Traction Bar Do's and Don'ts

YJJPWrangler

YJJPWrangler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Location
Charlotte
Going to be adding a traction bar to the Willys as it is SOA. I am planning on using the Barnes kit found here.

Anti-Wrap Traction Bar Kit

I'll pick up some more 1.75"x.120 wall DOM to finish the kit out.

Most of the information I've found online relates more to the diesel pulling crowd/muscle car crowd and not to offroad. I plan to mount the bar on the passenger side. I still need to build another cross member for the traction bar to tie into but I am wondering on the axle side placement. In my mind, I am thinking I will need to mount it as close to the leaf spring perch as possible. I am thinking that this in this position I will not impact the articulation of the axle as much if it was placed near the housing.

Anybody have pro's/con's to this method or am I completely off-base?
 
Mount it close to the center as possible. Think of it as an upper link.

If it's offset to one side or other, it will pull upward on that side of chassis more.

You want it as long as the front half of the leaf springs or longer.

The heim joint at the front of the bar attaching it to the shackle will allow articulation.

In the past, when I have welded these on, I preload the heim end of the bar upward 1/4" or so from its final desired location.

This way when it's all done, it's under preload at ride height so no play, and no hop can occur.

Also set the bar length so that the shackle is vertical at ride height.
 
Mac5005 said:
Mount it close to the center as possible. Think of it as an upper link.

If it's offset to one side or other, it will pull upward on that side of chassis more.

You want it as long as the front half of the leaf springs or longer.

The heim joint at the front of the bar attaching it to the shackle will allow articulation.

In the past, when I have welded these on, I preload the heim end of the bar upward 1/4" or so from its final desired location.

This way when it's all done, it's under preload at ride height so no play, and no hop can occur.

Also set the bar length so that the shackle is vertical at ride height.
Click to expand...

And this is why I come here...Thanks for the good info. This will be my first time using a traction bar and I hate doing any kind of rework so I want to do it correctly the first time. The bar itself will be longer than the the front half of the leaf springs. I am planning on building a simple crossmember that sits right behind the tailshaft of the D300 and will mount the traction bar to it. When I get close to setting the shackle, I should take into account the weight of a future cage/fuel cell/seat etc as that will affect overall ride height. I was planning on adding some bracing between the upper/lower link of the traction bar itself. Is this needed?
 
YJJPWrangler said:
And this is why I come here...Thanks for the good info. This will be my first time using a traction bar and I hate doing any kind of rework so I want to do it correctly the first time. The bar itself will be longer than the the front half of the leaf springs. I am planning on building a simple crossmember that sits right behind the tailshaft of the D300 and will mount the traction bar to it. When I get close to setting the shackle, I should take into account the weight of a future cage/fuel cell/seat etc as that will affect overall ride height. I was planning on adding some bracing between the upper/lower link of the traction bar itself. Is this needed?
Click to expand...

Yes, brace and plate between the two pieces of tube for the bar, definitely.

Shouldn't need to adjust much for change in weight, I doubt that would change ride height that severely. You can adjust the shackle position with the heim post install.
 
Just so I'm clear..When you say to preload the bar, I'm assuming that I need to orient the axle side mount 1/4"(or whatever it takes) "up" so that the shackle is not plumb(shackle angle is not 90* but pointing slightly back towards the rear. That way at ride height, the shackle should be vertical and should not result in wheel hop etc.

I can definitely plate/brace the two tubes as well.
 
I prefer the slip and twist. I wish someone would put together a kit. It ties the two tubes together and if you ever go 4 link the bridge is already there.
 
@ghost So I'm assuming that is a sliding traction bar? Or did you plug weld the round tube into the square tube.What are the advantages to this design?

I'm almost thinking of building a truss over the center housing and then attaching the traction bar to it. It will strengthen the rear housing and could possibly provide mounts for a future 4 link.
 
Im going to be doing this soon as i get on the raod and after swinging by an exhaust shop.

I didnt think about the truss. Its wanted and it would suck having to undo the antiwrap bar setup to do a truss, so they should both be done at the same time. Good thinking there. :thumbsup:

Def following along!
 
Yes the traction bar rotates and slips in the square. It can be noisy and clunky but that can be overcome if you build it right or with tighter tolerances.... I used what I had laying around. 2" .25 wall and 1.75 dom IIRC. Next time you are down my way if it's before you start your traction bar build feel free to stop by and look at my pile of junk... I cannot take credit for this. A guy on NAXJA did it and I copied his basic idea and made a few changes. Mine is removable also.
 
In your experience, what are the pros to having the traction bar move like this? I'm assuming you did this to help the rear articulate better?
 
@hurt4x4 and I made mine. We used the Ruff Stuff kit. Same as the Barnes kit.
Didn't hurt my articulation at all.
We put it as close to the center as we could on the 9inch.
It is on the drivers side and it definitely still raises that side up a bit when I give it gas.
I don't notice it on the trail, but on the street I do. You get used to it. It beats breaking u joints and yokes though.

