Traction Bars

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RocketFoot

Stangin' ain't easy but somebody gotta do it!
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Latrobe, PA
My Car
1971 Mach 1
I think we're going to put traction bars on both the 71 and the 72. Does anyone have them and do they do anything other than look awesome? I'd like to see some of your set-ups if possible. We are looking at Lakewood Traction Action...

 
I have comp engineering slide-a-links and they work great. The car stand up in the back when you launch it.

 
I have them on "Fire" (my '73 MACH I) and YES, they work!

Mine are modeled after the Lakewood ones but they are home made. With my old fully built 351CJ, I was having problems off the line with wheel hop. I had my guys (owned a shop at the time in the Philippines) fab up some angle iron and made the bars (using tire rubber as the snubber and "J" bolts). Wheel hop solved!!

Again, this was for a drag race application and they "look" exactly like the lakewood bars.

To answer your question, they "work" for what they are designed to do. Like everything else within our hobby, it is important to work the suspension based on the "primary" intent of the car. Traction bars can significantly stiffen up the suspension.

Hope this helps!

BT

 
Yeah, that's the thing...We are building street cars for weekend cruising and maybe the occasional burnout! LOL...no racing. So would they hurt anything having them on (mostly for looks?)

 
No, I don't think it would "hurt" anything, especially since it is not a daily driven commuter type car.

Again, don't expect it to be real comfortable on long drives where you are trying to enjoy the scenery (LOL)! There are better suspension choices if you intend to use the car frequently for that aspect of our hobby.

Quite frankly, that is why I went to two vehicles - - I want the best of both worlds. "Ice" (the '73 Grande) is designed to be an @550 HP cruising machine with relative tame suspension, somewhat on the par with my stock '89 5.0 LX, but with a LOT more grit. "Fire" (the '73 MACH I) is designed to be an @800 HP primary track machine with a much different suspension, cooling system, ignition and internals.

To a very large degree, it is about compromises - - what can you live with over the long haul.

Hope this helps!

BT

 
No, I don't think it would "hurt" anything, especially since it is not a daily driven commuter type car.

Again, don't expect it to be real comfortable on long drives where you are trying to enjoy the scenery (LOL)! There are better suspension choices if you intend to use the car frequently for that aspect of our hobby.

Quite frankly, that is why I went to two vehicles - - I want the best of both worlds. "Ice" (the '73 Grande) is designed to be an @550 HP cruising machine with relative tame suspension, somewhat on the par with my stock '89 5.0 LX, but with a LOT more grit. "Fire" (the '73 MACH I) is designed to be an @800 HP primary track machine with a much different suspension, cooling system, ignition and internals.

To a very large degree, it is about compromises - - what can you live with over the long haul.

Hope this helps!

BT
Cool, I don't foresee any long range trips, mostly local shows so I guess we could go either way! Maybe we'll put them on the 72 since it is already torn apart! Then see how it handles before deciding to add them to the Mach1.

 
I disagree on the old school slapper bars affecting ride, unless you have the j-bolts and preload on the bars you should not notice any difference. For the old school vibe go with the slappers. For all out traction go wit the split mono-leafs and caltracs. Virtually every leaf spring stock eliminator drag car in the country are running them. They WORK!

Planning on building a set of slappers for my car, just for the look of it. The look I am going for is a day 2 style, doing the mods the way I would have done them in the 70's if I could have afforded to. Some nods to current technology will be incorporated as well but mostly hidden.

 
I disagree on the old school slapper bars affecting ride, unless you have the j-bolts and preload on the bars you should not notice any difference. For the old school vibe go with the slappers. For all out traction go wit the split mono-leafs and caltracs. Virtually every leaf spring stock eliminator drag car in the country are running them. They WORK!

Planning on building a set of slappers for my car, just for the look of it. The look I am going for is a day 2 style, doing the mods the way I would have done them in the 70's if I could have afforded to. Some nods to current technology will be incorporated as well but mostly hidden.
Sounds cool! I'll have to look into that!

I like day 2 mods...nothing wrong with factory showroom, but customizing is more my style too!

