in my 87truck, and previously in the hilux and the wagon i had wicked axle wrap. in the 87 the rear is hopping all over the place and annoying as F. there is not 1 single traction/anti-wrap bar on the market designed for drop blocks or street trucks in mind that isnt for high horsepower (read $$$) builds.


so im thinking of making some semi universal simple as F adjustable traction bars.


for those that dont know what im talking about its something like this


thats the prototype from these guys BudBuilt - Traction Bars

but they want $400 for it and it bolts up to the 8in toy diff/frame


that is a pretty typical design (cept for the bolt on to the diff part) and one thing i dont get is the hiem joint connection on the axle, there are 2 mounting points for the bars but there is no movement. so why waste the money on the hiems and not just make it a solid connection? is it just for adjusting later if your math isnt right?


what im thinking of doing is integrating the traction bar into the drop blocks to keep them from twisting.

but im not sure if that will stop the axle from twisting on top of the blocks



more thoughts/questions:


could this type of anti-wrap bar be mounted towards the rear?

what about 2, 1 forward, and the other backwards?

would a plate mount on the axle sandwiched inbetween the alxe and the block work better then connected to the block?

is anything other then mounting to the axle housing just a bandaid and will only limit rotation of the axle rather than eliminate it?

seems like every premade product is made from steel, would aluminum not work because of rigidity/brittleness or complicated trussing?



sorry for all the questions but id rather ask dumb ones then build something that dont work.

 

I have a few ideas on this buddy. Ill post more on it when I'm on the comp not the phone.

 

Integrating on the blocks is a bad idea in my opinion. Make a mount off the axle itself. The thing about the bid built design I don't like is the mount to the frame with ubolts isn't strong enough. Welding would
Be better.
Heims- recommend them. You could do the mount with bushings but they will wear out rather rapidly I would imagine. There is side to side torque with acceleration that the heim allows.
Doing 2, 1 forward Nd one rear makes no sense to me, if going through that work why not just 3 link with panhard? Eliminates axle wrap completely, or 4 link it!

Just my thought from 4x4 land

 

Similar to a f body camaro trans am torque arm mount I like weld n that front mount and it would be golden for the output of the r series and several common motor swaps ..thumbs up. Plus my torque arm from bmr on my camaro is aluminum mounts to the third member and uses Hiems joints . Rated for 800hp to the wheels .. .. So aluminum can hold if built well

 

didnt think about that at all, now the hiems at the axle make sence.

the more i think about it the more im starting to give up the bolt on idea, if im going to make a band-aid fix to a bad idea (blocks) might as well do it as functional as possible.

 

Shouldn't go to the rear. you don't need control arms with leaf springs because they act like control arms, when designing additional links, you need to think of them as such.The arm has to match the arc of movement allowed by the springs. Like )). If you put the arm to the rear, it'll be like )( and hte axle will be jammed in place till you REALLY bend the front half of the spring or the bar.

Yes, very similar to the torque arm on 4th gen F-bodies (I have one). They use that plus 2 forward facing control arms and a panhard rod. They allow for-aft movement of the torque arm by having it slip forwad and aft in the bushing.

what would work very well (and I've thought of doing) is basically that but use a vertical shackle on the end of the bar in front, that way you don't have to worry about binding or matching the arc of movement. The shackle allows enough front/rear play that the mismatched arcs don't matter while eliminating vertical play and axle-wrap.

Pics:
How the axle moves with the leaves:


See how the range of motion arcs don't match up with a rear torque arm:


Close but not perfect with a front facing torque arm:


With some for-aft play allowed, the range of motion overlaps between the leaves (or control arms) and torque arm:


Mad MS paint skills yo.

 

kamesama-

thank you sir, up till now i hadnt had a decent explanation of why not to go towards the rear and your michalangelo skills with paint have helped me see the light


ive gathered a bunch of parts lying about to do this but am waiting because another project is taking up space and not quite going as planned. not sure when but this will get done eventually.

 

Glad I did a search...

I am planning to install 2" (most likely) or maybe 3" (if 2" is not enough) blocks on my stock 1988 longbed. Thanks to Cali smog nazis, the only power enhancing parts I will probably install on the 22R is a header and a few other doodads (although internal mods might happen when the engine needs to be rebuilt).

Is there really a noticeable amount of axle wrap with this setup such that figuring out/buying/installing a traction bar would have a noticeable effect on the ride/handling?

Also, are five differential bolts strong enough for the mount for the torque?

thanks.

 

It may be different for others but when I put on 3 inch blocks I didn't notice any negative effects.. I don't think any traction bars or anti axle wrap things are necessary and I even went drag racing with it, and it probably handles even better now then before. If in doubt, it can't hurt to put them on..

Mine isn't exactly a power house, but it does have a weber and smog deleted.. I only did blocks in the back and cut springs up front. I didn't remove a leaf

 

Thanks for the quick answer. Sounds like I may not have to bother, especially with the anemic power of the 22R

I suppose the cheapest, most logical process would be to install the blocks and lowering spindles first and see if there is any increase in axle wrap. If there is, I can install the traction bar later...

But I kind of want to do it all in one shot and thought I would ask here.

Anyone else have $0.02 to spare?

 

Thanks! You guys saved me $400 today. Now all I need is to find a house to buy so I can work on my cars...

 

Yeah...

I was at one point thinking how cool it would be to go to a four-link and so I was investigating all kinds of options. In fact, that is what led me to find this forum! But I ultimately decided I needed my truck to "be a truck". Plus I like to keep mods to my vehicles subtle and simple and reversible; although, to be honest, I don't know why I stick with reversible mods since I never sell my vehicles...

 

I have 3" blocks w/ stock leaf springs on my truck and axle wrap is VERY noticeable... (When i lose traction).

I think it might come down to how peppy your 22r is and your TIRES.

My long block has about 25k miles on it it now and although not fast, it has no problem losing traction with high mileage tires (hard rubber)... But when the wheels are a spinning and it struggles to grip the road, its a very jerky experience, almost destructive.

Every time i hot rod that thing onto a main street or from a metering light onto the freeway, i'm hoping my aluminum blocks are still hanging on when i get home! lol

I like the idea of being static dropped w/ stock leaves so my truck can stay "a truck", BUT with dreams of a motor swap... What is the best option for being low, good handling, comfortable ride, laying down power and hauling stuff like "a truck"?

I'm assuming a link and notch... of course, but how about springs? It seems like freight trucks are all bagged up now a days... I just never thought of it getting that complicated, since "hitting switches" seems "gay" TO ME.

 

Yeah, I knew that statement would rub somebody the wrong way, lol. But I didn't mean to sound so harsh.

What I was getting at is, I see myself headed in the direction of bags, but only out back, because I don't plan on going crazy low in the front... and fbss seems a little much for a dd that won't be seen at any shows anytime soon.

And sorry to the op, I feel your pain with the axle wrap... link it, seems like the best answer to me.