Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO?

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Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? #1223283
04/27/12 09:00 PM 04/27/12 09:00 PM

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 11,547
delivering your oil

nutso suave Offline

OP
I Live Here

nutso suave Offline

OP
I Live Here

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 11,547
delivering your oil

here is the question...should you put slapper bars on a mopar? i was laughed out of the forum 5 years ago when i asked this question, but since then several drag racers have told me that traction bars work better than adjustable pinion snubbers. what is the consensus here?

if i was going to add a set, i'd use these ansen ground grabbers:

7182425-ansen2.jpg (656 downloads)

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223284 04/27/12 09:22 PM 04/27/12 09:22 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet
Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md	Well I added a set to my XHD springs and well...the 60 foot was worse, but I had some other issues as well so I'm not sure I want to blame it all on them yet. They get one more chance and they wil come off. Right at th etrack as a matter of fact. [IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/pui5j.jpg[/IMG] Coming soon!!!!

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223285 04/27/12 09:46 PM 04/27/12 09:46 PM
Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 9,098 Ontario, Canada S Stanton Don't question me!
Stanton Don't question me! S Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 9,098 Ontario, Canada	Well I think the answer is "relative". Mopar always claimed that their springs were biased side to side and the muscle cars had longer front segments to minimize wind-up. Fine - for the stock tires! But as soon as you stuck some different rubber on the rear that changed things. Now you had the option of a s/s spring, an adjustable snubber or both. Let's face it, a) the springs weren't cheap and b) the snubber was either "on" or "off", meaning to make it plant the tires it pretty much had to be touching the floor and that gave you a lousy ride if you left it there. The slapper bars were a different animal, relatively inexpensive and they could be "tuned" such that they wouldn't do anything until you "got on it" and the springs started to wind up. So my opinion is if they work for your Mopar, they belong on it.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223286 04/27/12 09:49 PM 04/27/12 09:49 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 13,053 Benton, IL. D DaveRS23 Master of nothing...
DaveRS23 Master of nothing... D Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 13,053 Benton, IL.	Not no.......but HELL NO! Springs, shocks, pinion angle, drive height, weight transfer, tire compound, etc, etc. But not slappers. And, to be honest, the only thing that pinion snubbers ever did for me was stop the rear U-joint from being twisted out when I had poor rear set-ups way back when. Master, again and still

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223287 04/28/12 09:25 PM 04/28/12 09:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 5,406 Pikes Peak Country T TC@HP2 master
TC@HP2 master T Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 5,406 Pikes Peak Country	If your springs a set up properly, the body will seperate from the axle, or rise, and snubber and/or slappers are rendered useless. Slappers typically hit the leafs just aft of the main eye, right in the weakest part of the spring. If the are doing that, good chance your going to bend your main leaf as it trys to lever the car's body up. Think of it this way, would you use a floor jack in this spot? That's what slappers are doing.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: TC@HP2] #1223288 04/28/12 09:49 PM 04/28/12 09:49 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,114 Irving, TX feets Senior Management
feets Senior Management Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,114 Irving, TX	I get between 4 and 5 inches of lift out of my rear springs. The snubber does not contact the floor. I certainly don't need slappers. We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind. - Stu Harmon

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223289 04/29/12 08:00 AM 04/29/12 08:00 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 8,950 Holly/MI D Dean_Kuzluzski master
Dean_Kuzluzski master D Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 8,950 Holly/MI	Quote: but since then several drag racers have told me that traction bars work better than adjustable pinion snubbers. CalTrac's obviously work and they are slapper bars that were refined to a fully functioning level. The "poor man's 4-Link" as one could say. They basically reapply the wind-up forces into a downward motion for the axle. And one of the reasons the old Direct Connection manuals pumped up the P-snubber and rejected the slapper bars was to sell their own product. R.I.P.- Gary "Coop" Davis 02/09/68-05/13/04

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: TC@HP2] #1223290 04/29/12 11:14 AM 04/29/12 11:14 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet
Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md	Quote: If your springs a set up properly, the body will seperate from the axle, or rise, and snubber and/or slappers are rendered useless. Slappers typically hit the leafs just aft of the main eye, right in the weakest part of the spring. If the are doing that, good chance your going to bend your main leaf as it trys to lever the car's body up. Think of it this way, would you use a floor jack in this spot? That's what slappers are doing. traction bars should be pushed forward up under the leaf spring mount, not under the spring itself.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Dean_Kuzluzski] #1223291 04/29/12 11:48 AM 04/29/12 11:48 AM
Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 10,570 Sunny South Florida Golden-Arm I Live Here
Golden-Arm I Live Here Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 10,570 Sunny South Florida	caltracs, the "hi-tech" slapper bar. they do what they are supposed to do. so does the pinion snubber, if your ride isnt jacked to the sky. "When Tyranny Becomes Law, Rebellion Becomes Duty"

