There are several types of traction bars. They act against the axle in
different ways. The factory bar on the roadster pushes and pulls against the
frame in the horizontal plane of the car as the axle tries to twist under
acceleration and braking. The type that bolts to the axle and also the leaf
spring mount pushes up and down on the frame as the axle tries to twist. This
causes the rear end to jack up and down. Drag racers like that type of bar
beacuse it effectively moves the center of gravity back farther over the rear
wheels as it lifts up on the front of the frame. For handling purposes it
causes some bad things to happen. It hurts the balance of the car in a turn by
moving the center of gravity forwards and back. It also loads up the spring in
funny ways as you go around corners. I would reccommend installing a second
factory style torque arm on the drivers side for added strength. I replaced
the stock rubber bushings on my torque arm with delrin. This eliminated all
play in the torque arm and helped a lot with wheelspin. I had to modify the
torque arm so that it could twist. I did that by cutting it in half and
welding a nut on each end of the tube. I then connected the two halves with a
threaded rod. The torque arm pivots on the threaded rod.
I would advise against the traction bars you described, unless you are into
drag racing.
Andy
> I have an interesting part that I want to get an opinion on. One of the
> Roadsters that I have has a pair of traction bars. Not the torque
strut,
> but bars that bolt to the spring mounts (via the U-bolts) and
> clamp to the
> front of the spring. (effectively stops the use of the front
> half of each
> rear spring since they are a pair) These are similar in design to the
> traction bars that are popular with the drag racers (this car was
> used as a
> drag car) My question is, should I save them and put them on my 67
2000?
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