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Many of you know me as the suspension guy in the 1st and 2nd gen forums. Well, a little while ago I decided it's finally time I start making suspension parts, instead of just talking about them. With that said, I would like to proudly introduce a part I've been working on over the summer: TRACTION RODS!




What is a traction rod?
On a front wheel drive car such as the Altima and Maxima, a traction rod is a link that connects one end to the lower control arm and the other end to a point on the undercarriage, in this case the lower subframe stud:

(Installed on a 3rd Gen Altima)








Why do we need a traction rod?
Your control arm is meant to move up and down on a pivot, as shown in the following pic:


However, thanks to the location of the pivot points and the fact they are made of rubber, the control arm often violently moves in ways it shouldn't, as seen in the following pic:


This usually occurs under great stress such as drag launching or during high lateral G forces of hard cornering. In hard cornering, it causes the bushings to deflect greatly and allows the control arms to toe in or toe out, creating unbalanced handling characteristics.

During the stress of a drag launch, the car sits back on that big fat bushing as the control arm moves up and down, causing not only wheel hop but front end lift, reducing traction to the front wheels.





How does the traction arm stop this?
By connecting to the hole in the center of the control arm and to another point on the chassis (in this case, the subframe bolts), the arm is held in place to keep it from leaning back or forth on it's pivot points.

However, thanks to the use of high misalignment rod ends, the traction rod is still able to move up and down with the natural movement of the control arm!




How Much Do They Lower Ground Clearance?
On a 3rd gen Altima they will lower ground clearance about 1.5" If your car is extremely lowered they can hit speed bumps, so please be careful!

 

This is a picture of the prototype. The final product will look like this but with red anodized rods and stainless steel brackets:




QA1 Teflon-lined, High Misalignment Rod Ends...super strong!



The group buy will last from September 5th to October 5th. Don't hesistate!

The introductory group buy price will be
10 or less buyers: $200shipped
15+ buyers: $190shipped
20+ buyers: $180shpped
50+ buyers THROUGH ALL FORUMS: $175shipped

That gets you a set of two rods featuring:
2024 Aluminum Rods (as strong as steel and stronger than 6061 or 6063 Aluminum)
QA1 High Misalignment, Teflon Lined Rod Ends
Stainless Steel Brackets and Hardware

Payments through Paypal can be sent to RedLionRacing@yahoo.com

So here we go!

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I'd like to see pictures of these installed on a 4th gen. I have Jclaws traction rods which connected to the hole in the control arm like yours do, but I dont really like that design. I saw somebody who welded a mount to the edge of the control arm though and I liked that a lot better. The other end bolted to a plate where the towing loop mounts on the front of the car.
here is a picture of the altered set-up.
There are also known clearance issues with the oil filter, not sure if your product will have the same.

 

I'll get some pics soon, but I did in fact mount these to a 4th gen and there was no problems with oil filter clearance.

These are bolt-on parts, no welding needed, and they mount under the control arm and rearward, connecting to the rear subframe stud, instead of forward to the tow hook location.

 

they look hot!

 

Anything for a 5th gen?