[form74]

I have a set of traction bars I was going to use with my new rearend in my 74 formula.

Do these really work or are they a waste of time to put on.

Post about new rearend below

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=529761

[screamingchief]

Depends on the traction bars in question and the methods used to install them.

A basic traction bar set-up that's been installed properly will work as well as or better than an expensive bar that was installed poorly.

A cheap traction bar that's been installed incorrectly is indeed worthless.

The topic has been discussed plenty,I'd suggest doing a search for more info.

[1971WARBIRD]

i don't know what type bars you have.you need to be carefull of the ones that do not contact under the spring eye.any bar can make a difference,but the ones that end short can cause you to bend your rear srings.i bent the ones in my 71 455ho 4 speed before i even knew it.have to play around with spacers and cutting the front rubber bumper to get the right setting but even the cheap ones can help you lauch straight.i think you still have the rear out,if you have the springs out i would think about cal-tracs or something along those lines.

just my 2 cents

[Overkillphil]

I never liked traction bars (slapper bars) as they made the car ride weird and screwed up the handling. Also, I got more results out of stickier radials, Herb Adams spring eye modification (free) and Adams rear shackles. A beefier rear anti-sway bar planted the car more evenly too. Also 50/50 shocks. It worked for me and my Formula handles like it is on rails and has excellent straight line traction on the street.

A visit to the track was another story all together...had to run ET Streets to get out of the hole.

[DAVE RIBEIRO]

I have run good old lakewood slapper bars and run 1.49-1.50 60' times on my stocker on 9" slicks(3800 lbs, 400 ci, auto) with a best of 11.63 @ 112 MPH..
So I disagree with the above post..Its a race car that, I ran on the street with the same bars...I see Camaro's running low 10's with these bars so they do work with set-up properly..They are cheap and work very well... why spend the extra $$$$ if you don't need too, put that money somewhere else..
Good luck with your project.. Dave...1033/stock(RV-455)

[Johnny406]

You can also run lift bars. Kind of a poor mans Caltracs. You won't have the clearance issues a traction bar has.

[Overkillphil]

I am happy for Dave and others that they have had luck with traction/slapper bars. But they are still a cheap "Pep Boys" approach to hopefully gain traction. And make no mistake, they DO effect the handling of the car. I know guys that only drive straight that run them, but if you like to go around corners or do most of your driving on the street, sell or give them to a Chevy guy. They look like crap too so they are right at home on a Chevy.

Before I would waste the money on slapper bars, I would get the maximum out of the suspension you have by tuning it.

Of course, since you say you have the bars anyway, why not put them on and see for yourself.

[GonicGM]

If you make lots or torque and your tires can hook your car, I would defeinitely run a traction device that keeps your springs from wrapping up. Continuous wrap of a spring will wear them out and you can get excessive pinion/u-joint angles. Most leaf sprung class cars requiring stock rear suspension have migrated to Cal-Tracs. If you run a slapper bar, run one that reaches the front spring eye. When racing run the snubbers tight to the spring eye. To make them ineffective for handling or other reasons, remove the snubbers or run much shorter snubbers. If the slapper bar doesn't hit the spring, it will be nothing more than an oversized spring clamp plate. If necessary, get some rectangular stock, weld it to the existing slapper bar so it reaches the spring eye. Good slapper bars will also have a square clamp halfway down the tube that goes around the spring pack. This a reverse anti rotate clamp that limits opposite wrap up on hard braking. Paint them flat black if you don't like the look or want to be a little more stealth

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[form74]

Here's a few pictures of the traction bars, do these look good or should I try and swap them tommorrow at a swapmeet.

[Wareagle]

Can't remember--what I had on the SD but boy did it hook. The fellow I bought it from said it was setup to HO-RACING specs for traction. No TRACTION BARS.

[screamingchief]

Here's a few pictures of the traction bars, do these look good or should I try and swap them tommorrow at a swapmeet.

Those particular traction bars are indeed useless from a function standpoint,by all means feel free to get rid of those,they offer absolutlely nothing but visual function.

