Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Traction Bar –Slip and twist method.

If you’ve got softer springs in the rear your going to need a traction bar. Some people call them “trackâ€

More pics...

Now its time to weld on the mounts. Grind back the paint on the areas on the diff and cross member your going to weld on, mock things up and get a good idea of how things are going to sit so you don’t have to rework it all. You can G clamp the cross member mount in place and then tack in place the shackle plates on the diff, firstly tack one mount in place then get your bolts and put them in the holes to hold the other plate in place while you tack it then you will know for sure that the bolt holes will line up. Tack and check and double check. Get the trac bar and mount it up on the diff mounting and make sure it is angled right so that it will bolt up to the cross member mount, once your happy its right tack the cross member mount in place and mount your bar. If you did everything right it should mount up perfectly. Complete all the welds. Take care when welding to your diff, take your time and use water to cool it down so you don’t start boiling the oil, you can drain the oil if it needs it but its not necessary if you take care. Disconnect all batteries on your rig before you weld too, ive welded with the battery connected before and it was ok but its better to be safe than sorry.

Once all the welds are done you can paint it all, I drilled and tapped a hole in the top of the bar about 150mm back from the slip joint for a grease nipple (out of the way so rocks don’t snap it off), the other 3 grease nipples are for the bolts. Making greasable bolts is covered in the IFS rear springs thread if you want to make them up.

More pics...

If youve got pics of your trac bars or build ups add them here if you want. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... hp?t=33433

My mate Joey's trac bar set up is included in this post.
christover

Do you find it ok without a shackle at the chassis mount?

Only just put it in but will be giving it a thorough test tomorrow. The slip joint gives play back and forth so there is no real need for a shackle, and this also gives you infinite twist.

Ah sorry, my error.

after a good read i only have one qyestion,

how long did you make your slip joint,

ozy1 wrote:after a good read i only have one qyestion,

how long did you make your slip joint,

The slip yoke pipe is 600mm long, the triangulated pipe it slips into is 900mm, over all about 500mm overlap.

cool, thanks for that,

Awsome write up Dropie... Keep em coming

another great right up ben well done

Well it lasted about 2 hours of wheelin

Snapped it off at the welds on the housing trying to climb 2 big steps. So make sure you weld it on the diff with good welds and plenty of gusseting and reinforcement as it obvously is quite a bit of force its acting against, even in the mighty 2.8. Other than that it worked tops and it was very noticable after it snapped off how bad the wrap i was getting was.

Its all still functional just needs to be rewelded on, ill post up pics of the gusseting job when its done.

Another educational paint pic

You may want to check the mounting on the chassis end. It looks as if you have only welded each side of the bracket to the cross member.

Have been looking at doing the same on mine, the steel that the crossmember is made of is not all that thick. My engineer says he would be happier if i made a "fish plate" that was welded to the cross member to spread the load over a greater area then have the bracket coming off that.

Like the idea of the slip joint, simple is good.

sierrajim wrote:You may want to check the mounting on the chassis end. It looks as if you have only welded each side of the bracket to the cross member.

Have been looking at doing the same on mine, the steel that the crossmember is made of is not all that thick. My engineer says he would be happier if i made a "fish plate" that was welded to the cross member to spread the load over a greater area then have the bracket coming off that.

Like the idea of the slip joint, simple is good.

This is probably a good idea. I was going to bolt through the whole cross member but the exhaust mount is in the way, i wanted to mount it central and get 2 plates cut to the curved shape on the inside of the crossmember which would be a lot stronger, but i had to mount it to the side, if your tank is in a different position id mount it central. The welds are just as bad on that as the diff was so im getting it mig'd up at work. The force on the crossmeber isnt as great as it is on the diff because it isnt completely fixed to the diff it only pivots up and down with travel and slips, the triangular shape of the 2 larger bars as well as the mount take most of the wrap force, so ill see how it goes with decent welds and no fish plate.

Just make sure you prep the surface before it gets welded. So many people just crank up the heat on the mig to "burn" through the old paint and grime.

Use a grinder to get it back to bare metal before welding.

sierrajim wrote:Just make sure you prep the surface before it gets welded. So many people just crank up the heat on the mig to "burn" through the old paint and grime.

Use a grinder to get it back to bare metal before welding.

or even better a flap disk,

by the way good work, drop bear.

i'm doin one at the moment as well, just not a slip twist, keep me posted on how it works.

This is an interesting design. i have not seen one made like this before.

If my smallish rose joint snaps on mine i think ill be changing to this design as it looks stonger ( the bar itself ) than a rose joint setup....
it will also slide so as to not limit flex as much as my setup does.

screwy

Screwy_ScrewBall wrote:This is an interesting design. i have not seen one made like this before.

If my smallish rose joint snaps on mine i think ill be changing to this design as it looks stonger ( the bar itself ) than a rose joint setup....
it will also slide so as to not limit flex as much as my setup does.

screwy

hey screw, i've got heaps of pics of the slip and twist method if ya want em.

customhilux wrote:

Screwy_ScrewBall wrote:This is an interesting design. i have not seen one made like this before.

If my smallish rose joint snaps on mine i think ill be changing to this design as it looks stonger ( the bar itself ) than a rose joint setup....
it will also slide so as to not limit flex as much as my setup does.

screwy

hey screw, i've got heaps of pics of the slip and twist method if ya want em.

email them my way

easier this way and might help some people.



can't find the rest now.

credit given were credit due
it worked a treat untill the weld broke
plenty of numbers & bouncin on the first few climbs &
the diff went no were & after it went snapy snap and i drove behind him there was a bit of diff wrap so ill give it a 10 out 10 on the infield test

HUNTERLUX wrote:credit given were credit due
it worked a treat untill the weld broke
plenty of numbers & bouncin on the first few climbs &
the diff went no were & after it went snapy snap and i drove behind him there was a bit of diff wrap so ill give it a 10 out 10 on the infield test

kewl, how did it go with hop.

hop ?

HUNTERLUX wrote:hop ?

does the rear bounce when climbing.

i was impressed it was soft & flexy but didnt bum hump like the 4 runner did & the runner was twin locked & twin transfered
i dont no weather it was the wrap bars doin but mine & the 4 runner didnt have 1 & we both bum humped

HUNTERLUX wrote:i was impressed it was soft & flexy but didnt bum hump like the 4 runner did & the runner was twin locked & twin transfered
i dont no weather it was the wrap bars doin but mine & the 4 runner didnt have 1 & we both bum humped

kewl, sounds like u have a winner drop bear.