Re: Traction Bars Anyone?

by dynchel Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:52 pm

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I made my own by copying the Lakewood design, and downloading the Lakewood instructions. What's your problem?

by Silentknight85 Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:18 pm

Interesting. My problem is the shock mount brackets. If I understand correctly, the bars are supposed to mount to the lower control arm bracket on the axle housing. The issue is that the lower control arm bracket and the shock mount bracket are one piece, so there is no way to mount the bar. The shock mount bracket interferes with the traction bar bracket.

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by dynchel Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:23 pm

It straddles the (rear) mount for the rear lower control arm. It should avoid the lower shock mount altogether & the snubber touch the frame in front of the (front) of the lower arm. Are you sure you have them on the correct sides? They are left & right.

by Silentknight85 Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:42 pm

I believe so, I've lined them up so the snubber is directly under the frame rail, while attempting to mount them. If I switch them, then they don't line up. I even went so far as to talk with Lakewood's support to verify that I had the correct bars, that they do fit the car, and to see what I'm doing wrong. They weren't able to tell me much, other than they're the right bars.

by dynchel Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:23 am

I just double checked the part # and it says its correct for a '74 Malibu. Neither side fits? By design they should hang low enough to clear everything (except maybe the ground)

by Silentknight85 Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:12 am

Neither side fits so far. The other odd thing is that they actually won't fit around the LCA bracket unless I remove the LCA and squeeze the bracket together. I had to use a threaded rod through the LCA bolt hole with two nuts on each side and then crank them down to squeeze the bracket enough to get the traction bar bracket around them. In doing so, the LCA will no longer fit. All things considered, maybe the bars were manufactured improperly Neutral

by Silentknight85 Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:06 pm

I am using a BOP 8.5 inch rear end under my 74 Chevelle. I am wondering if everyone else's LCA/Shock brackets look like mine. I am still trying to figure out why Lakewood insists that these traction bars fit my car, even though they won't bolt on anywhere.

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by dynchel Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:34 pm

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Here's what mine looks like. '74 chevelle note: I have relocation brackets welded below the arms...not OE.

by Joe73 Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:51 pm

I have a brand new set of competition engineering traction bars for.our cars. Would you like an inside measurement of the rear part of them for reference?

by Silentknight85 Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:54 pm

Thank you dynchel. It looks exactly the same as mine, save for the relocation brackets.

Joe73. Yes, thank you, that would be fantastic!

by Joe73 Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:59 pm

Ok, my competition engineering (yellow) bars have an opening of 3 1/8". I also measured my rear axle, lower control arm mount and it comes in at 3" wide. So my bars would fit my axle easily.

Hope that helps.

by BBMALIBU Thu Jun 04, 2015 10:53 am

prostreet75 wrote:Already tried adjustable shocks and they didn't work.

Single or Double adjustable?

by Famstyle Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:32 pm

Traction/slapper bars attach below control arm brackets. southside style mount in brackets , I believe!tc

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