Daily Driving with CalTracs
- Thread starter paint94979
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How many years have the Caltracs been on the truck..?? Just the constant movement of the fulcrum hammering on the leaf bolt and being daily driven would do it. Now that I have seen this and shied away from Caltracs due to solid bushing in the leaf spring, guess I'll keep looking at other options especially for a daily driver.
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Caltracs are for racing. They are not the same as a normal traction bar. They load as the axle moves, so every time you pull out of a stop, the bar loads like you're launching at the track.
I set mine to the middle hole and 5 turns off the pack. I haven't had time to dial them in, and this worked to stop them from hammering me over bumps, but still stops wheel hop and keeps the nose in check on a boosted street launch. When I find time I hope to dial them in better. Seeing this raises concerns though, of course!
I understand that.. I've had "traction" bars on all my trucks and all it does it helps axle wrap. If anything it makes the truck spin the tires easier.. I was looking at cal tracs for actual traction improvement.
But people have went fast on long bars too.
you guys are not looking at this pic correctly and what happened lol.
on cal-tracs, you put an aluminum bushing in the front spring eye. from Nicks pic, you can see the bush had not been rotating around the bolt but instead, the bolt had been rotating in the spring hanger with the cantilever arm/aluminum bushing/sleeve. eventually the hanger cuts into the bolt and the bolt fails/fall out. For some reason, the bolt froze to the sleeve and/or bush or from what i see, the cantilever arm had been against the hanger and rotating against it.
i didnt see that before on my phone nick but you might want to see if the cantilever arm has free movment when you put a bolt/sleeve back in and torque it down. the sleeve may be shot. Also, tighten your damn jam nut! next to fail is the f-ing threads to pull out of the bar!
these will work on a DD but just like changing your oil/fuel filter/rotating tires, you need to inspect these parts for wear or damage and keep them in good shape
on cal-tracs, you put an aluminum bushing in the front spring eye. from Nicks pic, you can see the bush had not been rotating around the bolt but instead, the bolt had been rotating in the spring hanger with the cantilever arm/aluminum bushing/sleeve. eventually the hanger cuts into the bolt and the bolt fails/fall out. For some reason, the bolt froze to the sleeve and/or bush or from what i see, the cantilever arm had been against the hanger and rotating against it.
i didnt see that before on my phone nick but you might want to see if the cantilever arm has free movment when you put a bolt/sleeve back in and torque it down. the sleeve may be shot. Also, tighten your damn jam nut! next to fail is the f-ing threads to pull out of the bar!
these will work on a DD but just like changing your oil/fuel filter/rotating tires, you need to inspect these parts for wear or damage and keep them in good shape
A jam nut setup (skip the lock washer) would work to keep the leaf bolt at the proper tension and keep the nut from backing off, a little oil every so often would help.
Could use a real locknut instead of the double jambnut not the castle type nylon ones though, never had good luck using those..
http://www.boltscience.com/pages/twonuts.htm
Could use a real locknut instead of the double jambnut not the castle type nylon ones though, never had good luck using those..
http://www.boltscience.com/pages/twonuts.htm
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the nut backing off isnt the issue. the issue is the bolt rotating with the sleeve/bushing. its not from lack of torque, this happens from things seizing up. when it seizes, even at proper torque and a second nut to lock it or even welding the nut to the bolt wont keep the bolt from rotating in the hanger and causing the issue in the first post.
the jam nut i referred to previously is for this adjustment bar that the heim joint threads into.
I always leave mine a couple turns off the leaf spring, spooling at the line will load them. I've had them too tight before where it actually made the wheel hop worse. I could see having them against the spring all the time with a trans brake and I anti seize the crap out of them.
I keep wrenches in the truck to adjust them. Unloaded while driving and loaded at the track. Grease the bolt and torque the nut to CalTracs specs and you will be good to go.
I wouldn't worry about Caltracs on the street. For 8yrs mine have been street driven every day and also plonking offroad. No elongated holes, no problems. They're backed off a bit for the street then tightened up for drags. Without them things get to jumping around badly and stuff breaks. A few years ago I went a couple months with them removed....on the dd/medium tune broke a U-joint on one occasion and an input shaft on another occasion.