Home Made Traction Bar Build on a Budget

HobbyStock62

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So, I got the idea from Ford Rules, basically building off of the hardware, rod ends, and mount styles that he used. I figured I would also do a thread and try to add as much pictures as you people want. All said and done, I have a little under $300 into this, that includes bolts, paint (we will see how the rattle can paint holds up, might end up powder coating them later on), all that stuff...

Materials Used:
2" O.D 1.5" I.D DOM tubing, 72" long. I got that from industrialmetalsales.com for a little under $50 a stick (way cheaper than anywhere else I found, about half the price of discount steel). I got 72" because that was the longest length that they offered. With the rod ends, they will end up being 78" from bolt to bolt. These are going on a crew cab long box.
Rod ends:
(2) 7/8" rod ends, left hand thread
Bushings:
(2) Ballistic fab 2.63" bushings right hand threads, kinda huge, get the bushings before making your mounts...I made some mounts, got the bushings and then noticed that the bushing was just as big as the whole mount...so needless to say, I had to make new front mounts.
Tube adapters:
(2) 1.25" 12tpi right hand thread
(2) 7/8" 14tpi left hand thread
Steel:
I used all 10ga steel (little over 1/8"), I think that it will be plenty strong, but I will let you guys know if I bend a mount sideways! Make sure that the steel you get is not warped! I had about 1 sqft of straight steel, and 150sqft of nice a warped steel...so it was difficult at times to make sure the mounts are square and as straight as possible.
Hardware:
I used all 3/4" hardware, it is probably overkill, but just to be safe.

Starting the front mounts. These will bolt onto the frame.
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That pretty much sums up the front mounts, I do have more pictures if anyone wants to see.

Front mounts:
Soooo, my iphone pooped itself kinda, and lost a good amount of pictures that I had on the front mounts, but the process is basically the same, use a square to get the first angle correct, tack weld the other side on, and space it accordingly, then more welds, stick in vise, pound the snot out of it to curve the metal, and yada yada yada. This were a little bit of a PITA because of the warped metal I had.

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Unfortunately, these are all the pictures I have on the rear mounts, I am making another set of these in a couple weeks, I can get more pictures then.

Here is a picture of the bars themselves and the bushings/rod ends. Just a single bar style, want them to be as light as possible.

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That is what I have so far, I will be painting everything tomorrow and will add more pictures. Can hopefully get them on my truck in a week or two. 0 degrees is about the high temp for the next two weeks...want to be outside for as little as possible.
 

HobbyStock62

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I already had the 10ga, so figured I would give it a try. I think it will hold up just fine, but if they dont, then I will do it again with 1/4"
 

vcassens

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So why have a bushing at one end and not the other? I am curious because I want to build my own bars and am looking for some ideas.
 

backwoodsboy

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So why have a bushing at one end and not the other? I am curious because I want to build my own bars and am looking for some ideas.

Heims/Johhny joints allow you to adjust the bar length and fine tune the bars.
Bushings will absorb vibrations, reduce noise and harshness at the cost of rigidity.
Combo of the two = win/win.
 

vcassens

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Heims/Johhny joints allow you to adjust the bar length and fine tune the bars.
Bushings will absorb vibrations, reduce noise and harshness at the cost of rigidity.
Combo of the two = win/win.

With the bushings he is using wouldn't it still be adjustable even with them on both ends? I under stand your point on rigidity. I think my biggest concern would be a noticeable rattle going down the road that would drive me nuts if it did rattle.
 

backwoodsboy

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With the bushings he is using wouldn't it still be adjustable even with them on both ends? I under stand your point on rigidity. I think my biggest concern would be a noticeable rattle going down the road that would drive me nuts if it did rattle.

You need at heim or similar type joint at one end to compensate for the axle rotating about the x-axis or longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The axle doesn't move uniformly up/down, nor is its movement linear.
If bushings were used at both ends the bars would bind up as the axle moves through it's range of motion.
For an exaggerated case, think about driving over a parking strip with only the right side of the vehicle. The right tire is going to be vertically higher than the left. If the joints do not allow some level of articulation the bars will end up binding.
Typically a bushing is used at the frame end of the bars, and a heim or similar at the axle end.
 

sootie

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You need at heim or similar type joint at one end to compensate for the axle rotating about the x-axis or longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The axle doesn't move uniformly up/down, nor is its movement linear.
If bushings were used at both ends the bars would bind up as the axle moves through it's range of motion.
For an exaggerated case, think about driving over a parking strip with only the right side of the vehicle. The right tire is going to be vertically higher than the left. If the joints do not allow some level of articulation the bars will end up binding.
Typically a bushing is used at the frame end of the bars, and a heim or similar at the axle end.

i always thought it was the other way around
 

HobbyStock62

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Yea, what he said. But when I get them on I'll do some tests and see if there is binding, or vibration or anything that I could notice that is different from stock and let you know.
 

bad12jr

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I've built 2 sets. One had tractor toplinks on both ends. This set rattled from time to time. Never had a binding problem and I had that truck in some tight places.

The current bars I have a fixed bushing on one end and a top link on the other. They seem to do well. Haven't had this truck in as much of a bind though. No noise that I have noticed from this set.

Going to build a set for a buddy this spring and use the same configuration you did. I was going to on my second set but was in a time crunch going to the drag strip and was trying to help a hopping issue.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
 

bruce

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3/4 shank rod end should be strong enough right? Or should I go 1"? If I go 1" I can just tap the tubing and screw the rod end directly in.
 

HobbyStock62

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got the mounts and bars painted, now just waiting for a warm day to stick them on the truck, or can possibly get them on this week in the shop.

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of course I touched these to early and they have a couple of nice hand prints on them...watching paint dry really isnt my thing.

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HobbyStock62

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3/4 shank rod end should be strong enough right? Or should I go 1"? If I go 1" I can just tap the tubing and screw the rod end directly in.

i think that 3/4 should be strong enough, I just went 7/8 to be safe, but it you have the option to go 1", then I would just do that.
 

backwoodsboy

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3/4 shank rod end should be strong enough right? Or should I go 1"? If I go 1" I can just tap the tubing and screw the rod end directly in.

What material are your joints?
I wouldn't tap the tubing itself. Better to have an insert of some sort in there.
 

HobbyStock62

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got them painted and on the truck. very happy with them. no noticeable effects on suspension travel, no wheel hop, and the truck feels more solid in general. dont really know why, but they made my limited slip come back to life, maybe just because it holds both sides down more instead of transferring the weight, but not sure.

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