Assassin bars.

Who has used them and what spring did you use them with? I like the idea of the lighter split mono-leaf for the Cal-Tracs, but For some reason I just seem to lean towards the Assassin Bars more.

If I didn't already own a set of Slide a links that's what I would have bought and used.

More adjustable.

Also, the guys who were bending springs went to these to stop the bending. I'm nowhere near fast enough to bend a spring, but if you don't have a set of bars, this is what I'd buy.

Caltracs pays contingencies in tons of organizations across the country. And unlike many manufacturers out there they pay and pay right away... I watched the yellow bullet race on live stream this weekend and seen several cars with big caltracs Stickers on there quarter panels i didn't see any assassin bar stickers.. John Calvert has bent over backwards to help us get where we are today

Contingency money doesn't really matter to me as I'm just a number chaser.
Like I said, I am looking for someone that has used them, and I would like to know what spring they used with them.

Lots of happy caltrack guys out there. I hope to be one soon.

I've got a buddy who put some on a '72 RR. He was happy with them, but it was only a high 13 second car.

Heck I ran low 12’s with stock springs and a pinion snubber. Lol 😂

Jason Digby runs the Assassin bars on his Dart (The Tooth Jerker)

I’ve experienced first hand the level of customer support that comes with buying from Calvert. Calvert Guys Race and support racers; I’ll stick with them. Assasin bars also hang a lot lower off the spring than the cal trac system. Is it a big deal? Maybe not, but certainly not optimal for a street driven car. Ultimately, I’m sure the Assasin bar works just fine.

I am using the Smith assassin bars in my build. I went with Calvert for the split mono springs.

Caltracs for me on my 70' Challenger. Great customer support & service. Originally, they sent me the incorrect length bars in my kit & also had too long of rear shocks due to how low my car sets with their -1" lowering split mono leaf springs. They sent me all of the replacement parts at no charge & told me to keep the old parts (even though I could not use them).

I did my own version of Assassin bars here in Brazil. Works very well with OEM leaf springs. Got 1.50 60ft. Right now I've changed from OEM leaf springs to Calvert Monoleaf. So far on street works fine... Let's see on the track if I can drop 60ft. I hope so...

With either option you need to reinforce your spring perches. The ones Calvert sells are nice.

I'd definitely use Calvert's mono springs.

The Assassin bars offer more adjustability and are a simpler install. Less clearance issues if you have the inboard spring kit.

Calvert Racing is an awesome company to deal with though.
I have Cal-Tracs...bought them long before the Assassin bars came out.

Calverts are great folks, racers, great customer service and a great product, but if I were going to do a leaf spring car, I would be torn since I like having a lot of holes to play with. That's how you learn, play with all the holes.

They look good, I like the adjustability part, but I do see things I would change or try differently.

I have the Cal trac system with sliders and Viking shocks in all 4 corners.Have not really tuned the suspension but have a good grip on the SV1 carbs and the car repeats itself.I change the top pulley to make more power and the 60's drop.The car leaves straight so I did not have the need to fuss with them. I have bee adjusting the shocks though!
It's 3700 lbs with a best through the exhaust of 6.0 @ 114,,,,,9.3 @416.75 with 6 lbs of boost.I just put dumpers on,it's choking!

i have ahome made caltrac ,very easy to make and 1.36 60 ft 3550lbs

Thank you for the reply. Have you had your setup out yet?

I think that's the direction I am going to go.

Car is still under construction.

I've got sum still in the box.I need to install them!One of my friends got them of one off their employees and gave them to me.Smith isn't that far from me!

You can't go wrong with either. I have Cal tracs on my car and no complaints. I have thought about switching to the Smith bars for a little more adjustability but I've been 1.24 short time and not sure how much more I could do with a DOT approved 26" radial tire

Smith bars work great and i had no issue with customer service

Does anyone have a picture of how the shocks mount on the Assassin spring plates?

It may be different based on the application. I cut the shock plates down on my 65 Dodge pickup because the stock shock mount plate wouldn't fit with the Assassin rear end plate. I don't have a picture but I ended up with a shock mount plate that only uses 2 holes so it fits on one side of the Assassin plate.

