Rear Traction Bar setups

[DMbronco]

Hey B,

Good question on the link and heims. I will check tomorrow and report back.

Showed the damage to the remaining personnel at SWP- didn't have any answers for me except to weld the crack, and plate in the area in question, run it the way it is.

Autofab said they didn't like the design- obviously prefer theirs.

Re: tire pressure- was somewhere between 12-14 last run out- which was the first run without any trac bar.
Running in sand up superstition with the ARB engaged when I noticed it most.

Can feel it 'floating' when I am 'launching' on the street too

[cs_drums]

any pics of the current set up?

[tcm glx]

Ok, so Vic and I both have the SWP 2 link kit. Mine has probably 20k-25k miles on it, 40 -50 percent of which is off road. I did get to drive Vic's first bronco without the 2 link and the exact same leaf and shock setup and I noticed more wheel hop. I have not broken any leafs, however I am as a precautionary maintenance measure replacing every 10k. Vic is probably at 10-12k miles on his rig, same set of leafs since day 1.

We aren't super harsh on our rigs, so keep that in mind. Just my two cents, but I am happy with the setup. As a point of reference, both running a 12" bilstein, deaver f53s (actually I am on a deaver q80 now) and camburg shackles.

[DMbronco]

emailed you pics of the rear set up Brian, working on finding shots of the crack on the crossmember

[robertcrav]

Here is what you had sent me Bray...
[attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1398744848199.jpg[/attachment][attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1398744863537.jpg[/attachment][attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1398744874976.jpg[/attachment]

[DMbronco]

thanks Robert; one of these days I will sort my e-life out and learn how to post pics

[robertcrav]

Lol, I'll get some pics of my single link up, I know Rob in Az was asking as well... mine does not have a floating shackle either and Bray has way more dirt miles than mine so far but I havent noticed any issues so far

[cs_drums]

All things considered that is a just a 1/8" stamped steel x-member. Even a perfect link is gonna have a good mount of push/pull being thats its job. I dont know if I would take the time/$$ to plate the factor x-member rather than just replace it entirely.

[300]

All things considered that is a just a 1/8" stamped steel x-member. Even a perfect link is gonna have a good mount of push/pull being thats its job. I dont know if I would take the time/$$ to plate the factor x-member rather than just replace it entirely.

Gotta agree with Autofab on this one, you are making the x-member do something it wasn't designed for. That is just a stamped steel x-member and we crack them on a regular basis. It might look like it is just around for the ride but it is there to keep the frame rails from twisting as the springs put a cantilevered load on the hangers. We do plate the area around the bolt holes on the x-member because the hole creates a stress riser there.

We also have the military wrap on the front spring eyes with the top leaf that only goes to just past the spring plates. We typically break the main leaf in the back half, same as Hoon had happen. Don't use a traction bar either. We have figured out what the race mile range of a set of main leafs is and try to change them before they break however it would be nice if a traction bar setup would extend the life of those main leaves. We use a custom length spring or we would have tried an Autofab traction bar. The spring length determines the geometry needed for a design like the Autofab bar.

[BDKW1]

All things considered that is a just a 1/8" stamped steel x-member. Even a perfect link is gonna have a good mount of push/pull being thats its job. I dont know if I would take the time/$$ to plate the factor x-member rather than just replace it entirely.

This about sums it up. I had a similar one on a 4 runner rip a chunk out of the cross member. I know it cycled perfectly, it's just that the cross member was not up to getting hammered on like that. Replaced cross member and off it went.

I do prefer a big squishy bushing on the frame end of the bar though. I believe this takes a lot of vibration induced stress out of the mounts. It will also transmit far less noise.