My First Two Emergency Stops and The Difference Between Them

[superj]

this kind wouldn't help because the roll rotation is not controlled in the direction of braking, like @MaicoDoug is talking about. ibut, i had these on a 65 mustang back in the day and they stopped all my rear end hop and traction issues when going forward

antiwrap bars ,i have never used but i feel like they could stop rotation either way and have thought about getting them, just for the heck of it, for my ranger. they look like they would do what you are talking about. one side bolts the spring seat at the axle and the other to the frame by the front spring mount. \/

this seems to be the weld on style of antiwrap bars. \/

i think ricksrangerz sells traction bars for our trucks.

he does, calvert. they are kind of expensive and hang down alot and they looks like they won't help on the braking side. the front connection on the calverts seems to allow the axle to rotate when the brakes are applied

83-11 Calvert Racing CalTracs Truck Traction Bars (ricksrangerz.com)

 

[superj]

these are antiwrap for a ranger, from www.dufftuff.com

these are the ones i have looked at a few times

 

[Lefty]

One thing I'm still enjoying is the difference in the 3 piston / side of the 6 piston (Wilwood) caliper, some of the pistons are larger & some smaller. Both sizes work together to actuate force on the turning rotor during different foot movements. In other words, they help GREATLY in the modulation of the braking pressure & thus the stopping time. Lefty if you only could feel the difference. Small pedal pressure really shows up at the speed reduction as more force quickly stops you, my point being is that I have never had Cadillac brakes on any P/U truck before. The Ranger is designed for being loaded for work, not the safest empty vehicle to drive around. But the parts last a long when it's on vacation.

My Ranger brakes work fairly well as designed. A little on the pedal-nothing, allot on the pedal- allot of breaking. There is hardly any modulation with stock Ranger brakes. There is a huge gain moving away from the stock 2 or maybe single piston caliper as compared to the Willwood, Brembo or any upgraded caliper-rotor combination. That improve the quality of driving in both casual & emergency response style of driving. Rarely does a "racing" type upgrade work in both situations. That is my point. What is available is not much. As Raceranger did was fab custom hardware and adaptors to run F350 calipers on his Ranger.

As far as the traction bars are concerned during braking, they are designed to stop the rear axle housing from spinning the opposite direction during a spring loaded acceleration event. During braking, the bar would separate away from placing pressure against the lower/forward section of the leaf spring controlling the rotation during acceleration. So and only if the bar was inverted would the axle housing rotation be kept in check. The traction bar works by stopping the housing rotation from mechanical oscillation. A three or four link type rear end axle support will also control rotation during the time when the pinion snout (input shaft) angle needs to be kept up about 2 degrees to allow for movement in the downward direction during both braking & acceleration events.
-Doug

This is very good to know! Thank you Doug!

Is it possible to use wildwood calipers with a standard size rotor? I went with the standard size because my wheels were only 15 inches.

 

[superj]

i think if you get a hold of wilwood or brembo, they can come up with something for you. they have tons of stuff so they probably have a mustang part that can fit our stuff.

 

[Lefty]

this kind wouldn't help because the roll rotation is not controlled in the direction of braking, like @MaicoDoug is talking about. ibut, i had these on a 65 mustang back in the day and they stopped all my rear end hop and traction issues when going forward

View attachment 118798

antiwrap bars ,i have never used but i feel like they could stop rotation either way and have thought about getting them, just for the heck of it, for my ranger. they look like they would do what you are talking about. one side bolts the spring seat at the axle and the other to the frame by the front spring mount. \/

View attachment 118799
this seems to be the weld on style of antiwrap bars. \/
View attachment 118800



i think ricksrangerz sells traction bars for our trucks.

he does, calvert. they are kind of expensive and hang down alot and they looks like they won't help on the braking side. the front connection on the calverts seems to allow the axle to rotate when the brakes are applied

83-11 Calvert Racing CalTracs Truck Traction Bars (ricksrangerz.com)


View attachment 118801

I really like that bar! I've got the James Duff type that bolt to the spring pack but run over the top of the axle.

 

[superj]

i love how that looks on your truck

 

[Lefty]

i think if you get a hold of wilwood or brembo, they can come up with something for you. they have tons of stuff so they probably have a mustang part that can fit our stuff.

I just might do that.

 

[Lefty]

i love how that looks on your truck

Some of those traction bars look rather clunky, even on street rods. They collect snow and ice and are prone to rust. They also collect debris when going off road. Better that they are high and away like those from James Duff. I read threads here which say that they break. Maybe they do if you have installed a blown v8, but my little v6 Vulcan will never stress those bars out. The first thing I noticed was that they really tighten up gear shifts. There is no momentary pause. You can feel the difference right away.

