Ideas on front traction bar???

[Jon Sullivan]

On my 85 pu I seem to be getting lots of axle wrap on the front axle. In fact sometimes it wraps so bad that it pulls that driveshaft out. At full drop on the diff side, i still have plenty of slip in the driveshaft, just when it starts to wrap, it pulls out. I was thinking of a traction bar, but I have hysteer, and all the steering stuff seems to be in the way. Anybody have any ideas, or better yet pics that that might work. Thanks for your help.

Jon

[KToy]

what springs are you running in the front ??? and maybe you just need to cut and turn your knuckles on your front axles to get a better pinion angle.

[Jon Sullivan]

I'm running toyota rears in the front. Top two leaves are the top two toyota leaves, third leaf is top leaf from YJ wrangler 2 inch lift, 4 is third leaf from toyota rear. leafs 5,6, and 7 are leafs 2,3,4 from yj 2 inch lift spring. All are listed from top to bottom of spring. Hopefully i didn't lose you there. It is a very soft setup. Anyway I have a pretty good pinion angle, but I used wedges to get it. Also I'm replacing all front bushing this weekend. I doubt that they have anything to do with the axle wrap, but they sure were bad. what do ya think I can do?

Jon

[KToy]

they were bad because of the wheel hop they probably ruined them.

what degree shims did you use.. seriously i bet you need to cut and turn your knuckles.. almost anyone that uses rears up front has to cut and turn there knuckles.

cruiseroutfit.com can do this for you or an local axle shop near you.



i bet your wheel hop is coming from you axle wanting to turn back to the original angle it sat before the shims

i used shims they sucked

cut my knuckles

all problems solved

but a traction bar might do the trick.

[Tweeked89]

the reason is its your driveline. its not long enough and it slips out at full droop. mine did it till i built a square one.

another thing is build the anti wrap like you would for the rear and have it bolt onto your crossmember. Like so....

[Jon Sullivan]

I think I might try a traction bar to start with, but I definetly neet to cut and rotate my axles. I was wondering about the cost, and the possiblity of doing it myself. I can cut and weld just fine, but figureing the angles, and knowing where and how to cut the axle tubes is what I am wondering about. Is it even worth considering doing it myself? As for as the driveline being to short, I would like to have a longer slip, but even at full droop, I still have at least an inch of slip left. It only comes out when climbing a steep hill that I get wheel hop on. I know a longer slip driveshaft is going to be in the future, but I would rather take care of the wheel hop first.

Jon

[KToy]

when im at full droop i have like 10 inches of slip left

24 inches of slip total.

1 inch wont cut it at all man you need at least 4 at full droop

my .02

[bbagwell]

I would make a square tube front drive shaft. Cheap and pretty easy.

[keyice]

first rotate your knuckles and trash the shims. Did it on two trucks, no problems, look on 4x4wire.com they have a decent writeup. as far as drivelines, most trucks I have seen still use the stock slip and do fine at full flex, sounds to me like you need to length the tube, rears upfront move everything forward, if you still have the stock driveline, your to short

[fourwd1]

I'm running toyota rears in the front. Jon

That explains it. Even with all the xtra leaves , they're still very soft. My front springs are similar and I have some wrap.
For on road you could rig up a torque rod like Toyota has stock on solid axle trucks for this very reason. Off road it would be too limiting.

Get your front DS lengthened.

[Jon Sullivan]

I do still have the stock slip yoke, but I lengthened my driveshaft after i put in the dual cases, and rears in front. I can't lengthen the driveshaft much more because when the truck is level, I only have about half and inch of travel in on the slip. Looks like I need to just tear into the fornt axle, and rotate the knuckles, and also build myself a square driveshaft(the truck is offroad only anyway, so it doesn't matter if the driveshafts are balanced). If it still hops, I'll put a traction bar on it. I will definitly check out the writeup on how to rotate the knuckles and see what I can do. By the way has anyone actually paid a shop to do it? What did it cost? I've been so busy lately with work, I might be better off paying someone to do it for me. Not that I want to, but it might be more cost effective.

Thanks Jon

[KToy]

here in utah its around 180 to have an axle cut and turned. also new perches will need to be welded on

[seth]

If your ever going to need your 4 wheel drive on the street, don't go with square tube. Call Jesse at high angle. His toyota fronts come with a 12" slip, which should be long enough for any setup. If you use a track bar, I think you are going to have to run it in front of the axle, which will probably get beat up pretty bad.

[85tanker]

first off, you do not need a trac bar. Second, YOU DO NOT NEED TO CUT YOUR KNUCKLES OFF that is the most rediculous thing i have ever heard. all you need is a long slip drive shaft. NOT MEANING A SQUARE ONE! square is an ok spare to get you home, but they will never ballance, which is hard on equipment. you need one thing and one thing only and that is a long slip driveshaft. with a crossover steering modification, your axel no longer has the stock push/pull setup on it, so the axel can move forward and backward resulting in your stock driveshaft comming appart. Almost all people who run crossover need a long slip or else they will have a driveshaft come appart eventually. And your bushings may be wearing because of your shackle setup, what are you running?

[85tanker]

Seth has the right idea.

[Jon Sullivan]

So many answers, I don't know where to start. Well I guess I should say first that My truck hasn't been on the street for at least 2 years now, I doubt it's been over 20 MPH in all that time, so driveshaft balanceing is not much of an issue for me. If one day I do decided to return it to the street, I know that I'll have to spend some money on a driveshaft. I'll tell you why I like the Idea of rotating my knuckles. It's because it gets my pinion, and driveshaft up a little bit farther, and out of harms way. Less trail damage never hurt anyone. I also see why some would say that It's not necessary though. I have everything here at the house to build myself a traction bar with a shackle, like the one in the diagram so I see no harm in doing so, because if I don't like it, I am not out anything but the time it took me to build it. I also don't see why it would have to come from the front of the truck, of it utilizes a shackle like in the diagram. Maybe I am wrong, but wouldn't the shackle let the axle move forward in it's normal rotation as it rotates. I don't have a lot of money to put into my truck at this point, and for what I have done to it I like the way it performs, I just hate haveing to put my front driveshat back together, every time my front end gets a lot of traction going up a ledge. Oh, I do have extended length shackles on my front. I think they are 4 wheel parts 1.5 inch lift shackles. I know they do not help my pinon angle, but they sure do seem to help the suspension travel. Anyway I guess I I'll start withe cheapest solution, which is the traction bar, then I will try the rest of your ideas according to how much i have to spend. I really do appreciate all your help though, it has given me a lot of ideas, and places to start.

Jon

[hammerhead]

...I don't have a lot of money to put into my truck at this point, and for what I have done to it I like the way it performs, I just hate haveing to put my front driveshat back together, every time my front end gets a lot of traction going up a ledge...Square driveshaft is cheap, easy, and tough.

[hammerhead]

Oh yeah, Cut and Turn absolutely ROCKS and Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters does a great job for an even better price...

[keyice]

Hey I will sell you a rotated housing if you want one?

[pioneerscot]

i have a high angle but i can still get the 12" yoke to come apart when backing up flexed and hung up but im hoping to stop my front axel from hopping and hook up better? also it would be nice not to taco front sprins or break mains i hear theres a way to do front torc bars any one have one?