Traction Bars Anyone?

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 1:08 pm

Has anyone installed the Lakewood Lift Bars on their cars? I'm trying to get some feedback about how well they work.

Here is a link to the exact part... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LAK-20188/

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 1:17 pm

Dont have any real world expirence but I did alot of reading on them vs No Hop bars. I bought the no hop bars for my 69 442 because everyone that talked about them praised them where a few guys mentioned the traction bars didnt help all that much. I also went with the No Hop Bars because they are hidden and not nearly as ugly as the Traction bars.

Any one with real world expeirence chime in. Mine have been installed for a few years but Car hasnt been on the street or the track yet

by JB2wheeler Tue May 17, 2011 1:28 pm

I am also waiting for the answer to this question. JB

by The Dude Tue May 17, 2011 2:02 pm

None on my car. I went with HD rear springs, rear sway bar, & a drag bag in the right spring for preload. Should be able to report how well it works out for me soon enough, but I gotta get some rear shocks & finish up a few mechanical things first.

How do traction bars even work with a 4 link suspension? Anyone have pics of the mounting position? Sounds like a set of boxed lowers would have the same effect. scratch

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 2:11 pm

They mount to the trailing arm location on the rear end and angle towards the frame. So in a leaf spring car with traction bars, the rubber nubbers hit agaist the front of the leafs, these press against the frame. Should work perfect to take the "Squat" out of my lauches at the track and load the tires twice as hard.

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 2:15 pm

The previous owner of my 77 had put Hotchkis Boxed upper and lower contol arms on it. They went 11.50s with no traction problems. Tires are 11.5 wide ET Streets.

Prostreet,
What kind of times are your 60foot? and does it feel like its spinning? also could you throw out the specs on your car?

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 2:29 pm

My 60' are crap!!! 1.7's. Definately spins the tires. Its kind of a harry launch. But even smoking the tires, I went 11.3. I'm hoping to drop my 60' and get into the high 10's.

Current Specs are:
468 cubes
10:1 Comp
Clay smith 304B (258 @ .050) .615 Lift
Crappy Stock Heads with 2.08 intakes but does have Stainless valves
Victor Jr. Intake with an 850 double pumper
MDS ignition
And Nitrous
Hooker Headers with 2" primaries, running through dual 3½" exhaust with dynomax bullets on them.

All runs through a B&M 400 tranny with a 3,500 stall, and a 12 bolt with 4.11s.
Track tires are Pheonix 28.5" x 14"wide Slicks. Stock suspension all the way around.

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 2:38 pm

Personally I would invest in rear suspension, i think with as much power as you are putting to the tires traction bars will be a waste of time. Adjustable shocks and control arms would be first on my list. How much PSI in the slicks?

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 2:44 pm

Already tried adjustable shocks and they didn't work. Tried air shocks, not so much either. I think these bars should do the trick! The rear wads up so bad at the lauch and this should eliminate that and the bars also put more pressure on the tires for added traction.

I tried all different air pressures from 9 -15. Running 10½ lbs, then heating them up and flashing the converter is working the best right now.

by The Dude Tue May 17, 2011 2:55 pm

I went back & watched your video a couple of times. To me it looks like your rear is set up too soft & you don't get much weight transfer from the front. That's the main thing that keeps popping in my head. Sure these bars could work, but are they a band-aid fix to a potential problem elsewhere? Might double check with the company to make sure they will work without boxed lower control arms or you could end up bending them.

My suggestion is to get a set of drag bags or stiffer springs with boxed LCAs. The bags are cheap enough & you can adjust the psi to suit your needs. I'm not talking about the air shocks, but the bags that actually go inside the coil springs. Big difference! Some F40 springs, 9C1 Caprice springs, or possibly even the JCW springs like I have would firm up the rear for cheaper than these bars. JMHO

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 2:58 pm

You have a video of it? where would i find it?

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 3:05 pm

I already have the bars and am about to install them. I will definately keep your idea in mind. Sounds like another great solution and I might end up there. But since I have these, I might as well give them a shot.

And here is the video.

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 3:09 pm

Ok let us know ur results! Jw when are you spraying the juice? is it right off the line?

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 3:19 pm

Hell ya! I thought about the progressive controllers but I've setup a few cars this way and it works great. I set up a nova that ran consistant 10.0s with a 200 shot right off the line. I've also seen guys hit the NOS after the launch without a controller and thats just plain scary!

I've seen to many go straight for the wall.

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 3:22 pm

Progessive would probably make that thing hook up. 2 seconds out and heck with out spraying until after the 60 you could very well pick up in the 60. whats the car running in the 1/8th?

by Limey SE Tue May 17, 2011 3:25 pm

You guys know we have a chat feature on front page On top that way you dont have to play post tag ???

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 3:26 pm

oldstofty wrote:Progessive would probably make that thing hook up. 2 seconds out and heck with out spraying until after the 60 you could very well pick up in the 60. whats the car running in the 1/8th?

My 60' with and without the NOS are Identical. Evil or Very Mad

Sucks!

Not having a slip with me, I want to say my 1/8th is high 6s low 7s. Can't remember. Its around 95 MPH.

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 3:32 pm

also after watching the video it seems to be bouncing pretty hard, but for tractions sake you you want the car to squat just lose the bounce. if your car wasnt squatting at all i think your car would spin even worse. Just my .02

And with your 60s being the same it seems like ur spray is just getting the launch out of whack. It may pick up if you sprayed once off line. But I will agree with u, that some one to hit the button while going down track is just askin to park it in a gaurdrail. If your not gonna spray off the line you definately should be going to a progressive set up

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 3:32 pm

Andy but then you wouldnt know to chime in:)

by Limey SE Tue May 17, 2011 3:34 pm

oldstofty wrote:Andy but then you wouldnt know to chime in:)

Who is andy ??

by oldstofty Tue May 17, 2011 3:37 pm

anthony my bad i was talking to a guy named andy at work as i wrote this

by JB2wheeler Tue May 17, 2011 4:10 pm

A 1.7 in 60 feet is nothing to laugh at! I'd be satisfied with it for my car. JB

by prostreet75 Tue May 17, 2011 4:50 pm

Correct, it just bothers me to run that on the motor and then you add NOS and its not getting better... I should be 1.5 something on the bottle.

by ant7377 Tue May 17, 2011 4:51 pm

Get this guys set up
http://www.hrpartsandstuff.com/

my buddy uses it (sway bar set up) in his 7o GS it works like a champ. The car used to leave so twisted up, it was really bad,this made a world of difference.

by Silentknight85 Wed Mar 11, 2015 1:58 pm

Hello,

prostreet75 wrote:Has anyone installed the Lakewood Lift Bars on their cars? I'm trying to get some feedback about how well they work.

Here is a link to the exact part... [redacted due to being a newb]

I am too new to be able to post the above URL, so my apologies. This quote is from the very first post on this thread about the Lakewood 20188 traction bars.

I bought these exact traction bars a few years back and have been attempting to install them over the past few weeks with no luck. Has anyone actually installed these? I am hoping someone has by now, since this thread is a few years old. I am starting to think my 74 has a swapped rear end, because they just don't fit.

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