Have the stuff to make a set, just had a quick couple of ?s about mounting them.
Recommendations on what to use for the bushings on each end, can't for the life of me remeber what they're called. What and where should I mount to the axle at? A couple I've seen basically either piggyback the leaf springs, or have a mount right next to em. And last, is there an optimum angle/length they should be?
I'll be making my set this spring. Going to weld brackets to the axle, and put the angle of the bars @ driveshaft angle, being my trucks a cc, they are going to be between 7 to 10 ft. IIRC, I think you are refering to what is called a hiem joint.
:whs: My bars are at driveshaft angle, and work extremely well. For my SCLB they are right around 6 1/2 feet long, and the rear mounts are welded under the spring bolts.
Negative on that, unless you are using 2 mounting points on the axle and 1 on the frame. If you mount using 1 point on each with a shackle on the front they will not work.
Tom, if you have a long bed on your super cab, yours should be around 6 1/2 feet long like mine, assuming you have a stock height truck. Just sight the driveshaft angle and make them close or the same.
I'll see if I can get some pics of mine up tomorrow, I'll have to get some taken of them.
Yeah, I looked at the pro comp brackets too, found some heim joints for a decent price. So I may just use their mounts and build the driveline to that.
I did the same thing as Dave. I believe mine came out to about 6 1/2' eye to eye and were right at the same angle as the drive shaft. They work flawlessly, no binding when it has been loaded right down and they dont affect the ride.
I'm very interested in this thread as well. When mounting under the spring pack (procomp mounts for example), the forward bar ends tip inward (toward the centerline of the truck) so they can mount to the frame. Is this how everyone does it?
My front brackets offset the front of the bars on the outside of the frame, so the bars run parallel to the frame, as they mount under the leaf springs.
And I'm sorry Tom, my camera batteries were dead when I went to take pics of my bars. I'll have to get them tomorrow when I get new batteries.
I went out and eyeballed the layout to get an idea of bar length. Using the procomp mounts (which locate the bar eye at the top of the axle tube), I came up with about 57" (a little less to allow for the joint eye length). Based on the driveline angle for my stock suspension, the front mount would be located between the 2 rivets in the 'transition angle' on the frame. I looked at it numerous times and came up with basically the same thing.
Others have noted longer tubes but they are also mounted below the axle tube and would add to tube length considerably. I'll look again after the mounts arrive.
I did not work on any of that. It is going to take some doing to really study how the suspension cycles for me to figure out the length. Were you just going by matching the driveshaft angle? I do think I am going to get a set of the brackets though now and work on the length as I go. Look in the sponsor section as Truck Source Diesel http://www.trucksourcediesel.com/ is willing to help us out a bit on the price. If we go with longer bars I am wondering if DOM tube might be the best to use. I guess I will have to find a source for that too.
What I really plan to do is get the rear bracket installed on the axle, then start the bar length work. I figure to stay fairly parallel to the d-shaft.
Yes, I'll likely go with DOM. The DOM looked fairly reasonable from the outfit that Chuck got the johnnys from, but I plan to check a source locally. One of my race buddy's builds sandcar chassises and he has a source.
I know the Chassis Shop has it but Idon't know if its a good deal. Just down the road for me but shipping could be interesting as well http://secure.chassisshop.com/partlist/5402/
I made the rear brackets by taking 2 pieces of 1/2x4 and cutting it 2x as long as I wanted the brackets, then used a hole saw the size of the axle tube to put a hole in the center of each piece. Then I cut the pieces in half and had my 4 brackets.
My front brackets are actually pieces made by GM for Isuzu, they are rear sway bar frame brackets on the mid-size Isuzu LCF trucks, I'll have to see if I can dig up the part #, I just pulled them out of a box we have of spare brackets.
The bars are originally track bars off of Ridewell suspensions we had laying around. The bars were only ~2 feet when I started, and I cut them in half and added 1 1/8" solid stock to make up the rest of the length.
I made my first hook the morning after we made these up, and they worked awesome. No more hop if the tires break loose on the street, and the ride is unchanged loaded or unloaded.
Has anybody made their brackets to bolt on the rear axle instead of welding on? I've been oogling my axle and so far can't find a good spot to bolt a bracket on. And I'd really like to avoid draining, heating up and welding the axle tube.
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