Competition traction bars/ladder bars

[DIESELWRKS]

lets talk ladder bars or traction bars. first I dont drag my truck possible would sled pull in future but have bad axle wrap at times and I do drive in 4wd but will never jump my truck. so I have read and looked at alot of pic's of these. I will probley build my own and use heim joints. but looking more towards a ladder bar style. it would have 3 points of contact two on axle and one forward off frame. I was told and saw pictures of people running only 1 ladder bar on passenger side and they said that is all that is needed. is this really true. so if you have pics or your ladder or traction bars that would be great. I would rather make my own than buy a factory made for everyone bar.







2002 HO 6-SPD LB 4X4 QC HTT 62/14 SB-FE SMARTY TST PM3 MACH 4'S, RINGED AND STUDS, AFE/2 "SILVERLINE D/PRICOL PYRO,BOOST,FUEL FASS 150, VULCAN 1/2 DRAW-STRAW, VULCAN 3/8 FUEL LINE AND FITTINGS, DSS-TRAC-BAR STEER-BOX, RIDE RITE AIR BAGS,17'' KMC BLACK HOSS, 315/70/17 MICKTHOM MTZ'S 6" RCD LONG ARM LIFT AND DE-BADGED FOR FUEL MILEAGE. :-laf

 

[snuff]

i don't have bars but will eventualy, you need them on both sides. if you just secure the one side nothing keeps the other side from torquing. yea you might not notice it but the other side will wrap if not secured... . just my . 02...

 

[CaseySmith]

My brother and I put this one together. I purchased the kit from offroad designs. They make the kit for 14 bolt chevys, but with a liitle fab time it works. It came with uncut tubing, three rubber bushing joints, uniball joint, the axle brackets, and square stock for a cross member. We put together a front mount for the shackle to hang from.



It works great. No sled pulling, but a lot of burnouts and bouncing around on dirt and snow, not one problem yet. The pictures were pre-paint, it looks much better black.

 

[Hammer]

Here are shots of bars on my truck now and some of the past versions. The sets I use are single bar units and have 2 bars. You would not want to use only a single bar on a single side deal as you could never set the proper preload with only a single bar.



The set that is powder coated Red were made by Darryl Poole in Michigan. They were the best bang for the buck and were the easiest to mount. I know he sells them direct and you could get them through EEP at one time. You would have to contact either one of them for availabilty now.



The first long set were EEP Single bars and were bought used here. They did what I wanted them to do and gave the truck a different look as they were alot longer. However,as a single set they were not as strong as they should have been and bent easily when we went to put the truck up on a lift for work. It was one of those miscalculated height deals with the lift stands and when the truck went into the air,the bars bent. I have yet to figure out why as they came off a pullers truck who is a member here and were used for years.



So that arrives us at my current set,redone by East Coast Diesel. Its uses the EEP single bar mounts and ECD bars custom made for my length. They are built to not bend and are some of the strongest units I have seen yet to this day.



Buying a set of bars versus building your own is your choice. Since there are many good quaility sets available for 2nd generation trucks I probably would not build my own,unless I did a complete custom suspension where the bars are utilized better. I hope this helps you some and good luck..... Andy



Here are the Poole Bars... .

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[DIESELWRKS]

Trac Bars

Well thanks for the pic's my decision now is do I do it my self and save a little money and have the self do feeling. or someone elses that would be less of a headache. also I dont know what is better on the front mount a shackle style mount or a fixed mount and bushing style or heims. Im sure heims are stronger and allow alittle more flex than a bushing syle. my truck has a six inch lift on the front I think rear is a 6 inch block vise factory 4 inch so I do need these bars soon thanks alot again

 

[BILLVO]

Here is a couple of sites with lots of affordable choices.



Rocky Mountain Suspension Products, traction bars



Top Gun Customz - Ladder Bars (Dodge)

 

[DHayden]

I have pictures of mine in readers rigs.

Here's one

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[DIESELWRKS]

traction bars

well I found this company close to me and they make these so what do you guys think its from dp-suspension. . View attachment 68736

 

[DIESELWRKS]

sorry from www.dp-suspension they are less than 4 bills $

 

[ENafziger]

well I found this company close to me and they make these so what do you guys think its from dp-

They may be ok, but they're using a bushing for the front mount, and maybe the rear as well. This will limit articulation considerably, if that is a concern. A better design for allowing flexing of the suspension would use heim joints on each end, or something similar.

Also, I would make sure they're using DOM tubing of sufficient wall thickness, to keep them from bending.

I'm running LazarII traction bars, and they're very high quality, and provide complete elimination of axle wrap/axle hop while allowing great articulation.

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It's hard to show in pictures, but maybe you can tell how the bars are twisting to allow for flex here...

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Heavy duty heims will significantly raise the price though, as they are $50 - 60 each or more.

