building traction bars

[crash85]

iam going to build a new set of bars for my truck for sled pulling and street what would be the best tubing to go with and how long would i need to go its on a cc/sb chevy 2500

[06 DIESEL]

DOM tubing, 1.5" ID 2.0" OD make them long enough that they are close to the same angle as your driveshaft. That being said there is a while thread on here showing pictures of bars and what was used in the making of the bars. Do a little searching.

[rbmedic75]

As to what material all depends on what HP and class your running in. I am going to assume your running in a street type class and 500 HP +/-. Commonly used is 2" schedule 40 pipe, higher dollar would be 2" .250 DOM tubing about $15-17 per foot. A comfortable length seems to be mid point of the rear door area. Short bars will put a lot more force on the frame and could cause problems, so try to stay at least to the back of the cab preferable the mid rear door area that should get ya close to the same angle as the drive shaft.


06 diesel beat me to it lol

[crash85]

iam going to be pulling in a 2.8 class and iam in the works on a built motor so iam pushing for 700 to 800 if all possible

[rbmedic75]

gonna need more of a ladder system then i would believe.

[BigBadDodge]

2" DOM 1/2" wall and be done with it.

BBD

[jordanjames81]

Originally Posted by BigBadDodge

2" DOM 1/2" wall and be done with it.

BBD

This what my new one's are made out of, using 3/4'' eye's welded in them. Mine are on a 03 short bed crew cab cummins. They are 7 ft long.

[jedeka]

I used some 2" DOM tubing for my traction bars. I picked it up at the local metal fab shop. I ordered some RH and LH threaded heim joints from Barnes 4WD. They also had some tabs for the rear axle mounts. All I had to do was to drill out the hole to match the heim joint mounting hole. As for traction bars vs. ladder bars, some class rules state that there can only be two mounting points. A ladder bar will not meet that rule.

[jlibert]

here's the thread on the ones I built...
my ladder bars - Competition Diesel.Com - Bringing The BEST Together

[Lucas1]

why make the links stonger then the heims/rod ends.
just lots of weight with 1/2" thick...............3/8" thick will be just fine...dom is the best.But ive used hrew and poo pipe.usually only run dom for cages pipe for stingers/rock bars and hrew everything else
and id run ballistic fab or evolution machine ends.
ive build a few link set up s with qa1 heims and they wear out very fast

[crash85]

what do you mean by dom i know its a type of tube and one of the better ones

[HIGH TECH RAM]

Drawn Over Mandrel

[jedeka]

If my memory is correct, my 2" DOM tubing had 1/4" thick walls and I used 1 1/2" bungs to thread my heim joint into. Joints this size are very strong, I cannot remember the rating.

[crash85]

ok thanks for the help how long should i go with them

[Red Sleeper]

I think your answer to that is in the second post..

jlibert, nice write up and great info.

[rbmedic75]

folow the driveline angle (driveshaft) and should put you very close to the mid section of the rear door...

Pretty sure the .500 wall tubing was suggested by a VERY well respected Professional puller on here because the OP is looking to pull 2.8 class at 800 hp. thats a LOT of axle wrap to tame.

DOM Drawn over Mandrel is TUBING that is "seamless" and measured by OD outside diameter.
regular Pipe is measured by INSIDE diameter and has a visible weld seam in it.

DOM for 2" .500 wal is probably over $20/foot .250 wall is about $15/foot
PIPE is less than $2/foot

I would use the DOM at that HP and Pulling. Buy a full stick Random length of 17'-21'. Most places it will be cheaper if you buy it by the stick (full length)

[jlibert]

Originally Posted by Red Sleeper

I think your answer to that is in the second post..

jlibert, nice write up and great info.

Thanks. They did the job.

-jp

[Lucas1]

there is way more too it then welding lengths of steel from frame to axle..and they certainly dont need to be ten feet long.

with ladder bar type links it will change your roll axis and actually create less traction. Zero axle wrap but less traction. as you throttle down you would want a weight transfer to the rear and load the tires..creating traction not lifting the rear end.

i was a 4x4 guy before a diesel guy and have learned this the hard way.

a proper link calculator should be used in a race/full performance set-up.
when the time comes for traction bars with my ride it will be 4 linked....your half way their with traction bars just loose the leafs

[crash85]

what would be my best bet on the joints i was told to look at johnny joints. would heim joint work?

[Sandaholic]

Originally Posted by Lucas1

there is way more too it then welding lengths of steel from frame to axle..and they certainly dont need to be ten feet long.

with ladder bar type links it will change your roll axis and actually create less traction. Zero axle wrap but less traction. as you throttle down you would want a weight transfer to the rear and load the tires..creating traction not lifting the rear end.

i was a 4x4 guy before a diesel guy and have learned this the hard way.

a proper link calculator should be used in a race/full performance set-up.
when the time comes for traction bars with my ride it will be 4 linked....your half way their with traction bars just loose the leafs

How? Are you talking about on the front axle? With a ladderbar you would be pushing up on the frame which would in turn drive the rear axle towards the ground......I think?