Traction Bars For Spring Wrap?

[Horse Rider]

Has anyone put on Traction Bars on their truck to eliminate spring wrap? If so, where did you find them? My truck has started to buck real bad when backing up(when empty) and also when pulling my 5th wheel camper(starting out or backing up) . It's just about time to start camping again and I need to get this fixed. Has anybody ever tried placing larger spring U-Bolts on their trucks to elimiate spring wrap? Say around 5/8" or 3/4" bolts. I believe you would just have to drill the hole out larger in the bottom plate of the spring hanger (if there would be enough meat there) but I don't know if this would help or not. What do you think? My truck is a 98 Quad cab with a 5 speed 4X4 Long wheel base 354 gears Gear Vendor transmission KDP Killed Standard Transmission & Gear Reman 5 speed (Lost 5th gear)South Bend Clutch

 

[pwknapp]

Call Peirs and get the 2wd low switch. Get the advantage of a low range when backing. Your wrap up sounds like an engagement issue with the 3. 55's that quite a few here have experienced. JM. 02

 

[JoshPeters]

I believe Rob Thomas has a great set of bars you can buy. I'd check with him. I know quite a few guys have installed the bars and had nothing but good to say about them.



Josh

 

[I-6DZL]

try member LsFarm as well. excellent product.



Curtis

 

[RHARVEY]

In the next few weeks I will be building some bars for a couple of people. I have a line on all the parts... now its time to build them. .



Rick

 

[jabird]

Did anybody get the frame cracking issue resolved with traction bars on these frames?

 

[Sticks]

Caltracks



I have not heard anything bad about them, and there is a group buy going on as well... so to speak.



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123849

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Did anybody get the frame cracking issue resolved with traction bars on these frames?

That problem happened with the bars that I was distributing. After using backing plates to sandwich the frame I have had no further issues (nor has anyone else that I'm aware of).

 

[y-knot]

There are several good choices for Traction Bars, National Tire and Wheel (NTW) sells FabriTech traction bars that fit the Dodge Trucks. I used them on my Ford and they worked very well, sell for around 300 bucks. Fabtech has a traction bar for the 1500/2500 series Dodge, not sure about the price but it looks very nice. Pro Comp has Traction bars that alot of wheelers use, they are in the 250-400 dollar area and have been around for several years. Rancho also makes quality traction bars, but the last time I checked there site, they still Didi not offer a set for the Dodge trucks. I used there set for the Chevy trucks and then just fabbed out a rear mounting bracket. I had run their traction bars before on a Chevy I had and liked them very much. Their bars are very strong, they use 1-7/8" o. 188 DOM tubing, prob ally the strongest bar on the market? Like I said I used them four 3-4 years on a Chevy without incident. The reason I used them on the Chevy was the same reason I used them on my Dodge, spring wrap. The Chevy was lifted 6" and ran 35" tires, I use to pull a 32' Tag trailer with it that weighted around 9,000Lbs. Under certain conditions the springs would wrap up and make the rear end hop, the addition of the Rancho bars completely curred the condition. With the Dodge, I had the same problem. It is lifted and running larger tires, and the trailer I tow is a 36' Gooseneck that weights over 16,000Lbs. The bars also curred that problem, and I would recommend them hands down. Many on this site like to pick apart other peoples stuff, I ran into that when I posted about my Rancho Bars and how they had to be modified to fit the Dodge truck. First, I could care less if you like them or not, and second, They are not for racing and will never be for racing (pulling, if you can call that racing?) They are for the street, and for the real world conditions that I live in. They work just fine, look great and didn't come with the stamp of approval so many on this site seam to think they have to give. 90 % of people on this site are cool, enjoy sharing information with others and live in the real world like the rest of us do. The other 10% are fake, phony and always have to be-little others that don't buy the same parts or subscribe to the same philosophies as they do. I enjoy sharing information with other owners and sometimes helping people that have problems, they (the 90%) are what this site is about. Good luck with your traction bars, they do help control spring wrap, which occur es while backing a heavy load, or on wet or slippery conditions. One poster, recommended the 2WD low kit. It also works very well, I have the Bob V 2WD kit that does not use any electronics and actually does the job correctly. Some kits use a solenoid to block the vacuum line to the CAD 4WD actuator, this will allow you to use Low range with out the front axle being engaged. But it does not address the fact that the front axle has to be locked either IN or Out of engagement. When you use a solenoid to block the vacuum, it prevent the engagement, but allows the CAD to bounce around, back in forth, which can and will cause damage. The correct way to fool the CAD system into allowing for 2WD LOW, is to re-route the vacuum system, into holding the CAD engagement out of engagement when it is suppose to be held in engagement. This gives you the 2WD LOW that you need, put does it in a way that will not hurt anything in the front end. Good luck.