--Eric

 

[DieselNasty]

I have traction bars from Darryl Pool also, they are made very nice! I also got his upgraded U-bolts, I can't wait to put them on and test em out! Hammer why did you take Darryl's bars off?

 

[DIESELWRKS]

shackled

okay another question on the traction bars on the front connection Ive seen heims, bushings and shackle style. on the shackle design what is the good and bad of this compared to a fixed end. not trying to start a traction bar war. thanks for the help.



2002 HO 6-SPD LB 4X4 QC HTT 62/14 SB-FE SMARTY TST PM3 MACH 4'S, RINGED AND STUDS, AFE/2 " 4"EXHAUST D/PRICOL PYRO,BOOST,FUEL FASS 150, VULCAN 1/2 DRAW-STRAW, 3/8 FUEL LINE, DSS-TRAC-BAR STEER-BOX, RIDE RITE AIR BAGS,17'' KMC BLACK HOSS, 315/70/17 MICKTHOM MTZ'S 6" RCD LONG ARM LIFT AND DE-BADGED FOR FUEL MILEAGE. :-laf

 

[Hammer]

Hammer why did you take Darryl's bars off?

I wanted a different look for show season and I had a guy who gave me more than what I initially paid for them when I bought them many moons ago. They are on a truck running somehwere around Columbus right now last I heard.



Darryl's bars definately are the best bang for someones buck,period. I may go back to them eventually as there is a new set laying on the shelf in the shop just in case,LOL. I found a set surfing the boards for sale which were new and cheap and within a short drivemwent and picked them up just in case they are needed. I should have never sold mine in the first place. It was one of those brain fart deals... ... . Andy

 

[BILLVO]

sorry from www.dp-suspension they are less than 4 bills $

I don't like that all the mounts are weld on even the front frame mounts for this company.

 

[SRadke]

The shackel in the front allows the axle to travel for and aft as the springs compress yet still resists twist.



Weld on mouts are not only much cheaper to produce but also less likely to twist or slide out of position. The disadvantage is your average guy can't install them in his garage.



-Scott

 

[V-Metalworx]

Ok I think I'll add my 2c it really depends what you are doing with your truck if it is mostley a streeter and maybe a pull here and their I would sugest building-buying a ladder bar with the shac in the front and heim joints a single point bar hoked to the frame in the front kinda binds up the suspension which isn't that bad for pulling but makes them ridged on the street I'm going to try to post a link to EEP they build a nice set of bars but I don't know how much you want to spend if you build them make shure you use good heavy tube I have seen a ton of home built ones bend on the slead cause they weren't built heavy enough :-lafhttp://. www.enterpriseengine.com/partsandproductssorry bought that I just went to their site and they don't show the 4-bar ladder they used to build this set up here is what I wouldn't run on the street not to mention they are way to proud of their labor I know steel is going up but man! I think I have some pic's I 'll try to find them.

 

[DIESELWRKS]

thanks that would be great if you find them

 

[V-Metalworx]

thanks that would be great if you find them

Ilooked yesterday but I've got a bought a million pic's on my computer and I don't know where I put them #@$%! I'll look some more, they had the same type of leaf spring lower mount but they had another mount weled to the axle on top they had 4 bars like a sprint car they looked pretty long I think the shackle mount was right around the transfercase they used a pivot point up by the frame just like a leaf spring shackel then the two bars coming from the rear end both hooked in a lower set of holes I think the four bars help keep the rear end from twisting I have a friend with a 99QQ SB that pulls quite a bit he built a set out of heavy sq tube with a fixed mount on the frame which worked fine for pulling but it really rides stiff on the street. hope this helps I 'll still try to find those pic's it might take me a while

 

[BILLVO]

I run the Tuff country ladder bars and have put them through everything except rock crawling and have had no issues at all. No ride quality issues either. Mine is stock height though so that may be a difference, Not sure how much offroading and flexing you will be needing to do. That would be the deciding factor you should consider.

 

[Hammer]

DIESELWRKS and MVandever...

The current bars on my truck are the EEP bars,or whats left of them anyway. The only EEP built parts left are the rear mounts and the shackles up front. I did not weld the shackles on my frame as I wasn't sure if I liked the look at first. When the initial install was done and I got home a local chassis man removed the front shackles and welded tubes into the places where the bolts slipped through the frame for strength. This way when they were properly torqued down it did not crush the frame at all and they stayed where they werer supposed to and did not egg shape the holes. I have the top bars but you can not run them on the street as it makes for a rigid mount and not much rear suspension give.



The original EEP lower bars on my truck were bent bad when the truck was lifted for transmission work. Seems they were a little thinner than what they should have been and it also explains why so many have been bent in a single bar form. The bars we replaced them with were built by East Coast Diesel Performance's chassis man and are strong.



For simplicity... .

Darryl Poole's bars can not be beaten,period. They are tough as nails and will handle any abuse you can through at them and are used by many Midwest pullers. Again,having to do it over I would have kept my originals and been done with it... ..... Andy