when is a track bar needed.

[ranger8689]

(INFO) i am building a 86 sas ranger. It is running a full width 92 dana 60. it has 4in chevy half ton front springs, with shackle in the back. It will be off road only, never street driven with at least 37's

My question is, when do you need to run a track bar on leaf spring front ends. They had them from factory. But some vehicles equipped with leaf springs don't have them, such as the 70's gm's. Is it somethings to do with the leaf spring pad width??

 

[Boggin]

you only need a trac bar when you have a coil sprung straight axle. the leaf springs keep the axle center since they dont flex side to side as coils would.

 

[ranger8689]

I understand that part but that axle had one from factory. I originally had a leaf sprung dana 30 in front,and when I would hit big bumps it would go into the death wabble. I just don't want that to happen with the new build

 

[The Jester Race]

I understand that part but that axle had one from factory. I originally had a leaf sprung dana 30 in front,and when I would hit big bumps it would go into the death wabble. I just don't want that to happen with the new build

That would be a steering issue. Could be too much caster, or too little caster, or it could be your steering geometry. A trac bar is not necessary with leaf sprung axles. If its a trail only rig why not go full hydro?

Here is mine

6 degrees of caster, No trac bar, No death wobble, Very little bump steer.

-Jester

 

[legoms013]

Not necessarily, a large heavy vehicle like leaf sprung Ford Superduties have trac bars to keep the axle from pushing side to side when rotating the steering wheel in a stationary position. The steering systems have are capable of tremendous forces (think what it would require in this situation: 7000lb truck, 19,600lbs of trailer/cargo, stop and go traffic).

On a leaf spring vehicle they can be used, however on a RBV you shouldn't need one for any practical purpose as RBV's aren't very heavy and don't have powerful enough steering systems to cause side to side axle movement...usually a leaf spring axle swap means heavy duty leaf springs and thus are much more resistant to steering forces.

On an vehicle with a 7000lb curb weight, and a steering system to match it this is a different story.

Put your vehicle together, and see if it needs a trac bar. But don't plan on it yet, I'm fairly sure with half ton springs on a RBV you won't have much axle movement requiring a trac bar. And with leafs, I doubt you will ever get death wobble (DW is sorta of a characteristic of 5-link suspensions like those found in Jeeps/Cherokees). Its almost unheard of on leaf sprung vehicles.

 

[ranger8689]

legoms013, that makes sense about the weight being an issue.

I believe my caster is close to 6 Degrees. i still have lots of fine tuning and angle changes to do once i get the weight of the body and drive train back on the frame i just wanted to make sure i didn't need to put a track bar on.

also i still haven't made up my mind on the steering situation yet. i'm trying to decide what is going to be cost effective. Sense it is a ball joint dana 60, high steer kits are expensive. and i need to get a different gear box anyways. So with a good gear box set up i would be into it at least a grand... on the other hand i could also be be full hydro for close to the same price. How good would the stock knuckles hold up to full hydro? Would i still need to go high steer with full hydro?

I have been putting off the steering for last, sense i feel that is where a large chunk of money is going to go. i want to get the rest of it moving again. Sense i am doing pretty much a complete rebuild of the whole truck. only thing (ranger) is the frame and Body

 

[legoms013]

I'm not sure about hydro steer and if those knuckles will hold up. I don't have any experience, BUT I will speculate and offer my suggesting.

If it were me I'd do high-steer and hydro assist. The steering should be well thought out and very strong as it will take most of the abuse. Plus there is nothing more annoying than continually breaking steering components or running out of steering force on the trail.

If you do hydro assist, and carry the proper stuff, then if you break something you can cap a line and continue on your way. Also you will have the benefit of hydro forces controlling your steering......without putting all the strain on the power steering pump and gear box. The ram will do most of the work, and won't be pushing/pulling the axle from a frame rail but rather from the axle itself.

If you go full hydro, and you blow a hydraulic line, your stewed unless you have a spare. No back up steering.

And no I don't think you have to be hi-steer to run full hydro.

 

[martin]

On the seventies gm's the drag link from the steering box to the knuckle was inline with the frame, ie. pushing forwards and backwards so it did not try to push the axle side to side.

 

[1badexplorer]

You don't need a trac bar. Your axle had one from the factory because it had shackles in the front when new. If you have shackles in the rear you are fine. All ford 60s newer than 84 had a trac bar. Ford 60s older than 80 didn't because of the leafs and shackles used.

 

[ranger8689]

ok that seems to solve my question.

 

[ranger8689]

 

[legoms013]

I'm jealous of your shop, sooo jealous.

 

[bigblockford79]

You need a track bar ANYTIME you have crossover steering, meaning the gearbox is on the opposite side from the drag link attachment point. The reason most leaf spring vehicles do not have them is they utilize a push-pull steering setup where the pitman arm it perpendicular to the frame rail and the drag link attaches to the knuckle on the same side of the frame as the gear box. Newer leaf spring Ford trucks all have track bars since they switched to crossover steering in recent years.

 

[bobbywalter]

actually, death wobble on leaf rigs with crossover steering is quite common especially with front shackles and kingpins that are springloaded..


most oem crossover steering straight axles, will have a trac bar. the bell crank inline style steering systems dont need them.

you can get away without a panhard with crossover, i dont always run mine. but properly setup, having a panhard with the crossover makes a huge difference in steering response. and many times strengthens the system.

 

[bobbywalter]

You need a track bar ANYTIME you have crossover steering, meaning the gearbox is on the opposite side from the drag link attachment point. The reason most leaf spring vehicles do not have them is they utilize a push-pull steering setup where the pitman arm it perpendicular to the frame rail and the drag link attaches to the knuckle on the same side of the frame as the gear box. Newer leaf spring Ford trucks all have track bars since they switched to crossover steering in recent years.

must have been posting at the same time