 

[RT66DOC]

Well howdy, Y-not. Long time no see.

OK, back to the thread.

 

[I-6DZL]

Well i have no clue what you use your truck for and as Y-Knot puts it "don't really care" But..... I'm just trying to give you a possible suggestion as to a great place to look for these traction bars that you need. These bars are very strong. Unlike Y-Knots they are often used by pullers,1/4 mile demons,and million mile expansion joint highway drivers.



Just like if you were looking for the "proper" transmission for your needs. Give everyone a call, see what suites your needs the best, and lay down the cash!



fellow member that i suggest is as stated above LsFarm, Greatlakesdieselworks.com



Good luck

Curtis

 

[BarryG]

I also have a set of LSFarm's traction bars and they work great for my needs. They are pretty heavy duty. I asked him if they would fix the problems I told him about and his answers were all yes. I bought a set and he was right all my spring wrap associated problems are now nonexistant and a few other benfefits as well. They were an easy bolt on installation except for drilling four holes (which was easy as well). If I recall it was about a 90 minute job with me really taking my time.

 

[Turbo Thom]

To get away from the bars a sec, which SB clutch did you install? Some just won't slip when backing.



. . Preston. .

 

[Todd T]

Enterprise Engine has a set too. these may be the ones Steve St. used to sell I forget. they looked pretty beefy.

 

[Horse Rider]

Thanks Guys for all the good information. I'll use it wisely. I was hoping someone would comment on the bigger spring U-Bolts.

Thanks again!!!!

Horse Rider

 

[I-6DZL]

I don't know about other bars out there, but the ones that LsFarm sells their is no need to go to bigger ubolts. If you feel more confident in bigger ubolts, then by all means drill the mounting pad (for the traction bars) to fit the bigger ubolts. It depends on what kit you're using. Have you seen the bars LsFarm makes ?



Good Luck

Curtis

 

[Cooker]

Here are a few pics of LsFarm's bars.

 

[JGK]

Hmmm. Interesting. They look identical to the set I got from Rob last fall (group purchase).



It would be interesting to compare some dimensions. I'll have to take some measurements (tube diameter and length, bolt sizes, etc. ) in the next day or two.



-Jay

 

[Cooker]

I'll save you some time



The look similar to the bars Rob was selling because they are almost idential. Maybe not 100% identical but very close. I think Rob said he was using a little larger tubing, but I'm not sure if this is true.



There is a very, very long story that is associated with this. You can try a search but if you don't come up with all the answers shoot me a PM and I will fill you in on the details as there is no need to clutter up this thread anymore with it.



At least you were one of the lucky ones that received your bars from the GP. After paying in full at the time of the GP, there are a couple of guys still waiting for theirs.

 

[JGK]

Yeah, Ryan, I'm aware of the issue. My reply above was sort of "rhetorical".



When I ordered mine last fall I had quite an e-mail conversation with Rob about the relationship between him and Greg. That gave me his side of the story. I haven't spoken to Greg to get the other side. One point Rob mentioned was that he used a larger, stronger bar stock. From your pictures, that does appear to be the case. The brackets look identical. I can't tell about the heim joints (size) from the pics.



My only complaint about Rob's product is that the powder coating on the brackets wasn't very good. I've had large areas just flake off. Maybe one weekend this summer I'll pull them off, blast them down and paint them with epoxy paint or some such. Other than that, they work as advertised.



-Jay