Traction bars for both worlds

[juddski88]

my humble opinion is that there is nothing on the market today that is adjustable and strong enough for both pulling and racing. I ended up making my own, very light, very strong, and very adjustable. The best part was, they ended up being cheaper to build than may of the "high end" traction bars on the market:thumb:

 

[Chevy1925]

James I am wanting to get some traction bars for next spring. Mine will mostly be used to mess around on the street and drag strip a few times. Are the Cal-Trac's what I'm looking for? It seems any traction bar will make it ride rougher, but I've heard the Cal-Trac's are very noisy? Thoughts? Thanks

From everything i hear, properly set up cal-trac's will work the best. Now as a daily driver, they can be noisy and cause a rough ride if they have preload under them. Brian specifically wanted to get rid of them due to the noise and i know of a few others who hate the noise too but then there are others who swear by them and have no probs. i like the straight traction bars for all around. if your trying to squeak all you can out of a drag setup, get cal-tracs

 

[Tony Burkhard]

Well my bars for pulling have had zero failures and have three inches of adjustment and have been used on 1000+ HP pulling trucks. Again they are not the ideal drag racing bars. There is not an ideal bar to do both. Well i have built a set of bars that work awesome for both but only a few trucks out there have strong enough frames to use them on pulling trucks and that is the same set up i used on the DH 2.0

 

[Bryce418]

I agree caltracs are probably the best for drag racing, but for dd use I object to the ride quality and noise.

My idea is to have two separate front mounts, one for long bars and a short set mounted steep to create more anti squat which seems to help four wheel launch.

 

[PAT]

I agree caltracs are probably the best for drag racing, but for dd use I object to the ride quality and noise.

My idea is to have two separate front mounts, one for long bars and a short set mounted steep to create more anti squat which seems to help four wheel launch.

I agree. My caltracs drive me friggin bonkers. I back them off all the way so that little roller piece doesn't touch the leafs. Helps out. But they still make noise. I hate explaining noises that my truck makes to the people that doesn't know what it is.

 

[D-MAX Mafia]

Why not just 4 link on airbags and forget about it?! Thats the route I'm going on mine.

On the Droid X

 

[PAT]

Why not just 4 link on airbags and forget about it?! Thats the route I'm going on mine.

On the Droid X

Would bags even be any good for the track? Doesn't firestobe make a 4 link and bag kit?

 

[D-MAX Mafia]

Would bags even be any good for the track? Doesn't firestobe make a 4 link and bag kit?

Has anyone tried it? If coil overs work, then an airbag with a good shock set up should work.

On the Droid X

 

[Chevy1925]

Has anyone tried it? If coil overs work, then an airbag with a good shock set up should work.

On the Droid X

pretty much, a majority of it is in the shock tuning if you using a 4 link kit. if your building your own kit, a few other things can be changed to better suit your setup

 

[D-MAX Mafia]

pretty much, a majority of it is in the shock tuning if you using a 4 link kit. if your building your own kit, a few other things can be changed to better suit your setup

I'll be getting with you when i'm ready to build mine.

On the Droid X

 

[red1977]

Why not just 4 link on airbags and forget about it?! Thats the route I'm going on mine.

On the Droid X

My work stock class does not allow 4 link in the sled pulling.

 

[PAT]

Has anyone tried it? If coil overs work, then an airbag with a good shock set up should work.

On the Droid X

No idea man. I've seen the kit a few times. But never any feed back.

 

[Chevy1925]

I'll be getting with you when i'm ready to build mine.

On the Droid X

Sounds good!

 

[JD4440]

Caltrac's are the best when drag racing and long traction bars are the best for truck pulling. Many have great results with just clamping your springs for drag and long bars for pulling, its simple to remove my bars when going to the track. I have new frame brackets that are not pictured on my site yet. My kits are bolt on, no welding and are quiet with rubber mounted ends. They work awsome for DD also.

http://allseasondieselperformance.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=67

What pipe is used with the mount kit? If the cal tracs would mount in your rear mounts it wouldn't be bad to swap them out based on what your doing

 

[Tony Burkhard]

What pipe is used with the mount kit? If the cal tracs would mount in your rear mounts it wouldn't be bad to swap them out based on what your doing

I could make that work.

 

[red1977]

Thinking I might be just stick with spring clamps for now. I need some other things right now.

 

[mb1]

Re: matching the driveshaft angle.

You have to look at the long bar and the front half of the spring as a 4-link, and imagine how the driveshaft angle will be affected. It's a little more complicated cause the spring will flatten out and get longer, causing the rear end to rotate backwards ( like a tire in reverse )

 

[Dirtymax03]

So what would be a good length on drive ability and draging on stock hight