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My build-DOWN thread...

Bar is done. Going to take it for a test drive shortly. I'll report back on if it made any kind of difference or not!

 
That's not really a pan hard bar, more like a traction bar. That's not going to help with side to side motion at all and if I remember right that's what you were going for.
 
You are correct and I wasn't looking for side to side control. If you read that thread I posted a couple spots up you'll see that my axle was moving back and forth at the bushing and I'm having a springy feeling in the steering. This was just a cheap fast and easy way of seeing if that's part of my problem.
 
Just drove it down the road and a few miles on the hiway. Not to over sell it, but what a fking insane success! It seriously drives better than it has in over 10 years! Used to be that even at 35mph you were constantly sawing at the wheel. Now, even at 60mph there is a perfectly solid connection between the wheel and the tires. Unbelievable. It now drives what I consider perfect.
 
The results of my ill faited fb post about this project were such that A) I should inspect the springs more thoroughly for cracks again and B) I should just get new Springs anyway. I really like the bar tho and would like to refine it and keep it even after I get new Springs. We'll see.
 
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At the risk of sounding defensive, i know the "trac bar" thing i made is stupid and shouldn't be needed. But what i personally needed was to try it out as a means of figuring out why my truck drove so bad. It did what i set out to accomplish. I really like the function of it, and like i said, it stands a good chance of being permanent to the truck after a little fine tuning. Mostly with regards to the axle side mount. What i would like this experiment to lead to is me getting the truck to drive perfect without the aid of the bar, and then decide if i want to retain the bar long term. At this minute, i didnt have enough money for new springs and such that i wasnt sure if would fix my problem. But what i did have was the $20ish bucks and few hours that it took to whip up this device. I accomplished what i set out to do with this and i think its a big win and solid step in the right direction.
 
Well, I'd say it was a cheap diagnostic tool. You confirmed the axle is moving in a way it shouldn't be. I don't know if you need new springs, I'd be more inclined to say a set of poly bushings would fix the issue. Without going back to the other thread, I recall a fair bit of fore/aft movement at the bushing area.
 
Believe it or not, I swapped back to stock Spicer rubber bushings in place of the polys I had in there cause they allowed the axle to move fore and aft! I think I'm going to try new poly bushings in the sway bar.
 
I'm glad it helped! I bet a new set of poly bushings in the springs and sway bar will tighten everything up.
 
y5mgisi said:
At the risk of sounding defensive, i know the "trac bar" thing i made is stupid and shouldn't be needed. But what i personally needed was to try it out as a means of figuring out why my truck drove so bad. It did what i set out to accomplish. I really like the function of it, and like i said, it stands a good chance of being permanent to the truck after a little fine tuning. Mostly with regards to the axle side mount. What i would like this experiment to lead to is me getting the truck to drive perfect without the aid of the bar, and then decide if i want to retain the bar long term. At this minute, i didnt have enough money for new springs and such that i wasnt sure if would fix my problem. But what i did have was the $20ish bucks and few hours that it took to whip up this device. I accomplished what i set out to do with this and i think its a big win and solid step in the right direction.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's stupid at all. Is someone deriding what you've accomplished? I'm not seeing anything in this thread. To repeat the advice you gave to Lawrence a while back, you don't have to explain yourself. Whether you keep it permanently or not, it has accomplished its purpose. For that you should be celebrating. Job well done! :thumb:

And, for the record, I think your idea was great. Even more so if it worked... :)
 
Thanks man! I appreciate it! I know it looks a little like a hack job, and it is. That was essentially my intention. Hack it together to test the theory, if it works, do it up in a fashion that wouldn't be embarrassing to keep on the truck.

I posted it up on Facebook and it was not well received. I was pretty proud of myself and they were doing their best to make me feel bad. But fk it. Truck drives great right now, and will continue to improve as time and money allows!

Again, I know something is wrong with the truck to make it drive so crappy, but for now, it drives great. I won't to get it to drive great without the bar but I feel like I will keep the bar forever just cause I like the idea behind it and the feel is so good.
 
No. Ebke even commented on one of the two post i made. I made one showing the bar setup, and one of the video showing why i built the bar. I'll see if i can link you to it.
 
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