Frame Rail Damage From Traction Bars

[tx65coupe]

I had some of these Lakewood traction bars on my 65. I recently removed them for a few reasons. Anyway, I discovered a nice surprise. The frame rail is chewed up or gouged. The culprit was the U bolt peice that goes on the front of the traction bar.

These will not be going back on the car. It does look so much better with out them, never should have installed them. If I have axle wrap issues, I'll look into replacing the GT springs with something else.

Has anyone seen or heard of this problem happening before

The part number is 21602.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/lak-21602

[tx65coupe]

Here is the damage it caused on the passenger side. Its about 1 1/2 inches tall, and at least 1/16 of an inch deep at the bottom. The driver side just recieved a small ding thats hardly noticable.

[moose knuckle]

Doesn't look too bad, I'd fill w/ weld and grind smooth. My car had homemade slapper bars on it when I bought it, but do not believe that the u bolts rubbed my frame like that.

[Mustang_zulu]

yea you get that damage when they are not adjusted right.. when properly adjusted, the u-bolt wotn hit. ben running "slapper" bars for 20 years.. never once had that happen...

for the track, you want ZERO gap between the rubber subs and the leaf.

for the street up to an inch of gap..

when you dont have any gap, the rear doesn't handle as well...

[2manyhobbies]

+1 on both replys.

[Maxum96]

I've run slapper bars in the past on a Mustang and had zero issues. In fact they worked very well and I ran 11 second quarter miles. From your pictures it appears they weren't setup correctly as there should be no frame contact. But the good new is the damage is slight. As suggested before, weld and fill. Then grind it smooth.

[tx65coupe]

I wonder why the picture isn't showing up.

I installed them as per the instructions.

You definitely can't have the rubber snubber touching the spring, or the car will ride like a dump truck.

I had a very very small gap between the snubber and the spring. The U bolt piece was down on top of the spring.

I just don't see what could have really been done differently that would have prevented this.

[22GT]

If you have traction problems without them, use these. They work better than slappers, without any slapping.

[bartl]

Originally Posted by 22GT

If you have traction problems without them, use these. They work better than slappers, without any slapping.

+1.

[Bucket Lister]

I get wheel hop under hard acceleration with Global West leaf springs and Koni shocks. I've never installed any slappers or traction masters, but I have a set of traction masters that I've never used. I hesitate to weld anything more to the frame rails that I don't have to, but, you've got me wondering now.

[22GT]

The TM's should have been factory on all V8 Mustangs, certainly on all GT's. Heck, my Mountaineer has over-ride traction bars.

[tx65coupe]

So, Is the general consesnus that this be repaired by welded it up and smoothing it with a grinder. I'm planning on painting the inside of the wheel wells satin black anyway.

If I do need something, the real Traction Masters are probably what I will end up with.

I remember someone suggesting some leaf springs that were good at dealing with axle wrap. Anyone remember who makes them.

Well don't get Lakewoods, Bucket Lister. If for no other reason than aesthetics.

[cmefly]

Originally Posted by tx65coupe

So, Is the general consesnus that this be repaired by welded it up and smoothing it with a grinder. I'm planning on painting the inside of the wheel wells satin black anyway.

If I do need something, the real Traction Masters are probably what I will end up with.

I remember someone suggesting some leaf springs that were good at dealing with axle wrap. Anyone remember who makes them.

Well don't get Lakewoods, Bucket Lister. If for no other reason than aesthetics.

Calvert Racing leaf springs and Cal tracs or comp slide a links

[sportsroof69]

Originally Posted by cmefly

Calvert Racing leaf springs and Cal tracs or comp slide a links

Works for me.

[Bucket Lister]

To each their own, but I never liked the looks of slapper bars. I see them on a lot of Novas around here. Not that there's anything wrong with Novas. Sheesh.