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Golden-Arm] #1223292 04/29/12 12:24 PM 04/29/12 12:24 PM
Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,866 Colorado Leadfoot master
Leadfoot master Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,866 Colorado	All traction bars do is control any wheel hop issues you may have. Pinion snubbers do the same thing. They keep the pinion from walking up the ring gear. Like this: Traction bars stop it and snubbers stop it. One stops it from the center and one stops it from the outside. The reason traction bars are frowned on in the Mopar ranks is because Mopar sells a snubber. Reason two is that a lot of traction bars are built for Brand X and therefore extend beyond the front shackle. In fact a lot of traction bars are 21 inches or better but the front spring segment is 20 inches for A-Body and as long as 24 inches for the Barges. I believe Mopar Performance also sold clamps for the front spring segments to stiffen the front segment up. So yes. If you're getting wheel hop then traction bars can and will work. The only thing about traction bars is that some of "Those Guys" have been known to twist their housing on launch.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Leadfoot] #1223293 04/29/12 02:06 PM 04/29/12 02:06 PM
Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 14,889 up yours Supercuda About to go away
Supercuda About to go away Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 14,889 up yours	Quote: All traction bars do is control any wheel hop issues you may have. Pinion snubbers do the same thing. They keep the pinion from walking up the ring gear. Like this: Traction bars stop it and snubbers stop it. One stops it from the center and one stops it from the outside. The reason traction bars are frowned on in the Mopar ranks is because Mopar sells a snubber. Reason two is that a lot of traction bars are built for Brand X and therefore extend beyond the front shackle. In fact a lot of traction bars are 21 inches or better but the front spring segment is 20 inches for A-Body and as long as 24 inches for the Barges. I believe Mopar Performance also sold clamps for the front spring segments to stiffen the front segment up. So yes. If you're getting wheel hop then traction bars can and will work. The only thing about traction bars is that some of "Those Guys" have been known to twist their housing on launch. Your graphic is bassackwards in direction They say there are no such thing as a stupid question. They say there is always the exception that proves the rule. Don't be the exception.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Supercuda] #1223294 04/29/12 02:10 PM 04/29/12 02:10 PM
Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,866 Colorado Leadfoot master
Leadfoot master Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,866 Colorado	I didn't really even notice that. I copied it off the internet without paying attention to the arrows. I just assumed they were made to advance to the next screen as part of a slide presentation or something like that. I wonder how many people now have their traction bars sticking out the back thanks to me.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Supercuda] #1223295 04/29/12 02:23 PM 04/29/12 02:23 PM
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 12,589 Sacramento, CA cal_gecko I Live Here
cal_gecko I Live Here Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 12,589 Sacramento, CA	Quote: Quote: All traction bars do is control any wheel hop issues you may have. Pinion snubbers do the same thing. They keep the pinion from walking up the ring gear. Like this: Traction bars stop it and snubbers stop it. One stops it from the center and one stops it from the outside. The reason traction bars are frowned on in the Mopar ranks is because Mopar sells a snubber. Reason two is that a lot of traction bars are built for Brand X and therefore extend beyond the front shackle. In fact a lot of traction bars are 21 inches or better but the front spring segment is 20 inches for A-Body and as long as 24 inches for the Barges. I believe Mopar Performance also sold clamps for the front spring segments to stiffen the front segment up. So yes. If you're getting wheel hop then traction bars can and will work. The only thing about traction bars is that some of "Those Guys" have been known to twist their housing on launch. Your graphic is bassackwards in direction You sure about that? It looks like the front of the car would be to the right of the graphic (we're looking at the right side of the car in the diagram), the rear leaf spring shackle is on the left side of the graphic, at the back of the car.. it looks like the tire is rotating clockwise, moving the car forwards... looks correct to me.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: cal_gecko] #1223296 04/29/12 02:28 PM 04/29/12 02:28 PM
Joined: May 2006 Posts: 2,046 ky. K kenworth_goose top fuel
kenworth_goose top fuel K Joined: May 2006 Posts: 2,046 ky.	Quote: Quote: Quote: All traction bars do is control any wheel hop issues you may have. Pinion snubbers do the same thing. They keep the pinion from walking up the ring gear. Like this: Traction bars stop it and snubbers stop it. One stops it from the center and one stops it from the outside. The reason traction bars are frowned on in the Mopar ranks is because Mopar sells a snubber. Reason two is that a lot of traction bars are built for Brand X and therefore extend beyond the front shackle. In fact a lot of traction bars are 21 inches or better but the front spring segment is 20 inches for A-Body and as long as 24 inches for the Barges. I believe Mopar Performance also sold clamps for the front spring segments to stiffen the front segment up. So yes. If you're getting wheel hop then traction bars can and will work. The only thing about traction bars is that some of "Those Guys" have been known to twist their housing on launch. Your graphic is bassackwards in direction You sure about that? It looks like the front of the car would be to the right of the graphic (we're looking at the right side of the car in the diagram), the rear leaf spring shackle is on the left side of the graphic, at the back of the car.. it looks like the tire is rotating clockwise, moving the car forwards... looks correct to me. Wrong! When you look at this picture, the pinion is going towards the ground, that is the opposite of what happens. When you accelerate the pinion will go in the opposite direction, or up.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: kenworth_goose] #1223297 04/29/12 02:31 PM 04/29/12 02:31 PM
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 12,589 Sacramento, CA cal_gecko I Live Here
cal_gecko I Live Here Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 12,589 Sacramento, CA	D'oh, good point.. they have the rotational twisting effect going in the wrong direction !

