So after seeing some other traction bars and hearing of the problems with using the access holes in the LCA, I decided to use a clevis bracket and weld it directly to the front of the LCA. Similar to JCLaw's design, I used a bracket on the Rad support, two nuts welded to the ends of a mild steel pipe (one reverse thread of course) two rod ends, and two jam nuts. No clearance issues with the oil filter and solid as a rock. It's amazing what adding a few more supports will do to the feel of the car. I took it out for a quick spin and jumped on it from a 15mph roll and got nothing but clean wheel spin.

And before anyone says anthing, the welds need ground a little and they will come back off for powder coating. And yes, the weather here sucks, so that is salt and Ohio road grime under my car. It's not usually that dirty.

Here are some pics....

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2344932/2

 

verrry cool, ive taken mine off for several months till I figured something out but just havent had a chance. props for the creativity!

Grant

 

Sweeeeeetttt. I want some...

 

If you know someone locally who has a welding shop, I have about $80 in materials and about an hour in time. One thing I realized very quickly, is the LCA is so flexible in the bushings, that it does not take much tension at all to toe the front end out.

 

You're 100% correct there ... when I began modding my '99 GXE (one-owner) at less than 40,000 miles, the front would hop badly with street tires, and DRs would pull inwards and rub on the inner fender panels!

JClaw's Jbars really worked on my car - I was one of the original purchasers, and they worked very well. I had to use a conduit bender to get clearance for the automatic, but that was a simple thing to do. I thought about welding on a mount on the LCA before bending, but decided not to.



Yes, I was playing around with ways to breathe from the bottom - finally took off the splash shields for the track.


Looks like you did a great job on your bars.. ?? toddbars?? ??mullinsbars??

 

That's real original. What type of weld did you use? TIG or MIG???

 

I have a question. With the LCA moving upwards when hitting bumps. Is there enough travel length to allow the LCA to travel? I'm almost thinking that it wouldn't allow full travel.

 

I actually used arc with a 7018 rod on the LCA and stainless rod on the bars. I don't like using MIG on suspension parts and TIG is hard in tight spots. With the pivot of the rod ends and the bars being nearly level, it compresses completely without bind.

 

This is sort of tangential to the original topic, sorry. I've had JClaw's traction bars installed for a few months worth of driving and definitely have had no wheelhop. However, I'm planning on removing them in a few days to see if the ride or handling improve at all. After I installed them I didn't notice any adverse effects but they way these things are you sometimes don't notice until you go back to the way it was.

In this thread, someone who seems to know what he's talking about says that traction bars, depending on the design, can induce bumpsteer. When I installed mine I was sort of surprised at how much tension they must be under when the suspension compresses because they are designed with no play (that's the whole point, of course). So, being unhappy with my car's behavior over bumps (there are a lot of them around me), I'm going to remove my traction bars. I don't drag my car so I probably would do better to sell them to someone who does...

I will let you guys know my impressions after I do this.

 

Many people have reported driving around with them on all the time, but I don't put mine on unless I plan to track the car. One thing I observed when I installed the first time, is that under very little tension, you can easily toe the front end out. The primary goal of the traction bars is to decrease rearward deflection of the LCA, which is easily done by fixing the LCA in one position. The problem is, poor alignment can cause traction problems too. One combination I plan to test this spring is urethane motor mounts, urethane LCA bushings, and to use the traction bars at a tension just at the distortion point of the alignment. When you are at the track, the strip is generally very smooth with little bumps or dips. How often do you really need traction bars on the street anyway? I know I don't.

 

Good points; I agree. I took mine off today and drove a few miles. Hard to tell a difference but I'm going to leave them off for street driving because they're not needed (and I have ES bushings, motor mounts, and a LTB-II, all of which should help prevent wheel-hop) and because I'm aiming for the best ride possible.

They way mine were set, though, I think they were causing toe-in, not toe-out. I set them at neutral or maybe a little bit of tension when the suspension is at rest. Upon compression or extension of the suspension, the bars would pivot the LCAs forward, which as I visualize it will cause temporary toe-in and bumpsteer.

 

It would all depend on where the traction bars are positioned on the LCA relative to the front plates. Yours could cause toe-in where mine cause toe-out. Either one are bad for traction (braking is a different story). The fastening point on my LCA is more toward the wheel then with JCLaw's, and the bar is nearly straight in line with the bracket. With the curve of the LCA, it's hard to tell without loaded testing as to what the LCA is doing under hard acceleration. Anyone want to mount a slow motion camera under the front of the car and video the suspension under hard acceleration? That, I think, would be very cool and proof positive to what our suspensions do under load.