Leaf spring traction bars

[TDW]

I read a post a while back about clamping a piece of flat stock to the front of the leaf. Anyone use this on thier car? I need to come up with something for wheel hop. So far, the Comp Engineering ones look the best. Any better ideas? Multi leafs on it.

[Chevy454]

Before going to full blown traction bars I'd give leaf spring clamps a try...unless you're running stickies on the back, the clamps should be just fine...1 clamp per side may get it, but don't be surprised if you end up clamping every leaf on both sides...Mr. Gasket makes 'em, but they're a tad too wide and may rub the frame rail or fender, but they're easy to make, and can be anything from a 2 small flat pieces of steel & couple of bolts or a piece of round stock bent into a "U" with a piece of flat stock on the bottom with a couple of nuts...I've ran both, and they seem to be "ok"...

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Definitely use the leaf clamps first, start with one on each side in front of the wheels. Add as necessary. If you buy the Mr.Gasket set, make sure you have a grinding wheel to shorten them - they indeed hit the frame rail upon launch. Also, the Mr.Gasket set has bolts with too long of a shoulder, and therefore you will need to purchase shorter bolts or at least bolts without a shoulder. With this much work it may be better to follow Rob's advice and make a set.

They definitely work, I raised my launch RPM from a 1000rpm idle launch to approx. 2000prm launch with no wheel hop and minimal tire spin.

[sYc]

During the SS&DI magazine test back in 1969, Ed Hedrick used 3 clamps per side on the Yenko Camaro demo car. Car got into the 11's.

BTW, Ed is an engineer, who helped Grumpy with much of his chassis/driveline problems. At the SCR Ed spoke about the time Grump watched as Ed launched Grump's car several times "inside" the shop.

[TDW]

Thanks. I will make some clamps this weekend. They look almost too easy to make.

[scuncio]

Tony, I can send you a pic of the clamps on my car if you're interested.

[TDW]

Please do Tony..Thanks

[JChlupsa]

I would like to see what they look like as well, Tony if you dont mind can you send my pics as well

[TDW]

http://www.lakewood-industries.com/Produ...;minselection=2 (http://www.lakewood-industries.com/ProductDetails.aspx?brandId=5&productID=4256449&ma jID=900&minID=9011&selection=3&minselection=2)

Jeff..Here are some I found. Like I say, they look pretty simple.

[TDW]

I made a set from 1/2" x 1 1/4" x 4". They work pretty darn good. I can come out of the whole hard with hardly any wheel hop now. Did a 2nd gear burnout too. Gotta watch out for Johnny Law, so I only hit it a couple of times. I won't be buying the traction bars now. Thanks all for the input.

[427TJ]

Great Moments in Wheel Hop:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/BE427TJ/BullittBurnout2.jpg

[scuncio]

Kinda after the fact here, but I'll shoot pics later this afternoon and post 'em. They work pretty good on the stock multileafs!

[indyjps]

you can have very good luck clamping the front leaves tight, if you need more i ran a set of the j bolt comp engr traction bars for years and they hook hard, the newer slide a link style bars look even nicer.
check you pinion angle you can get a lot of traction by angling the pinion down a few degrees, i wouldnt drive it like this all the time but for a track only day its worth swapping in some angle shims for a good launch.

[TDW]

Tony..If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to see the pics.

Thanks for the info Indy.

[Chevy454]

I've never noticed a traction difference with pinion angle...I've played with it on our Camaro, and had custom sets of billet wedges made, and the only thing I can see it effected is u-joint life and MPH...you just want it to end up close to 0 as you add power...

[indyjps]

found some traction while setting up a 9 sec 68 camaro, running leafs and south side machine bars on a 10 inch slick, ran 2 degrees down when the track got loose, used it more as a tuning aid than anything else. i always ran mine @ 0, 12 sec 69 small block car

[scuncio]

Sorry for the delay in pics...busy week. These clamps work great. If anyone wants, I can pull them off and get actual dimensions. They're sized so there's about 1/2" clearance to each framerail.

[Born30YrsLate]

[ QUOTE ]
During the SS&DI magazine test back in 1969, Ed Hedrick used 3 clamps per side on the Yenko Camaro demo car. Car got into the 11's.

BTW, Ed is an engineer, who helped Grumpy with much of his chassis/driveline problems. At the SCR Ed spoke about the time Grump watched as Ed launched Grump's car several times "inside" the shop.

[/ QUOTE ]

A little off the main topic, but I also found it interesting when Ed was talking about the natural frequency (vibration) of the driveshaft and what engine rpm it happens at...

[TDW]

Thanks Tony. Yours look almost identical to what I made. You have a PM...Tony