Fabritech ladder bars require a 4.5" lift ???

[Bigsaint]

I finally got around to calling National Tire and Wheel. Spoke with a tech. who stated that they do not make a Fabritech ladder bar that will fit my truck as it is not lifted. He stated that I need to be lifted a minimum of 4. 5" for the bars. WTF ???? I believe that I was misinformed by the tech. I spoke with. I really want to try a set but I'm not willing to lift my truck 4. 5" for them to fit. Anyone have any ideas ??? I've read the posts on Steve's bars and David VT's post about snapping a bracket with the Fabritechs. I'm not sled pulling or racing at the strip, just looking for something to help with the axle wrap and put a bit more of traction to the ground.



TIA



Scott W.

 

[TomGolden]

Scott, Garry Troyer "willyslover" has the same exact truck you do, non-lifted, and he has Steve St. Laurent's ladder bars installed. They are schweet



Tom

 

[Bigsaint]

Thanks Tom, my first choice was Steve's set up, until he had the problem with the stress fractures. Did he find a solution to avoid a repeat performance ?



Scott W.

 

[CUMINNTSTRKN]

scott



i have the heavy duty's, and my truck is stock height. they work great on my truck. i'm not sure about the stage 2's though.



jim

 

[EShaw]

Axel Rapp?

Scott,

I thought Axel Rapp was a singer... ... ... OK... ... OK



Although traction bars (ladder bars) look cool and work most of the time... ... ...

Call Jenson and Mitchel in Paterson... ... ... . tell them what you have and what you want to do... ... ... ... I bet they can help. They are a spring shop (although they are open year round). 973-279-3535

Eric

 

[Devildog]

Call Fabritech

1-540-825-1544. National tire told me the same thing. A fabritech "tech" will get on the phone with you ask a couple of questions and give you the part # to give to National tire. (ridiculous)

If you have a rear sway bar you need have to use the stage 2's

 

[TomGolden]

Scott, I haven't kept up with that thread on TDR lately, so I do not know if he has posted any solutions to the frame cracking problem. Neither do I know if in fact Gary had that problem. I don't think Gary pulls sleds or drag races, so maybe he isn't putting the amount of stress on his frame that is really needed to cause the cracking... ...



Tom

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I do have solutions for the stresses but I have been slowed down by losing 5th gear on my truck. It's been down for a couple of weeks now as I decided how I was going to deal with it (I'm rebuilding the trans myself and it should be back on the road this week). I had the frame cracks fixed and installed doubler plates a week before the trans went out and then drove 2,000 miles pulling my trailer to maryland and raced two days there. I also have another brace I want to install, just didn't have time to get it done before the trip. Once I get the truck back on the road I'll get the other brace ready to go and then will beat on it to make sure it holds up. You can view the updates at http://216.235.147.117/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39619&perpage=30&pagenumber=2 . So far the only myself and Amianthus have had the problem (as far as I know - noone else has contacted me about it) and we both beat on our trucks pretty hard. Keep in mind that any ladder bar setup that attaches to that area of the frame has the potential to have this same problem - none of the setups out there reinforce the frame in that area right now nor use backing plates that I am aware of. In addition to the doubler plates on the frame I'll also be tying the front mount to the front spring perch mount where the frame is double walled which will eliminate all flex in the mount.



-Steve

 

[HEMI®Dart]

When I bought my Fabritechs they didn't ask about lifted or stock. My front brackets broke too. Fabritech made and sent new ones N/C, but they never got put back on. Maybe a lifted truck has a better angle for the bars not to break mounts?

 

[Bigsaint]

Good info guys, thanks. I'll give Fabritech a call in the am and see if I can get a part number.



Scott W.

 

[Bigsaint]

Thanks Devildog

I called Fabritech direct today and spoke with them. The correct part number for the Dana 80 is 200-D5. They said they will fit, but may or may not require some modification to the "block". I'm not exactly sure what they are talking about. Something about a pressed in cold pin that I may have to modifiy ??? They stated that some Dodge owners reported that the bars fit without modification while the majority do require you to modifiy the pin. Anybody out there ever put a set of the Fabritech stage 2 bars on a 3500 ??? I should add that the guys at Fabritech are a world apart from the tech I spoke with at NT+W. Real nice folks and spent alot of time with me on the phone, I'm just too under educated in this area to fully understand the mod. they spoke of.



I was all set to order them, now I'm not sure.



Scott W.

 

[Devildog]

Welcome

My stage two's are to arrive this week. I was talking with another member who had a 3500 and said his dowel pins where long enough, I have the 2500. The dowel pins stick up from the suspension blocks and fits in a center hole in the leaf springs to maintain stability and alignment. The Fabritech axle plate fits between the block and leaf spring shortening the dowel pins penetration into the leaf spring. The application calls for a minimum of 3/16" protruding into the leaf spring after the axle plate is installed. I may have a spring shop install the axle plates on my truck just in case.

 

[Bigsaint]

Okay, thanks again. Now at least know what they were talking about. I think I'm going to order a set as well.



Scott W.