the "how and why" of the factory approach and took them off. A mentor had them on his multi-record Stock Eliminator stick car (Ford). They work. But, Mopar provided some solid engineering that GM/Ford didn't, and until the Cal-Trac development was damn close to perfect and without the bars smacking into the speed bumps or looseing up as mine did...lol. Plus, it's more weight fort he car to lug around.

And I don't think I'll head back to the tunnel ram post...lol. I'm sure Stroker's letting me have it yet again...lol.