Question: Cal Tracs Dirt Road

[jnieberlein]

I have read and read the debates of long bars vs cal tracs. Do you pull with your truck?, Do you race with it? I have searched and searched, some say they make noise, they are loud, they bang around. Ive read that with proper setup they are the cats meow. I am trying to keep the truck more sleeperish (stock appearing), I was thinking cal tracs may be a lil less noticeable than a long bar. Now I guess I'll get to the point, I live in dirt road country some roads may be considered more of a goat path than an actual road. Are cal tracs gonna drive me up the wall with noise and banging around? Anyone running these in a similar situation? (Farm Country, Gravel roads) Am I just going to have to forget the idea of these and go with a long bar? I am need of some sort of rear axle anti wrap device, any other ideas that may work?

I pull a little in our local stock classes and I race a little, I DD it, and I occasionally tow a goose neck with my crawler or logs on it. Axle wrap feels like its getting worse and worse

 

[PAT]

Can't attest to them in a pulling situation. However, they are great for the track.
Daily driving with them is really annoying. They do rattle. A LOT. If you tighten them up, they don't rattle that much. But your truck will be stiff as ****!

Dirt road wise... The dirt will get into the Heims and cause a lot of squeaking. Mine have to be greased regularly. If it gets really annoying, and I don't wanna take em apart to grease them... I'll blast them with penetrating oil or wd-40. Penetrating oil will keep the squeak away longer though.

I recently started to back the. Out all the way. Were the roller is no were close to the leaf. Then I safety wired the bar (at the axle so it can't be seen) so that it wouldn't wiggle around. Fixed the rattle for the most part. I'd say 80% of the time they don't rattle now. Just squeak.

 

[Harbin_22]

Do you have your springs clamped? They do wonders. Yes CalTracs are pretty noise and make for a rough ride. Probably not what you will want for the conditions. The cognito's are probably a better choice IMO.

 

[WisconsinHick1]

I had long bars and pulled with them for 3 years and they where alright and mine made noises. This winter I am installing Caltracs and I know they will be a little noisy but I maybe put 5k miles on it in a year so I will live with it. I like the idea of being able to preload the suspension as much as I want.

 

[Chevy1925]

Do you have your springs clamped? They do wonders. Yes CalTracs are pretty noise and make for a rough ride. Probably not what you will want for the conditions. The cognito's are probably a better choice IMO.

thats gunna give him a rough ride down those dirt roads. tired it

OP, the cal-tracs will probably drive you up a wall on those dirt roads or even dry pavement. the rattle comes from you having to loosen up the bars to keep a nice ride on day to day stuff, then when your at the track they tighten back up to your setting for good track hook up.

long bars would be your best bet. most people dont have a clue what the bars are for anyhow. having mine on never "scared" someone away from racing me . the ones i built for me and others make no noise and never affected my ride.

 

[PAT]

thats gunna give him a rough ride down those dirt roads. tired it

OP, the cal-tracs will probably drive you up a wall on those dirt roads or even dry pavement. the rattle comes from you having to loosen up the bars to keep a nice ride on day to day stuff, then when your at the track they tighten back up to your setting for good track hook up.

long bars would be your best bet. most people dont have a clue what the bars are for anyhow. having mine on never "scared" someone away from racing me . the ones i built for me and others make no noise and never affected my ride.

You can loosen em up all the way and safety wire it. Doesn't rattle much at all like that. Then get a pair of dikes and cut the wire at the track.

 

[Chevy1925]

You can loosen em up all the way and safety wire it. Doesn't rattle much at all like that. Then get a pair of dikes and cut the wire at the track.

yup, i just dont know how much the OP wants them for drag racing. the cal tracs are race specific to help you launch well while controlling wheel hop, not nessacarliy in a day to day setup where as straight bars are not the best in one area but in a all around aspect, they are probably the best bet.

 

[Evan@InglewoodTrans]

I took some rubber hose with the same i.d as the o.d of the pin on the caltracs and slid it over it for daily driving. I have no issues with noise anymore.

