Ladder bars on a street car.

[moparmarks]

Ok I see what your saying Rusty. Guess I need to check into the floaters.
Your 2nd responce is a concern to me. I too am thinking that they will take out some of the independence and am woundering how that will effect cornering.
I want my cake and eat it too.

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I believe the floater kits are pretty cheap...... it allows the axle angle to be adjusted and tuning of the 4 link system.

Do you have any info on these?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yup. They look like this.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/afc-20236s/overview/

They allow the leaf spring to slide back and forth with the new arc that the ladder bars create. They sorta add a clunkiness to the rear axle, but they work pretty good.

 

[moparmarks]

So you weld those to the spring perch?

 

[BBDart]

What was posted is not what you want those are sliders that take place of the rear shackles,
This is what you are looking for..bolt on
http://www.swracecars.com/store/Housing-Floater-OSCARItem_20=40-230.aspx

weld on http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-441-housing-floaters.aspx

 

[moparmarks]

Now I've seen the ones from S+W. Hummm.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah that's them. I knew I was havin trouble findin the right ones. Those I posted just didn't look right and I couldn't find the ones you posted. Thanks.

What was posted is not what you want those are sliders that take place of the rear shackles,
This is what you are looking for..bolt on
http://www.swracecars.com/store/Housing-Floater-OSCARItem_20=40-230.aspx

weld on http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-441-housing-floaters.aspx

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So you weld those to the spring perch?

No, the ones BBDart posted are the right ones and they weld to the axle housing. They allow the leaf springs to roll through them. In effect, the leaf springs become useless for anything except to hold the weight of the car up. They'll have zero leverage on the suspension anymore.

 

[robinsonwr]

Anyone running ladder bars on the street? How is the cornering? Any problems with the front brackets hitting the street? Trying to decide between a pinion snubber, Caltracts or ladder bars.

Are you planning on keeping the leaf springs? I would say if you want to keep the leaf springs go with j-bolts, slide-a-link, or caltracs. If you want to utilize ladderbars with leaf springs make sure to install housing floaters. Ladder bars will bind on the street but work fine. I would say for a street/strip car keep it flexible. Not to mention guys are running serious times on small tires and stock style suspensions.

 

[FatJack]

I have Cal-Tracs on my truck and am really pleased with them. It runs 7.28 with 1.54 60' times. Daily Driver also.

 

[moparmarks]

Thanks for all the info guys. May just keep it simple for now. Good leafs and have an adjustable snubber. Can always add Cal-Tracs later. Am going to get the frame connectors in before paint.

 

[Pistol Pete]

Ladder Bars guys, not Traction Bars.

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How long are they? Need 32" ones.

Yep, 32" and I believe they were never used. The box is very ratty but the bars are fairly clean.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Thanks for all the info guys. May just keep it simple for now. Good leafs and have an adjustable snubber. Can always add Cal-Tracs later. Am going to get the frame connectors in before paint.

That's what I would do. I think from everything I've heard and read Cal Tracs are an improvement over ladder bars. What kinda power are you gonna be makin?

 

[krcevs]

Mark,
I would go with Caltracs. Make sure if you order them that you tell them you have moved your springs inboard so you get the right ones.

Ken

 

[moparmarks]

Ya I saw that they have a setup for inboard springs.
I'm hoping in the 650HP range. Depends on what I get for heads.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

If you street drive alot like I do,ladder bars get stress cracks in time.I made this very choice so long ago,the shocks that came with my cal-trac's are only 5 way adjustable:tongue5:The cal bars can rattle a little,I have zip ties on both sides od the heim joint and that keeps 'em quiet for the most part.Also still use the spool that came with the car over 25 years ago:icon_eyes:
Car weighs 3650lbs,ain't no light weight:icon_compress:
Goes 9.9's with 4 lbs of boost on pump gas.

 

[moparmarks]

That big O' honkin *** blower and your only running 4lbs of boost???????????
I thought 40lbs would be more like it.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

As of right now,I'm only allowed to go 10 oh's and do it with pump gas.Will get my comp licence soon as the weather breaks.
4lbs is about 700ish,10 lbs is over 900 hp.We'll see if 15 lbs gives me over 1000 hp.I am doing this with the Cal-trac system and will also upgrade the shocks soon as these are real old.

 

[moparmarks]

I'd really like to see your car. Maybe Carlisle is this year? I know you do "that other show".

 

[2059]

I know this is an aging thread and you've already decided where you're going for now. but my two cents; i've also been working on which way to go regarding traction bars. Was first looking at just an upper link torque bar but didn't want to mess with the geometry to avoid binding as earlier discussed. then i found Comp. Eng. "Slide a Link"

http://www.competitionengineering.com/catalog/CategoryDisplay.asp?CatCode=13116

but didn't see a listing for early "B"s although they do show a application for your dart. Emailed them a couple days ago but haven't heard back, probably wont. A guy that works for me ran CalTraks on his early nova and they performed very well at the track and on the street, just different adjustments. After seeing Hemi-itis' post i will be using CalTraks.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

ladder bars are a proven thing, but if your staying with the leaf springs i agree with everyone else and not going that route. on the topic of caltrac's, they work but you need alot of front suspension travel. i also loosen mine up on the street just so the ride is better. took some playing around to get figured out but they do work damn good. neither set up though is desinged for corning. and if you do set the car up to corner its probably not going to hook all that great at the strip, just the way it is.

love my caltrac's

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

You have a choice,hangin the hoops or rollin the sidewalls:blob1: