Traction Bars For Lifted Trucks
 

Looking to see if anyone has any recommendations for traction bars?
Most manufactures say their kits will not work with lifts or power steps such as AMP Research (which I have).

I know majority of trucks that run these are either stock suspension or dropped.

Rough Country has a set of traction bars for 15-19 F150 w/5 inches or more of lift. They don't mention anything about power steps worth checking into..

2nd that on the rough country , we have them on every lifted truck

Not sure why I thought those wouldn't work..

Well, any vendors here willing to hook a forum member up :whistling2:

By the way for anyone interested, checkout the video in my signature from 0:14 - 0:16 and see how bad that wheel hop is :blush:

5' Procomp bars on a 4" lift. I also have Amp power boards.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...d45b92f049.png
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It seems like the VA Specialties bars would work, looking at their pictures on facebook….not sure about with the power steps though. If the power steps fold in over the front spring perch, then maybe not.

I talked to them earlier today. They said they have not tested it on a lifted truck yet. I sent them some pics and measurements. We will see what they say.

Stifflers makes some bars for lifted trucks...they are for the 11-14 trucks but bolt on all the same tot he 15+ trucks.

They seem to be less expensive than some of the other traction bars out there, if it makes any difference

Their description shows up to 4" lift. I have 6" so not sure if they will be too short.
Also wonder if there is any performance difference between the stifflers and RC. They seem to mount similarly.
I'm waiting to hear back from VAS to see what they say about their kit but right now the Rough Country bars are looking very tempting.

Well, I'm going to give VAS a shot. They're shipping out the brackets today so I can get them put on and take some more measurements for them.
Stay tuned...

Got these put on today. As you can see in the pictures there's not enough thread engagement.
Going to pull them off and VAS is sending me a replacement bar. Excellent service!
Will update as I get the new bar and attempt to dial it in... If anyone who has these (or similar) has any recommendations for preload feel free to chime in!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...ea1f9ee9c1.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...1fe5cc1b0f.jpg

The only true way to plant the rear axle is to anchor it to the frame not the leaf springs. That's a weird setup. Almost reminds me of the old school traction bars I put on a 69 Camaro.

Solid bars no adjustments needed.

This.....
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...65344f0f99.jpg

The two main differences are, what you have will minimize wheel hop while stressing the spring pack. What I recommend will eliminate wheel hop and only stress it's bushings as designed.

Main reasons I went with these over other options:
1.) Extremely easy install. Took me 30 mins to bolt up.
2.) Adjustability. You can unload them for street driving as if they weren't even there (if you wanted). Then, load them up while you're at the track.
Honestly, takes 10 secs to loosen the nut and twist the bar lol.

Neutral points:
1.) Price is about the same amongst all makes so not much benefit there.
2.) I like the look of the long bars, especially on a lifted truck. However, I also like the subtle look of these as well.

Drilling a hole for long bars isn't really a big deal for me so that wasn't really a deal breaker.

Either way, looking forward to getting the truck dialed in and testing it at the track.
Hoping I can cut a 1.6xx 60ft :brows:

Sitting on level ground I left about 1/4" clearance between the snubber and the spring.

As you noticed, installation is a breeze.

So you leave that 1/4" gap there at all times? Do you tighten it up when you go to the track or do you leave the gap?

I leave like that all the time. I don't claim to be an expert though.

Your wheel hop issue might be from stiff springs and shocks though. I removed the overload spring on mine and I'm running two leafs per side and about 10/15 psi in the air bags. Shocks are just the calmax drop shocks.

I don’t think there should be any gap, I was always told hand tight for preload. For my bars they are as tight as my grip allowed all the time....however I have long bars, so things might be different.

Vic Alma told me to set them up like that, but perhaps he's changed his mind recently. He's the guy that built them.

This is from the install instructions:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...0b18bf8fe2.png


I've also looked online a bit and from what i've read if you leave a small gap there is a slight delay before they engage but they hit harder vs having them preloaded on the spring it hits immediately but maybe not as hard.

Also, if you have the gap i believe it should ride smoother vs having it preloaded and stiffens the ride.

However, this is my first set and I don't have any experience with them yet which is why i'm asking you guys with real world experience on them lol

looking at those instructions I can see how I got the idea about the gap....it says adjust the jam nuts 1/2 turn after contact, but not which direction. I assumed it was looser, perhaps it was tighter. Apparently I misunderstood what Vic Alma said about adjusting them when we spoke.

All in all, probably doesn't make that much difference. My apologies to anyone I might have misinformed.

He told me for the street leave 1/4 inches gap both sides but for the track turn til they touch and then get another full 1.5 turns of the bar.

Well there you go, I knew I wasn't dreaming. Back when I installed them I wasn't making trips to the track so adjustments for that never came up.

Good to know. I have mine hand tight and so far it's pretty rough going over bumps and stuff.
Will set it with a 1/4" gap once my new bars come in.

How do you order from VAS?

Or you can do it the old fashioned way and call him

832 364 8540

That's what I did and he told me to buy from the website lol
Ofcourse it never hurts to make contact. Especially in my situation where what I needed wasn't listed.

If it's any consolation i'm 100% switching to bars that mount to the frame and the axle. They're a better option anyways since they more properly stop wheelhop and promote weight transfer.