 

[jnieberlein]

I maybe put 5k miles on it in a year

I put that on it in a little over a month!!!! I took it to the track twice last year and probably made 30 1/4 mile passes, i think i made about a dozen pulls last year as well. Last year was the first time I pulled or raced so those numbers are likely to increase this year. I am thinking i may have to make up a long bar that mounts in the same rear location as a cal trac and switch em out depending on what the flavor of the day is

 

[Jscherbs]

I took some rubber hose with the same i.d as the o.d of the pin on the caltracs and slid it over it for daily driving. I have no issues with noise anymore.

that wears out fast, been there done that. i used fuel line hose and greased the shit out of them.

personally i would go to a dedicated long bar or just put the clamps on while running at the track / pulling.

Ive had a few different styles of bar and its all give and take. you gain with one what you lose with another.

when i build my motor and the truck is no longer a DD it will have caltracs on it for adjustability purposes...

 

[Evan@InglewoodTrans]

that wears out fast, been there done that. i used fuel line hose and greased the shit out of them.

personally i would go to a dedicated long bar or just put the clamps on while running at the track / pulling.

Ive had a few different styles of bar and its all give and take. you gain with one what you lose with another.

when i build my motor and the truck is no longer a DD it will have caltracs on it for adjustability purposes...

Using fuel line I can see why it wore out so fast. The hose I used would be lucky to wear through in the next 2 years.

 

[JDub]

I took some rubber hose with the same i.d as the o.d of the pin on the caltracs and slid it over it for daily driving. I have no issues with noise anymore.

I was just going to post this, took care of the noise issues for me as well.

 

[jnieberlein]

Using fuel line I can see why it wore out so fast. The hose I used would be lucky to wear through in the next 2 years.

Care to share the type of hose you used?

 

[Evan@InglewoodTrans]

I honestly have no idea I found it in the garage the day I decided to do it. The hose is very thick for it's i.d I will check and see if I still have some and if I do I could send you some.

 

[jnieberlein]

Thats would be awesome, but I havent decided what direction I am gonna go yet. I was just thinkin if you knew what kinda hose it was so others may benefit too, thanx

 

[jnieberlein]

I had long bars and pulled with them for 3 years and they where alright and mine made noises. This winter I am installing Caltracs and I know they will be a little noisy but I maybe put 5k miles on it in a year so I will live with it. I like the idea of being able to preload the suspension as much as I want.

I would like to hear what your thoughts are in regards to noise when you install your cal tracs compared to the long bars

I recently started to back the. Out all the way. Were the roller is no were close to the leaf. Then I safety wired the bar (at the axle so it can't be seen) so that it wouldn't wiggle around. Fixed the rattle for the most part. I'd say 80% of the time they don't rattle now. Just squeak.

Do you have a picture of this?


So you guys with these are taking all of the preload off of the bars for running around on the street?

I was wondering if you went the other way and added more preload that maybe they would make less noise because they would not separate and slam back together...

 

[PAT]

I would like to hear what your thoughts are in regards to noise when you install your cal tracs compared to the long bars




Do you have a picture of this?


So you guys with these are taking all of the preload off of the bars for running around on the street?

I was wondering if you went the other way and added more preload that maybe they would make less noise because they would not separate and slam back together...

No I don't. I can take one though.
I thought the same with the preload. But when it's that tight, the truck is EXTREMELY stiff. There is no give in the rear suspension at all. It made for some very uncomfortable drives so I loosened them up.

 

[DPC]

I have been running the long bars for three years. I do not have any noise at all and they do not affect my ride. I have pulled sleds, drag raced and tow with them. If your main concern is axle wrap and noise then you can't go wrong with long bars. Here is a pic of them, I just repainted them.

 

[jnieberlein]

If your main concern is axle wrap and noise then you can't go wrong with long bars. Here is a pic of them, I just repainted them.

They look good, pretty level too