another traction bars question

[ramtough01]

i have been working on building my traction bars lately and i am getting to the point to cut the tubes to make the bars to i measured everything to make sure they will be they same length and there a 1/4inch off i no i may sound like a dumb ass here but is this going to really give me any problems i wouldnt think so i am just going to use it for sled pulling and daily driver so any help would be great thanks

 

[HPAddict]

Thread the ends or install weld in bungs that are threaded and use a threaded hiem joint to make them adjustable. That should fix the problem. If not, just cut them the same length.


On a side note, was beer involved in the measuring process??? LOL

 

[Cummins Driver]

As long as you can adjust the bars it will be fine.

 

[ramtough01]

yea there adjustable i am just that kinda person and worry about nothing sometimes and i should of had beer working on it lol maybe i would of got it right lol

 

[tristan21]

Beer makes a good idea better but it makes cut lines harder to hit.

 

[ramtough01]

if i was drunk my damn thumb might not hurt so much from when the drill smack it on the truck

 

[nottanuff03]

I'm gettin ready to build mine and goin with tubing, any suggestions on what to use? Thanks guys

 

[GFB]

I'm gettin ready to build mine and goin with tubing, any suggestions on what to use? Thanks guys

I think 1/4" DOM is what a lot of guys use. I can't find any locally so I'm using schedule 80 (.20").

 

[High Tech MAX]

i used 1/4 wall steel tubing and got 2 turnbuckles for a three pt hitch for a tractor and cut the ends and welded them to the tubing and now u can set ur preload and adjust them. works great!!

 

[Hammer]

1/4 inch off is not going to be an issue if you are making them adjustable.As long as when you set the preload on the rear you can set the wheelbase the same length on both sides you will be OK.Remember that when you measure your wheelbase to set the preload you measure from the center of the lift block on the rear to the center of the top ball joint.If you make them different lengths the truck will dogleg down the road........Andy

 

[csutton7]

DON'T USE PIPE!!!!! ---if it's just a single bar it will bend at some point and stay bent----if it's a ladder style set up that would be better, but still not preferred by most---but at least the ladder setup adds strength and will be much harder to bend vs a single pipe, which doesn't take much to bend----chris

 

[GFB]

DON'T USE PIPE!!!!! ---if it's just a single bar it will bend at some point and stay bent----if it's a ladder style set up that would be better, but still not preferred by most---but at least the ladder setup adds strength and will be much harder to bend vs a single pipe, which doesn't take much to bend----chris

Then what else is there to use? Or are you referring to plain old sched 40? I grabbed a piece of 3/16" wall square tubing and a piece of schedule 40 and put them on sawhorses. The square tubing seemed to bend easier than the sched 40. I'm gonna use sched 80 and I think that should be ok.

 

[txdodge97]

i used 2 inch 1/2 thick wall dom tubing.

 

[ramtough01]

Then what else is there to use? Or are you referring to plain old sched 40? I grabbed a piece of 3/16" wall square tubing and a piece of schedule 40 and put them on sawhorses. The square tubing seemed to bend easier than the sched 40. I'm gonna use sched 80 and I think that should be ok.

thats whay i am useing i find it really hard to see sched 80 bending that easy and if i bend them i have more power then i think

 

[nottanuff03]

i used 2 inch 1/2 thick wall dom tubing.

Thats worked pretty well for you sled pulling then? Would you happen to know how much that costs / ft.? Thanks for all the info and dont mean to hi jack a thread. Thanks again.

 

[DieselDevil]

I used sch 120 and haven't had a problem. I did, however, have problems with the ladder bars that used to be on my truck.

 

[nate]

The ones I'm making will have .25 wall 2x2 square tubing.

I used the same material for control arms on my Jeep and haven't had an issue with them in the 3-4 years I've been running them. Have come down HARD on rocks too.

It's actually the same cost as DOM tubing ($7 a foot), but I like working with square better and also the metal yard keeps it in stock, vs having to order DOM.

 

[zstroken]

We used schedule 80 pipe and it bent on one truck, and after watching videos they were flexing on mine. We used .5" DOM tubing. I wouldn't use the schedule 80 pipe.

 

[bubba_pa]

1/4 inch off is not going to be an issue if you are making them adjustable.As long as when you set the preload on the rear you can set the wheelbase the same length on both sides you will be OK.Remember that when you measure your wheelbase to set the preload you measure from the center of the lift block on the rear to the center of the top ball joint.If you make them different lengths the truck will dogleg down the road........Andy

I'm not sure I'm following what you are measuring too. Which top ball joint? The front axle? Could you clarify.

Also anyway to estimate how much preload to put on them? And a real rookie question - I'm assuming you lengthen the trac bar to preload (push rear axle back) rather than shorten it? Is that correct?

 

[nottanuff03]

We used schedule 80 pipe and it bent on one truck, and after watching videos they were flexing on mine. We used .5" DOM tubing. I wouldn't use the schedule 80 pipe.

So you also zstroken would be in favor of the 2" 1/2" Dom tubing? I think that will be the material i go with then. Seems to be common between people. I'm a rookie when it comes to this material so thanks for the help!