 

[superj]

i will probably order a set once i do the rear hanger flip.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My green Ranger has the Explorer anti-wrap/traction bars on it. I have the Explorer axle in spring-under on my Ranger so the bars like Duff sells won’t work without modifications. I had to cut the mounts on the axle tube and move them to in-between the U-bolts and no other mods were needed, just drill the holes in the frame for the mounts. Major handling difference, it tightened everything up back there. I may have to do some mods to some of my other trucks… hmmm…

 

[MaicoDoug]

As long as we are on rear end suspension and visiting different ways to add things....I admit, with my 1983, red road Ranger, the one I used to give Porsches a hard time with in the hills, Let me draw your attention to he rear tire hanger. It looks sort of like a rear sway bar, and it holds the rear spare tire up in the air. This "U" shaped bar will if installed fit exactly on top of the U Bolt rear end hanger perches. They will line up on the inside ones. So when drilled open and bolted to the top of the of one of those U bolts provide quite a bit of added stiffness pointed inboard.

So much added stiffness to allow rear wheel spinning up to 45 mph + as in getting on the freeway and such. What a difference. And that spare tire hanger was very stiff tubing. Can be found on my 1983 and up Rangers. Makes me want to visit my local junkyard and poke around some. It was originally an experiment. Installed it had no connection other than to attach both perches through that U shaped piece of tubing with nothing else along the tube attached. Of course the stock 2.8L solid lifter V6 was a very fast motor with that 5 speed manual spun some steel 15" x 8" wide wheels with some "60" series V rated tires.

 

[Lefty]

I just might do that.

I asked a friend, a shade tree mechanic, about uprated calipers. He said they were good for racing but really unnecessary for the streets, that the stock calipers can quickly lock up the wheels if the ABS was off. Brake fade, he said, is the more critical concern which is mostly addressed with slotted grooves rotors.

Maybe those wonderful calipers would be useful for other applications like racing, or even driving around on larger tires, very large, like 33s. He also suggested another idea, that bigger rotors would work better to reduce fade. One would need bigger wheels, however, like maybe 17".

I am inclined to believe him, but I see no real advantage to anything larger than 31s. Mileage goes down, acceleration too. More importantly, they lift the truck and raise the center of gravity. Everyone of us is different. I love looking at his truck and those 33s, but I'm all about using mine for pick ups and deliveries, an occassional trip to Home Depot for patio block, stone, or sod.

I just remember looking in the rear view mirror. The Toyota Camry behind me was already unable to stop as fast as me. Bigger and better works great for racing but not always the answer for driving on the streets.

 

[MaicoDoug]

With larger tires there is less engine braking. With the 4:10 rear end ratio, my use of the brakes can be not very common as with other passenger cars. But with my pedal, there is the initial fade after 2 seconds. Nothing happens after that except now you must hit the pedal harder. The pads are the second set to be installed, still halfway worn. The total braking system seems to be fine other than the typical "truck brake" feeling. Nothing is happening unless you hit them while slowing down in "D" drive from ~40+mph. Modulation is what is missing in the single piston caliper setup. They work when you need them, nothing else. No part way area, no slight braking. Only a logical "brake on" mode. Changing the rotors only gives me more thought however. A more aggressive pad recipe may do the trick. Most likely will go that route, but don't want to destroy the rotors I have currently, everything is in great shape, except there is NO modulation. Mustang brakes might be a cool upgrade, I'll have to look into that, as a friend of mine is into those from that time.

 

[Lefty]

With larger tires there is less engine braking. With the 4:10 rear end ratio, my use of the brakes can be not very common as with other passenger cars. But with my pedal, there is the initial fade after 2 seconds. Nothing happens after that except now you must hit the pedal harder. The pads are the second set to be installed, still halfway worn. The total braking system seems to be fine other than the typical "truck brake" feeling. Nothing is happening unless you hit them while slowing down in "D" drive from ~40+mph. Modulation is what is missing in the single piston caliper setup. They work when you need them, nothing else. No part way area, no slight braking. Only a logical "brake on" mode. Changing the rotors only gives me more thought however. A more aggressive pad recipe may do the trick. Most likely will go that route, but don't want to destroy the rotors I have currently, everything is in great shape, except there is NO modulation. Mustang brakes might be a cool upgrade, I'll have to look into that, as a friend of mine is into those from that time.

Keep us posted please

 

[Lefty]

I drove an MGB for 17 years. It was the best handling car I ever drove, There were no sway bars in the back end, but it did have leaf spring clamps. It also came with hold down chains on the rear axle. These days we use them for off road applications in order to prevent the shock absorbers from hyper extending.

My guess is that MG designers had installed them them for different reasons, that they were intended work work a little like a sway bar, holding the rear end down on very tight corners.

My guess is that the stock Ranger sway bars work well with spring clamps, that together serve as well as those thicker aftermarket bars like Hellwig, and for cheaper too. Anyone use hold down straps?