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: cal_gecko] #1223298 04/29/12 02:45 PM 04/29/12 02:45 PM
Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 12,271 Overpriced Housing Central RobX4406 I Live Here
RobX4406 I Live Here Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 12,271 Overpriced Housing Central	Tire direction is OK, pinion deflection direction wrong, spring wrap/movement is opposite what is shown... other than most everything backwards it's a great diagram. On a well set up leaf spring car, a pinion snubber is a band aid at best. Great for propping the door of the shop open for a breeze. Clamp the snot out of the front segments and the snubber isn't even needed.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: RobX4406] #1223299 04/29/12 03:30 PM 04/29/12 03:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,111 Bowie, MD R Reggie top fuel
Reggie top fuel R Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,111 Bowie, MD	Found this on the web and tweaked it a bit..... 7184601-AxleWrapUnderAcceleration.jpg (1845 downloads)

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: Reggie] #1223300 04/30/12 09:12 PM 04/30/12 09:12 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 11,547 delivering your oil nutso suave OP I Live Here
nutso suave OP I Live Here Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 11,547 delivering your oil	Thanks for the info...sounds like it is a bad idea.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: nutso suave] #1223301 05/01/12 08:36 AM 05/01/12 08:36 AM
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 15,487 Florida S scratchnfotraction I Live Here
scratchnfotraction I Live Here S Joined: May 2003 Posts: 15,487 Florida	I use a south side machine lift bar thats for an A-body mopar(I have the A-body 8 3/4 on top of the mono-leaf spring with a shackle flip in the 88 440 truck),looks like a traction bar but replaces the shock plate and clamps to the leaf spring in the same spot caltracs does,just behind the front spring eye. it lifts the back of my truck about 4-5 inches and plants the tires on the launch. I dont mind the snickers about the traction bars on a mopar thing,it works for me,with out them it goes up in smoke and has some wheel hop with 12" rim and a 29x15x15 M/Ts that is not good. with the lift bars it hooks out the hole and no spin or hop from the alxe. i would run the ansen ground grabbers or ssm lift bars not the cheap autozone/lakewood slapper bars for chebbys run what ya brung Last edited by scratchnfotraction; 05/01/12 08:39 AM.

Re: Final Showdown: traction bars - YES or NO? [Re: scratchnfotraction] #1223302 05/01/12 08:48 AM 05/01/12 08:48 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet
Mr.Yuck Not enough dumb comments...yet Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 24,562 Brookeville, Md	Quote: I use a south side machine lift bar thats for an A-body mopar(I have the A-body 8 3/4 on top of the mono-leaf spring with a shackle flip in the 88 440 truck),looks like a traction bar but replaces the shock plate and clamps to the leaf spring in the same spot caltracs does,just behind the front spring eye. it lifts the back of my truck about 4-5 inches and plants the tires on the launch. I dont mind the snickers about the traction bars on a mopar thing,it works for me,with out them it goes up in smoke and has some wheel hop with 12" rim and a 29x15x15 M/Ts that is not good. with the lift bars it hooks out the hole and no spin or hop from the alxe. i would run the ansen ground grabbers or ssm lift bars not the cheap autozone/lakewood slapper bars for chebbys run what ya brung those SSM lift bars are great. ran them on an old 68 Dart. They do make the ride a tad rough... I was thinking of trying them on the Charger as they are a lot cheaper then Cal-Tracs

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