Pre load for pulling?

Rattlin_Ram

Rattlin_Ram

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Aug 8, 2007
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I've seen a few people on here say that pre-load on traction bars can cause hop when sled pulling. Is this true? And if so, how tight do you mount them?

I'm getting ready to mount mine this week. Was planning on mounting them and snugging them up with the truck in the shop. Will that work?
 
after I installed mine I kept tightening them up as they became loose once they stoped getting loose I never touched them again on the street or as a full time puller

IKE
 
I like to snug mine up, and then put a little extra on em. Works good for street driving, and pulling.

Eric
 
I have a buddy that preloaded them a couple of turn past snug and after a couple of hooks, they looked like pretzels! I have been told only to snug them up for whatever your doing.
 
They only look like pretzels if they arent heavy enough steel though. Shouldnt have anything to do with how tight they are.

Eric
 
Mine are solid with no Adjustment. When I installed them I welded the rear axle brackets on first, then assembled the bars with the front brackets, lifted them to the frame and pushed back firmly, then welded the brackets to the frame. They clang around alittle driving down the road, but I have no bounce and it hooks up great on the track, and even on the road. For some reason my truck hates burnouts, it just wants to hook up and go. Personally I have never really seen the point in having adjustable bars other than to tighten them up to reduce road noise.
 
I think its best to have them a turn or two past snug. It seems to also help minimize frame flex if I have mine preloaded good.
 
I did mine like Kino Fab. They do make noise on the road but i have never had any problems at all. Except for hitting my damn head on them when working on the truck. LOL
 
It can cause hopping trying to pull the bars in (shortening). I also have a set of 3rd arms from a tractor that connect from the same rearend brackets to the frame just infront of the hitch. They help out alot on how it hooks, but I can't run them with a 1" travel rule.
 
Not that a Noob can change your minds but I spent quite a few years building 4 link suspensions. The strongest bar on a for link is the one mounted to the top of the axle. Following that the T bars I fabricated are .190 wall DOM @1 1/4ID.

The stress put on the bars is pulling force instead of pushing. I snugged them down when I installed them and haven't touched them since. Multiple 4wheel launches on asphault have proved they aresturdy enough for the job and I have never had even smallest bit of hop.

Just a new take on them if anyone is interested in trying it out, they work great!
 
I wouldn't mind having a 4 link setup on my truck, but at the time, it was just as easy to make a standard bar setup with the tools I had for measering direct center, CoG, end weight, ect.... Haven't fooled with 4 links enough to know where to set the upper bars to work well with the lower bars. Alot of people don't realize it, but a suspension setup for pulling is alot like a setup for a drag car.
 
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