I believe it. I went back and forth on this between the RC ladder bars and the VAS short bars.
How important is weight transfer on 4wd?

You might get a little disagreement from some folks on that one. Bars mounted to the frame are going to travel on a different arc than the rear end housing because the pivot points are going to be in different places, causing bind, or so they say.

The VAS bars don't bind because they're able to pivot at the front mount and move with the arc of the axle, or at least they will bind less than bars mounted to the frame.

I gots 2wd so i want weight transfer.

The caltrac style bar is just too inconsistent. I find it doesn't react the same way every time. I also always need to check the adjustment after every pass even when they're tight.

I have the VAS shock angle relocation as well which btw i'd recommend to anyone racing. I'd suggest welding the driver's side bracket on though on 15+ trucks, it's mounting design doesn't really work well.

Can you give some examples on how it doesn't react the same way?
Does it pull to one side or something? Or does it prevent wheel hop one pass and not another?

Curious since this is still new to me..

Yeah, sometimes it'll get wheelhop, other times it won't. I check the bars and they're off side to side again. I put all sorts of markings on them things in order to get adjustments to be easier lol. Still a bitch sometimes.

Interesting. I wonder what causes them to come out of adjustment?
I know my last outing at the track I got wheelhop on 3 out of 4 passes. On the last one I had to launch soft because I was scared to break something lol
If you're still getting wheelhop even with the traction bars I may have to look into alternatives though. That's not good!

The wheelhop is from tire pressure or shock settings honestly. The bars work for sure. The very small amount of wheelhop i get was probably not from the bars. But i'm mentioning it because i did experience it and had to adjust them often.

@rojizostang @w00t692 Do you guys get thumping noises when going over potholes or speedbumps?
I loosed mine to have a slight gap and have noticed thumping noises now when going over bumps. I'm assuming it's the bump stop hitting the leaf spring bushing.

use fluid film all over everything on it, it'll quiet it down. And yes the noises are there unless you put it in full tight configuration. You may also notice due to the bracing from them that it feels like you installed a sway bar in the back. Just another upside of having them.

Truly the better reason for the long bars that bolt to the frame on a lifted truck is you'll get a more horizontal to the ground angle with them so you get a more true further forward pivot point.

A little bit yes. They can be a little clunky. Make sure you install the snubbers. Mine are rubber but I think the newer ones are polyurethane or something better.

Not sure what material they are but mine came pre-installed. I can' imagine having that metal on metal clinking lol

They're PTFE on the newer bars.

Update on this:
Took the truck to the track on Friday night. Zero wheel hop!

I was not cutting the best 60ft's, but, i'll blame that on weather and track prep like everyone else does :whistling2:
I think my best was 1.78. Hoping to knock that down to 1.6x next time out.

If anyone is interested in a set of used VAS Traction Bars I just pulled them off today. Will post up a for sale thread later.
Fixing to install the RC ones hopefully tomorrow.

Price?

Once I get them boxed and weighed i'll post up the price but as long as shipping isn't crazy i'd like to get $300.
Should fit stock to lifted truck.

Here are the Rough Country bars installed. Just did a quick test drive and so far so good.
We'll see if we can take it to the track this weekend and she what she does.
Adds about 50lbs compared to the VAS bars lol. I think it looks good though.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...b127d7e46a.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...f2b0e2a786.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...d33b9b25c0.jpg

those look good....gotta be worth a couple tenths just in style points alone!

does your truck have aluminum driveshafts?

It's the factory one piece for 9.75 axle but yes I believe it is aluminum.

Are you running on E30 Saturday night?

Running full E85 now since I upgraded pump, injectors, and added the jms booster.

do you still have to measure or can you just pump it straight from the pump and not worry about it?

I just pump *knock on wood*
I typically go to the same station. Tested it a few times and has always been 85%.
From what I understand it's fine if the % is off a little +/-.

that's interesting, honestly...i assume the tune/ecu can adjust. this link says e85 by law can be anywhere from 51 to 83 percent alcohol

Brave man, I've heard plenty of horror stories of it all going wrong with just a booster and single pump. I imagine you are looking to crack into the 11.3's? If I put down anything under 11.6 I'll be happy....guess I need E85 :p

On a different platform I have run a e85 tune with winter and summer blends and never noticed any knock or adverse affects

As much as I would love to dip down into low 11's, no, still a mid 11 sec truck.
I have not cranked up the boost or timing any after swapping over to full E85. Just wanted some head room.

I'd be interested in finding out some more details on these horror stories. I've heard plenty myself but most of them are guys running constant 19-21v on stock fuel pumps.
With the JMS it runs factory voltage and ramps up to 18v after 50% throttle (just how I decided to set mine up. there are several options).
I also believe the DW400 can handle the higher voltage compared to the stock pump.

At the end of the day, I do plan on switching over to a dual pump setup sooner or later.

What year truck? Part #? Umm quite interested if they fit.

Here's my for sale thread ->> Clickity click click
If you have any questions feel free to pm me

if you plan on going to a rear flip kit, i don't think they'll work.

for the bars in general...i like mine

Thanks, I'm definitely doing a flip kit. I'll look into it.