- EM

I have heard of high HP cars bending springs at the cross bolt with cal tracs. That's one of the reasons I went with assassin bars plus theres more adjustability. They are very nice! I also went with smiths spring perches for them. Along with calvert split monos and sliders.

28 10.5 tire . Cal tracks for the win

All the additional holes of the Assassin bars are only of benefit if you have a solid baseline from which to tune, as well as the time to test the various configurations. If not, I can see people getting lost among all the possibilities. There's something to be said for keeping the options to a usable minimum.

.. Agreed ..it's like buying a flashy fishing lure..99% of users More adjustment is not needed they have issues in other areas that need to be addressed... A lot of times more adjustability creates more variables and issues from what I have seen

I had guys tell me they couldn't get Cal-Tracs to work on a Mopar before I put them on mine. LOL.

I'm a bit surprised you haven't bent a spring yet as quick as you are in 60 feet.

There are holes for front or rear mount shocks. I thought they came with the studs but I can't find them so I can't confirm... Sorry it sideways..

Thanks for looking, Calvert sells a set, I'll order them up.

. Call Calvert tell them what the application and hp level is and they will set you up with the Spring that . Will be trouble free.

Its a known fact that much over 800 hp cal tracs bend split monos eventually. If youre at or above that hp level go with assassin bars.

Ran CalTracs leaf springs and bars for years. Tried both holes and settled on the lower hole.
Best 60 ft@ 3700 lbs (race weight) 1.38. Best et was 9.88@ 135
Used stock shock plates and reinforced the spring perches.
I would recommend them.

...more Fake news...

Pretty good thread over on yellow bullet. But believe whatever you want bro..

There are (a lot) of other variables in addition to HP that would contribute to that.

- EM

FWIW...I'm on my second pair of mono leaf springs on my cuda. Bent the first set a few years back. Some of you may remember a member here by the handle "TheOtherDodge" who had a badass red '73 challenger, 499" big block on nitrous running low 9s. He bent springs on his w/ Cal-Tracs if I recall correctly before he switched to ladder bars.

I'd think that adding a short leaf section where the CalTrac link pushes down on the spring would add enough stiffness in that high-load area to help resist that bending problem.

On my other car I run Assassin bars with the SRC spring perches and Calvert Split Mono Leafs. The extra adjustments are nice but honestly I've never moved them since setting it up. The only thing I adjust is preload to keep the car going straight. I've been fast with them. Really fast.

Agreed. I used to clamp flat stock to the rear leaf segment of my car to keep the springs from bending. Took the clamps off for street driving and immediatley bent the longest spring forward of the rear hanger. 4 speeds are hard on stock springs!

Now that I think of it...when mine bent, it was the rear half on the driver's side that bent...not the front section.

Is that part of what rear spring mount sliders are designed to help with?

I don't see how that sort of issue would be any different between CalTracs and Assassin bars, but I can see how bending the spring behind the front eye could result from CalTracs.

I'm not sure about sliders helping w/ it or not? It definitely wouldn't be any different b/t the two styles of bars as far as bending the rear halves.
Looking at the two designs, I don't really see how the Assassin bars would be any less prone to bending the front half of the spring?

Maybe more so, IIRC you have to drill a hole in the leaf to mount the front pivot bracket with the Smiths stuff. .

I wasn't a great Physics student, but I'd a$$ume how the Assassin bar bracket clamps to the front leaf behind the spring eye distributes the load across a wider area of the leaf spring than the CalTrac "bolt" that pushes down in more of a point-loaded fashion. That's why I mentioned that a short leaf section clamped in that same area for a CalTracs-equipped car could help achieve the same thing.

Ya the bracket distributes the pressure across a wider area.

Just talked to Digby. They have never bent to a set of springs. The have only broken the lockdown bolt. That's well over a 2000 pony combo..

Well there you go, I trust what they say !!!!

And I would bet that it spins before it hooks up a dead hook applies more torque

it's a ET street drag radial tire.. It better dead hook or your fooked.

You HAVE to dead hook a radial. Once they spin, it's done.

Wow, this thread really took off, and became a sales ad and critique of how great Cal-tracs are! Lol. Thanks to all that answered my questions. I have my Assassin bars and should be installing them tomorrow. I'll see how they like the springs that are on it before I jump to a monoleaf setup.