Not all bars are useless like those are,or as a couple of others here imply all bars are,it's a matter of what goals are being sought and what budget your working with,and balancing these factors with knowledge and understanding of the stock or modified suspension limitations.

You wont find many 9 or 10 second ET leaf sprung cars running around without some sort of traction device,that,or springs that are stiff enough to knock out your fillings on every bump.

Compromises are made to get that sorta performance,and the choices are many how to get there,but dont kid yourself you will make sacrafices in one respect or another.

HTH.

[form74]

Thanks Screamingcheif, that's what I wanted to know, their all show for this set.

[DAVE RIBEIRO]

form 74,

GonicGM, hit the setup - tuning, make sure the rubber snubbers are under the spring eyes.. This along with putting someone around your weight in the car while you are pre-loading the passengers side snubber up tight...Will work
great and make the car leave even and straight...In most cases the stock slapper bars must be extended 3-5" to reach the eye of the spring..

Form74, those bars you have are not the better built lakewood bars..The lakewood bars have a rearend plate welded right onto the bars and everything bolts together..You can add wedge spacers to change the pinion angle to be roughly 3-5 degrees downward... I would not use the bars in the photos,they have no-place to firmly bolt everything together like the Lakewoods do.The Calverts,
South-Side bars, HOP-type bars,etc ..all work well but cost anywhere from 4-1,000 dollars, because most of them need different leaf-springs, shocks,etc.. You know how much money you have to deal with and if this is a race car only or street/strip car.. So, good luck with your project... Dave...1033/stock(RV-455)

[Johnny406]

You want traction bars like this (but a bit longer).

[92GA]

My son-in-law and me had a 78 T/A a couple years ago that had 140 short times and ran 6.80s with a set of Mr Gasket ,and then SSM lift bars. It'd carry the front end a foot on launch. They work as well as the fellow seting them up. I have some to get rid of as I just delivered the last 2nd gen bird we was using as a race car. We did go to 4 link setups a couple years ago.

[screamingchief]

I use the SSM lift bars mostly these days as well,I have a set of SSM bars going on the '72 bird,and I had a set on one of my two ventura's (the other ventura had cal-tracs) that I had before the cars I currently have.

Those or I use cal-tracs if I can afford the extra $$$ for them at that time.

Those both work very well when set-up correctly IMO.

Though I'd use a decent set of slapper bars just the same if I had to,BTDT and know when they are set-up right they get the job done too.

But yeah if the car is a multi-purpose car they can conflict with the cornering/handling aspect of that scenario,so like I said you weigh the pros/cons and go from there.

Myself,if I were building a corner carver,I would'nt give a rats a$$ what it would run at the dragstrip,likely would'nt even bother running it there at all,I tend to build cars that are more purpose built as opposed to trying to build any car to try and be all things in that one car.

[GonicGM]

Originally Posted by DAVE RIBEIRO

form 74,

GonicGM, hit the setup - tuning, make sure the rubber snubbers are under the spring eyes.. This along with putting someone around your weight in the car while you are pre-loading the passengers side snubber up tight...Will work
great and make the car leave even and straight...In most cases the stock slapper bars must be extended 3-5" to reach the eye of the spring..
Dave...1033/stock(RV-455)

Back when I dragged my 69, I had Lakewood J-bolts, I had to cut and reweld a section of tube to reach the spring eye. I also angle cut the tube as it fell well below the spring eye. I would install the drivers side snubber in the front hole and the passenger side in the second hole back. The passenger side had a little more mechanical advantage to better plant the right rear. Bascially the LH was on the front edge of the spring eye and the RH was on the rear edge. Further adjustment I did with shims under the snubber. I would literally launch the car with my hands off the steering wheel, real close though. If the car pulled right, I would preload the right snubber more and visa versa until it pulled straight. You can mess with front coil spring spacers as well to preload diagonal corners. Although, when you've gone this far, you've committed the car as competition vehicle as preloading can affect braking and handling.