 
You may be correct, Jeff - - as I do have the "J" bolts on mine. I had forgotten that not all of the traction bars came with them.

With two very similar cars, I think Barry's stated approach will work well. He can try them on the Coupe and if he does not like it, can take them off and not put them on the SportsRoof. It is not normally a difficult or prohibitive time-consuming exercise.

Again, my bars are home made:).

BT

 
ive got the lakewood traction action bars on my 71 coupe.. driven everywhere from state to state to just doin burnouts on backroads.. never had a problem daily driving with them ever

 
Mine's got some traction bars on it as well. When I was under it last weekend, they look to be intact, but will need to be cleaned up to determine who made them (if that's even possible).

 
We got them installed last weekend! Turned out pretty nice and didn't seem to affect the ride. If anything, they may have actually lowered the read a tiny bit.

DSCN0131.jpg


DSCN0055.jpg


 
Hey. I'm old school as I had these on my 69 Camaro (Yes I owned a 69 Camaro back in 1973)

Anyway, I'm thinking of some spring projects and really liked them back in 73. But now they would be for show.

http://www.amazon.com/Lakewood-20475-Yellow-Universal-Traction/dp/B000BWCDDY/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422994530&sr=8-1-fkmr3&keywords=lakewood+traction+bars+for+mustang+1973

A few questions

1) Does anyone have these installed

2) If not, anyway of knowing if they will fit

3) Thoughts on how you think they would look (even though it's my choice or not)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey. I'm old school as I had these on my 69 Camaro (Yes I owned a 69 Camaro back in 1973)

Anyway, I'm thinking of some spring projects and really liked them back in 73. But now they would be for show.

http://www.amazon.com/Lakewood-20475-Yellow-Universal-Traction/dp/B000BWCDDY/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422994530&sr=8-1-fkmr3&keywords=lakewood+traction+bars+for+mustang+1973

A few questions

1) Does anyone have these installed

2) If not, anyway of knowing if they will fit

3) Thoughts on how you think they would look (even though it's my choice or not)
Same as you I liked the old school look so I installed a set of Lakewood bars too. Used a different model and they fit with no issues.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/lak-21602/overview/year/1973/make/ford/model/mustang

I can attach a pic if you want to see how they look.

 
Hey. I'm old school as I had these on my 69 Camaro (Yes I owned a 69 Camaro back in 1973)

Anyway, I'm thinking of some spring projects and really liked them back in 73. But now they would be for show.

http://www.amazon.com/Lakewood-20475-Yellow-Universal-Traction/dp/B000BWCDDY/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422994530&sr=8-1-fkmr3&keywords=lakewood+traction+bars+for+mustang+1973

A few questions

1) Does anyone have these installed

2) If not, anyway of knowing if they will fit

3) Thoughts on how you think they would look (even though it's my choice or not)
Same as you I liked the old school look so I installed a set of Lakewood bars too. Used a different model and they fit with no issues.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/lak-21602/overview/year/1973/make/ford/model/mustang

I can attach a pic if you want to see how they look.
Looks good.

I emailed Lakewood to see if the yellow universal ones would fit.

 
I went with the model that had the U bolt mounting plate because it was specific for the Mustang and not a universal model for all cars. Secondly it also allowed me to remove the plate for the rear sway bar and shocks attachment points. I just had to weld a couple of ears to the plate so that I could attach the end links for the sway bar. Because it also had extra ears on the mounting plate it also allowed me to use it for anchoring straps when trailering it. Worked out very well for me.

 
I think we're going to put traction bars on both the 71 and the 72. Does anyone have them and do they do anything other than look awesome? I'd like to see some of your set-ups if possible. We are looking at Lakewood Traction Action...
Hey guys set me straight going from memory of 50 years ago. The Shelby mustangs at the least the 65 R models has what I think was called an override traction bar for the road racking. It did not lift the front end it pushed it down to make the front end stick coming out of a corner. Is that what I remember correct? So if you are autocross or road racing you need an entirely different traction bar set up. For drag you are trying to lift the front end to transfer weight to the rear but not so for handling. I know someone that knows will set me straight if I am wrong.

David

 
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