Ladder Bars.... out with Fabritech looking for Steve's

[David_VT]

Looking for the threads Steve did on his ladder bars. Without the search engine it is nearly impossible to find old stuff.



So...



Can someone recall a thread which I can read regarding Steve's design? I have a local guy who wants me to use his design which is made up of parts from a tractor 3point hitch top link. He says it is adjustable so that one could preload the suspension when trying to pull or do the dragstrip. I want to compare to Steve's as Steve's sound like a better K. I. S. S. idea...



My Fabritech ladder bars snapped a mount at the truck frame. Only lady luck made me walk away from the truck to check something in the bar, so that I could walk back and see the front of the bar laying on the ground. Without the stop it could have been ugly at the first pothole I encountered... .



Here I am in Mud season and my rear end is shaking like crazy again. I had forgotten how much those bars helped the truck!



Why not fix the mount rather than replace? Simple, the paint peeled within months. I got no satisfaction when I complained about the paint and now the mount breaks. . enough/game over. SS sounds like a better idea.



DavidVT

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Man, sorry to hear about that - sure glad you checked em! Here the links that I have on file:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27669



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5973



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20610



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20176



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19936



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6096



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6009



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=35743&pagenumber=1



BTW, you can preload the suspension with mine as well if you want, I don't find a need to and run mine neutral. Good timing BTW, Enterprise is about to place an order in the next couple of days. This is the first order going through since about 8 months ago.



-Steve St. Laurent

Supplier of SS Ladder Bars

 

[BLACKRAM]

Get Steve's SS Bars. They work great.

 

[JR2]

OH man I thought they placed the order 3 weeks ago... I am on that list and waiting Oo.

 

[Big P]

Hey David, on a side note, I think I saw your truck on I-91 north of St. Johnsbury this winter. I remember the truck was green and it had traction bars. I was up that way going snowmobiling. If it was you it goes to show that this is a small world.

 

[David_VT]

Yep, right part of the country

I-91 north of St. J would be me...



If the truck was green, gold cap with black/yellow traction bars. I primed them black after the rust started to be more significant than the yellow paint on them...



I swear by the advantages of the ladder bars but hate to have to buy another set. I will see about a repair weld but if I have to spend much more I will just dump them and replace with Steve's idea!



David

 

[CUMINNTSTRKN]

david



what model bars did you have? i was going to order the stage 2's but they told me that there heavy duty bars were a lot stronger unit.



jim

 

[Devildog]

I need ladder bars also, I'm still searching for the best set. I really don't want to weld on the axle if I don't have to. I have a 4. 5" suspension lift and I wonder if some of the ladder bars out there will work. I also looked at the SS and the Fabritech stage 2's hhmmmm

 

[radixr]

There was a thread going a while ago about someone on the left coast who got special rear spring packs (more leaves and greater arch) that eliminated the spacer block under the stock springs and virtually eliminated wheel hop at the same time.



I would like to hear what he has to say about the springs after a year or so of experience with them.

 

[David_VT]

reply saved from server crash

As I understand it , the issue comes down to driveability.

The stage two's have a bushing at both ends which allows for flex.



I did not consider anything heavier at the time I was shopping because I was just looking to get rid of the snow shudder that the cummins torque plus DC's suspension blocks have created.



To be fair to fabritech, one has to consider the environment I operate in before deciding that you agree the fabritech product is the problem or my environment is the problem.



First issue is buying the painted bars with a bright color finish. I was told by fabritech that the reason the paint chipped off is because the paint is way too brittle when super bright due to the effect of the pigment. Backup for this could be that the mounting plates are dark grey and have never chipped.



Second issue is that I live on a honest to god dirt road that I travel on everyday. In Winter it is ice/salt, now it is mud/salt, and in dry season it is abrasive dirt. Most of the year the road is 'washboarded', a condition that makes 4-8" ripples in the surface from rainwater or melting snow or frost working out of the surface. Couple that road with my heavy [edge assisted] foot and you can imagine what the bottom of my truck looks like. no St. Jose Rammers super clean rig here



So, would I have had the same problems if I had bought a dark conservative color rather than Yellow, maybe. Would I have had the same problem if the truck live on paved roads most of the time? Don't know



As to the broken mount, there was rust half way across the split and fresh metal the other half of the split. That makes me think that the problem was there for a long time and finally let loose on the morning when my tires were frozen in the driveway (after parking in slush with falling temps the night before).