4runnertank
New member
So why did I need a traction bar?
First problem, 5' lift blocks and an ad-a-leaf pack. The separation between the axle and the leafs was scary and quite destructive.
The wrap was catastrophic to multiple seals including both of my oil seals for the driveshaft and my pinion seal. lets just say a slab of cardboard became my best friend.
The force of my driveshaft moving around also weakened my U-bolts which surprisingly held up pretty well.
While flexing out on the trails, my driveshaft actually rubbed against my gas tank because it moved around so freely... causing my rear transfer case output bearing to blow out (FML)
And lastly, what I noticed the most, was the actual force of the driveshaft clanking and clunking around whenever I accelerated or let of the gas. I could feel it jerking around my shifter it was so bad.
So for some odd reason, I decided to build myself a trac bar with my friend justin, and it's perfect!
We decided to make a single bar design because of the gas tank on the other side. We measured everything out and decided to do a slip-in design where a 1/4" thick steel tube would slide into a 1/8" thick tubing that was a little bit bigger for the perfect fit. This design would allow the axle to move a smidgen forward, up and down at the same time, and individually up and down (Flexing/articulating). But it did not allow it to twist underneath itself and cause wrap. We used rubber bushings I got from Summit Racing and slipped those into the custom 1/4" steel plated mounts that we put on the top and bottom of the axle, and also on the crossmember. The only issue we had (which sucked) was when we welded the top bar to the bottom one, we accidentally warped the inside of the tube, and the other one didn't slide in and got stuck! So we had to take it to a machine shop and shave the inside of the big tube and shave a couple thousandths off of the little one. 5 hours later, and success. Oh, and of course it's orange.
First problem, 5' lift blocks and an ad-a-leaf pack. The separation between the axle and the leafs was scary and quite destructive.
The wrap was catastrophic to multiple seals including both of my oil seals for the driveshaft and my pinion seal. lets just say a slab of cardboard became my best friend.
The force of my driveshaft moving around also weakened my U-bolts which surprisingly held up pretty well.
While flexing out on the trails, my driveshaft actually rubbed against my gas tank because it moved around so freely... causing my rear transfer case output bearing to blow out (FML)
And lastly, what I noticed the most, was the actual force of the driveshaft clanking and clunking around whenever I accelerated or let of the gas. I could feel it jerking around my shifter it was so bad.
So for some odd reason, I decided to build myself a trac bar with my friend justin, and it's perfect!
We decided to make a single bar design because of the gas tank on the other side. We measured everything out and decided to do a slip-in design where a 1/4" thick steel tube would slide into a 1/8" thick tubing that was a little bit bigger for the perfect fit. This design would allow the axle to move a smidgen forward, up and down at the same time, and individually up and down (Flexing/articulating). But it did not allow it to twist underneath itself and cause wrap. We used rubber bushings I got from Summit Racing and slipped those into the custom 1/4" steel plated mounts that we put on the top and bottom of the axle, and also on the crossmember. The only issue we had (which sucked) was when we welded the top bar to the bottom one, we accidentally warped the inside of the tube, and the other one didn't slide in and got stuck! So we had to take it to a machine shop and shave the inside of the big tube and shave a couple thousandths off of the little one. 5 hours later, and success. Oh, and of course it's orange.
