Competition Engineering Slide-A-Link

One of the boxes that came with my recently arrived car is a never installed set of the subject bars. Anyone use them? Good? Bad?

Edit: googled it.

Looks like adjustable traction bars. If you drag race the adjustability is going to be helpful. For a street car they adjustable is probably not needed.

But traction bars are a big help and I do recommend them.

I have an old set in my garage slated for modification and use on my car. They're similar to Caltracs only with a 2 piece link and a cushioning pad in the middle. They worked pretty good on the stock eliminator car back in the day.

I'm sure I don't need the adjustable traction bars but as you may recall (if you see me on here) I purchased my shocks a week or two ago so this will be a perfect time to do it all at once. I haven't seen many of these on convertibles but I think it would add a bad ass look to my car. What are your thoughts? I would love to see pics of these in a side profile of some of our cars.

I'm trying to choose between these http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-...d=traction and these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cee-21...el/mustang

Looking for any input on the two products or is there another product I should be considering? Pictures also would be nice and any tips on installation.

Thanks,

JHawk

I'm sure I don't need the adjustable traction bars but as you may recall (if you see me on here) I purchased my shocks a week or two ago so this will be a perfect time to do it all at once. I haven't seen many of these on convertibles but I think it would add a bad ass look to my car. What are your thoughts? I would love to see pics of these in a side profile of some of our cars.

I'm trying to choose between these http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-...d=traction and these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cee-21...el/mustang

Looking for any input on the two products or is there another product I should be considering? Pictures also would be nice and any tips on installation.

Thanks,

JHawk

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The links aren't working for me

The links aren't working for me

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ok...let me try again.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cee-2109/overview/year/1972/make/ford/model/mustang

http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/traction-bars/brand/lakewood-suspension/year/1972/make/ford/model/mustang?N=4294895985%2B400272&keyword=traction

The links aren't working for me

Click to expand...

ok...let me try again.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cee-2109/overview/year/1972/make/ford/model/mustang

http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/traction-bars/brand/lakewood-suspension/year/1972/make/ford/model/mustang?N=4294895985%2B400272&keyword=traction

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They're working now. I have the Lakewood 21602 ones so tomorrow I'll try to take some pictures of them. Do you have the rear sway bar on your car?

They're working now. I have the Lakewood 21602 ones so tomorrow I'll try to take some pictures of them. Do you have the rear sway bar on your car?

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Great...pictures are greatly appreciated. I think the traction bars make our cars look mean...it really fits the period.

I don't have a rear sway bar. I put the 1 1/8" sway bar on the front and it made a world of difference. You think I should go with the rear as well? If so, which one? And how hard is it to install the sway bar and traction bars?

Thanks,

JHawk

Installing the rear sway bar isn't too bad but there is another mounting plate that is needed. With the traction bars that I got I welded one extra ear on them to connect the end links to and this eliminates the need for that plate. The rear sway bars were 3/4" but I put 1" on mine. I'll try to get pictures of everything if the weather holds up. We are supposed to have a lot of rain showers tomorrow so I might have to get the pictures from inside the garage.

Edit:

I went through some of my pictures and found these. One shows rear ear that I welded on the bar to connect the end link for the sway bar. Let me know if you want to see any more angles. The car is white and black so the bars kind of blend in with everything.

Installing the rear sway bar isn't too bad but there is another mounting plate that is needed. With the traction bars that I got I welded one extra ear on them to connect the end links to and this eliminates the need for that plate. The rear sway bars were 3/4" but I put 1" on mine. I'll try to get pictures of everything if the weather holds up. We are supposed to have a lot of rain showers tomorrow so I might have to get the pictures from inside the garage.

Edit:

I went through some of my pictures and found these. One shows rear ear that I welded on the bar to connect the end link for the sway bar. Let me know if you want to see any more angles. The car is white and black so the bars kind of blend in with everything.

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Sweet... I like it a lot. Thanks for digging this pictures out. I'm sold on the traction bars. Not sure which ones yet but love the look. Just makes the car look meaner...in my opinion anyway. Not 100% sure about the rear sway bar yet, but if I'm going to do it I want to do it all (shocks, traction bars, sway bar) at the same time. Not that I have to, but would be nice.

I pulled up the Lakewood installation instructions and they aren't very clear at all. But I'm assuming it will be pretty self-explanatory once I get under there.

JHawk

I pulled up the Lakewood installation instructions and they aren't very clear at all. But I'm assuming it will be pretty self-explanatory once I get under there.

JHawk

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Pretty straight forward. Jack up the car and put jack stands under the body of the car so that the weight of the rear end is on the leaf springs. Remove the U bolts and shock mounting plate and replace with traction bar. Good luck with whatever one you choose to go with.

Those traction bars look cool but only get half the job done. Look for some under spring 'Shelby style' traction bars. Something like this:

https://www.mustangsunlimited.com/itemdy01.asp?T1=1069+01&Category=Suspension+%26+Steering&subCategory=Traction+Bars&CatKey=EMUSTANG

I am not endorsing these specific bars. They are just an example. Not only will they help with traction going forward but they also eliminate wheel hop while braking.

Additionally the slapper bars you are looking at need to be set with some clearance between the snubber and the spring which allows a little bit of axle wrap. The 'Shelby style' bars do not. There is no twist. They are very predictable. They don't look as cool but they make up for it with better overall performance.

Your car already looks freaking cool.

Attaching a picture I found that shows the traction bar a little better.

Sort of agree with Will e, your car already looks fantastic as you have done a really good job on the restoration. In the end though you should do whatever makes you happy and has the look you want. The nice thing about these is that they are easy to remove and making it stock again.

Attaching a picture I found that shows the traction bar a little better.

Sort of agree with Will e, your car already looks fantastic as you have done a really good job on the restoration. In the end though you should do whatever makes you happy and has the look you want. The nice thing about these is that they are easy to remove and making it stock again.

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Excellent points! The Shelby style do have some welding done to mount them to the sub frame.