Pics are in the Documentary YJ build I think.
 
adamk said:
I built this one 2 years ago. It's mounted on the driver side and it does make it lift some under throttle. I didn't really have any other place to mount it though. Exhaust is on the passenger side along with the shock being on the front side of the axle.

Click to expand...


I'm assuming that is the Barnes4wd kit? Looks pretty good. I'm not a big fan of how the lower tube end is hanging below the axle tube but it's not any lower than the center housing. I might look more into a truss and mounting it on top like @ghost did. Thanks for the picture
 
adamk said:
I built this one 2 years ago. It's mounted on the driver side and it does make it lift some under throttle. I didn't really have any other place to mount it though. Exhaust is on the passenger side along with the shock being on the front side of the axle.
Click to expand...

sexy. how did you do your crossmember?
 
ckruzer said:
sexy. how did you do your crossmember?
Click to expand...

It's off the back side of the TC skid since it bolts to the frame. I have a new axle to go in and will be making a new traction bar. This time I will not have a TC skid and make the traction bar as long as possible. This will help with the vertical forces applied to the frame and reduce the twist I get under throttle

Edit* Also the new one will have an adjustable upper arm. This will allow me to lift or lower the jeep without having to make a new traction bar every time. It will also help with lining up all the bolts. I had a bad case of shrinkage ( :shaking: ) when I welded this one together
 
That's a good piece of advice. I was already thinking of putting in an adjustable heim on the top bar for that reason as well as making any adjustments to the suspension as well.
 
YJJPWrangler said:
In your experience, what are the pros to having the traction bar move like this? I'm assuming you did this to help the rear articulate better?
Click to expand...
I did it this way for a couple reasons. One you guessed is articulation. I would like to go to 4 link some day so the truss is there now. I also did not want anything below my axle tube. I've ripped off shock mounts on stock xj axles so last thing I wanted was a traction bar hanging down. I like it and would do it again. I almost had HD off road talked into designing a kit but it never came to fruition. Maybe I'll try and talk Andy @ ironman4x4fab into one.
 
I built this one for my FS Bronco back in late 05/early 06. I used some leaf spring eyes on the axle end, and a JJ at the frame end of the bar.

Traction bar-1.jpg


Traction bar-4.jpg


Traction bar-3.jpg
 
ghost said:
I did it this way for a couple reasons. One you guessed is articulation. I would like to go to 4 link some day so the truss is there now. I also did not want anything below my axle tube. I've ripped off shock mounts on stock xj axles so last thing I wanted was a traction bar hanging down. I like it and would do it again. I almost had HD off road talked into designing a kit but it never came to fruition. Maybe I'll try and talk Andy @ ironman4x4fab into one.
Click to expand...

I really like yours. I've never seen that before.
The only thing I like about the traditional style better is that when it is mounted close to the housing it gives a little extra protection to the driveshaft because it will sit at the same angle and hang a little lower than it.
Mine has tons of rock rash now, but the driveshaft is still intact.
You can mount it so it doesn't hang down below the axle tube more than an inch or even less.


IMG_9774.JPG IMG_9771.JPG

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Van-go said:
I really like yours. I've never seen that before.
The only thing I like about the traditional style better is that when it is mounted close to the housing it gives a little extra protection to the driveshaft because it will sit at the same angle and hang a little lower than it.
Mine has tons of rock rash now, but the driveshaft is still intact.
You can mount it so it doesn't hang down below the axle tube more than an inch or even less.


View attachment 249435 View attachment 249436

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Click to expand...

I like that angle as well. How well does the rear axle articulate? Do you have any wheel hop or any other issues with it?
 
YJJPWrangler said:
I like that angle as well. How well does the rear axle articulate? Do you have any wheel hop or any other issues with it?
Click to expand...
If you're referring to the angle of the bracket welded to the axle, I would go with the "laid back" kit from ruff stuff. That's the only difference between them and Barnes.
Articulates just like it did before. It does not hop nearly as bad as it did with flimsy leafs, if at all.

Edit: Just watched a video of the jeep and it does hop some, but like I said it is WAY better than just leafs.

IMG_8449.JPG
 
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Mac5005 said:
Mount it close to the center as possible. Think of it as an upper link.

If it's offset to one side or other, it will pull upward on that side of chassis more.

You want it as long as the front half of the leaf springs or longer.

The heim joint at the front of the bar attaching it to the shackle will allow articulation.

In the past, when I have welded these on, I preload the heim end of the bar upward 1/4" or so from its final desired location.

This way when it's all done, it's under preload at ride height so no play, and no hop can occur.

Also set the bar length so that the shackle is vertical at ride height.
Click to expand...

Preload idea is awesome. I would have never guessed to do that. I will be installing a Barnes kit this week!


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