Homemade antiwrap bars

[Leadfoot]

I have been looking at anti-wrap bars and am considering making my own.
I saw a link to http://www.diy4x.com/images/antiwrap%20bracket.JPG which carries the axle brackets.

At $40 for a set of 4 that is not bad at all. I have a buddy that is a certified tig welder who can weld them to the axle as well as weld whatever else I need.

The question is, I can find Heim ends and scrap metal for frame mounts, but where would I get the tubing for the "ladder bars" and the weld in inserts for the heims.

I'm sure one of our vendors can set me up, but anyone know which one's for sure. Because of shipping, I can probably find tubing locally, but need to know what kind for a ladder bar as well as what will accept weld in ends for the heims. I'm assuming the vendors that make crossover steering bars and tie-rods can help, but does anyone have suggestions on materials and thickness's for a stout set of ladder bars on my pulling truck (80 K20 with K30 running gear and a 454).

Thanks in advance.

 

[balzackks84]

I used 1.5" .120 wall tubing for my lower bar and 1.5" .188 wall for the upper bar. I also plated the center section with 3/16" plate. The weld in nut-certs you can get from poisonspyder.com bluetorch.com polyperformance.com or there's a guy on pirate by the name of MC (can't remember the name of the site) that I think have the cheapest that I have found. If you go AG ends i think they are a 3/4-12 shank, but I could be wrong. If you go heims or buy a RE talk to whoever you decide to deal with and they'll sell you a package set to fit whatever tubing you use.

Make sure you put some bracing or gusseting between the top and bottom bar tho. If you don't it tends to bend towards the shackle end.

If I were to do it again I would do it differently. Not use the one peice brackets but use two bar links, like a 4 link, and set them up side by side. And run both bars to a longs shank bolt sharing the same shackle. This way you don't have the forces on the upper bar and can build it a little lighter, with even more adjustability.

 

[Leadfoot]

I used 1.5" .120 wall tubing for my lower bar and 1.5" .188 wall for the upper bar. I also plated the center section with 3/16" plate. The weld in nut-certs you can get from poisonspyder.com bluetorch.com polyperformance.com or there's a guy on pirate by the name of MC (can't remember the name of the site) that I think have the cheapest that I have found. If you go AG ends i think they are a 3/4-12 shank, but I could be wrong. If you go heims or buy a RE talk to whoever you decide to deal with and they'll sell you a package set to fit whatever tubing you use.

Make sure you put some bracing or gusseting between the top and bottom bar tho. If you don't it tends to bend towards the shackle end.

If I were to do it again I would do it differently. Not use the one peice brackets but use two bar links, like a 4 link, and set them up side by side. And run both bars to a longs shank bolt sharing the same shackle. This way you don't have the forces on the upper bar and can build it a little lighter, with even more adjustability.

Which style do you think is better?

 

[81jimmyslt]

Steel is fine go with 2" or 1 3/4" tubing .250 will be plenty strong. Have you considered using a johnny joints? Definately need to build a slip in it or have a nice shackle setup.

The bottom one.....

J

 

[Zeus33rd]

Here's mine-

1 3/4 .120 wall dom. Some diamond plate I had layin around. 2" Jonny Joint at the top of the shackle. The rest are YJ bushings (I think) from the local 4x4 shop. I made both the axle and frame mounts. The frame mount in the picture didn't work out very well..hehe. I bent it almost all the way to the floor on a big ass rock. Now it has a diagnal brace up to the x-member- just liek I should have done in the 1st place.

 

[balzackks84]

View attachment 14114
Which style do you think is better?

Invert the shackle on both of those designs. But I'd say the botom one. Seems like a lot of funky stuff would be going on at the shackle on the top one.

Mines basically like KidJethro's but I made a full width crossmember and use AG ends.

 

[balzackks84]

Got bored so I figured I draw something up real quick. Something like this would be simple, lighter and work just as well. By having the bars seperate you remover the verticle force on the upper bar and you don't have to worry about bending anything. And it doesn't require gusseting, plating, or any extra weight.

Just thought about it a little bit and realized that you'd have to run a bushing at the bottom of the shackle. It will prolly want to twist it a little bit. Get some good poly's and have it be 2.5" wide or so and it shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT** The more I think about it the less I think this design word work well. It just seems like it would want to rip the shakle apart. But I'll leave it up so people can cretique it if they want. Or explain exactly what would happen if this was run. Cause I'm not completely sure... I just don't think it would be good.

 

[Blazr77400]

Here is a picture of mine. I just used 2x2x1/4 wall tubing with ORD. bushing assemblies. It seems to work pretty good, it stops axle wrap and it doesnt seem to bind the suspension very much. When I was building it, someone mentioned to put the front mount at least 3 inches in front of the front spring mount to make it work better. Also the shackles are the same length and thickness as the ORD heavy duty shackle kits.