i finally got a design for my traction bars figured out. i have always heard its not good to weld to the frame or to drill through the frame. which is the better option for mounting my front trac bar brackets? just a couple well placed bolts or weld it directly in place?

thanks

ive done both never had a problem to me its how u want it to look

i think i might want the brackets to be removeable but i just wanted to be sure bolts through the frame are ok.

alot of organazations rules dont allow the front part of traction bars to be
welded to fram. also depends on what class u will be running

i think i might want the brackets to be removeable but i just wanted to be sure bolts through the frame are ok.


if u make the bracket right and use at least 5/8 inch bolts i cant c u having a problem

Hey bud, I wouldn't weld to the frame. Although easier, I dont think its wise. When you heat the frame during the welding process, it tampers with the design's metalurgical strength. Although, this may not be of concern to many, the bends and holes in the frame are there from the manufacture for strength reasons. When heated, the molecular structure is altered, therefore weakening. All of the designs I have used, incorporate bolt on front and rear mounts for that reason. If you take a look at aftermarket bars from Pro Comp, BDS, Superlift etc., they use between 2 and 4 bolts around 3/8 dia. to fasten to the frame. Granted, these are not competition intended designs, but many competitors run them at the pulls and drags w/o incident. My designs use (4) 1/2 in grade 8 bolts @ each front mount for strength. I can vouch as a previous A-Tech from Navistar, we were taught never to weld to the frame unless proper preparation and procedures were taken. Usually, this was only needed to lengthen the frame rails for upfitting or change in body placement. I think you will find most manufacturers will state similar warnings in reference to chassis welding.:)

:thumb:Hey bud, I wouldn't weld to the frame. Although easier, I dont think its wise. When you heat the frame during the welding process, it tampers with the design's metalurgical strength. Although, this may not be of concern to many, the bends and holes in the frame are there from the manufacture for strength reasons. When heated, the molecular structure is altered, therefore weakening. All of the designs I have used, incorporate bolt on front and rear mounts for that reason. If you take a look at aftermarket bars from Pro Comp, BDS, Superlift etc., they use between 2 and 4 bolts around 3/8 dia. to fasten to the frame. Granted, these are not competition intended designs, but many competitors run them at the pulls and drags w/o incident. My designs use (4) 1/2 in grade 8 bolts @ each front mount for strength. I can vouch as a previous A-Tech from Navistar, we were taught never to weld to the frame unless proper preparation and procedures were taken. Usually, this was only needed to lengthen the frame rails for upfitting or change in body placement. I think you will find most manufacturers will state similar warnings in reference to chassis welding.:)

thank you. good to know. i already planned on using four bolts per bracket. 5/8 bolt too big of a hole? i made an "L" shape bracket that cups the bottom and outside of the frame. two bolts through the side and two bolts underneath. the bar will be mounted directly under the center of the frame so it pushes forward right in line with the frame. sound about right?

I welded mine on.

a easy way and a way that looks good is to use 2 pieces of angle iron and a single piece this is how i did a few and look very good and never had a problem!! also he is a post of some pictures of a set i just built for my brother, the one picture u can see the bracket i made, http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=370925

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=103298&stc=1&d=1273629628

In the process of making mine and I think 5/8" holes are quite large for traction bars, I used 1/2". How much force goes through two Leaf Spring bolts? I can't see why Grade 8 or 10.9metric is going to break.

sorry i have been using 9/16 grade 8 may be over kill but for the price difference of like 10 to 15 dollars i dont mind paying knowing there plenty strong enough for what i want to do

I didn't drill any additional holes or weld to my frame when I built mine. There are 4 rivets fastening the torsion bar key crossmember to the frame. I ground them off flush, drove one out at a time and replaced with bolts. So the frame is sandwiched between my traction bar mount and the crossmemeber bracket.

I didn't drill any additional holes or weld to my frame when I built mine. There are 4 rivets fastening the torsion bar key crossmember to the frame. I ground them off flush, drove one out at a time and replaced with bolts. So the frame is sandwiched between my traction bar mount and the crossmemeber bracket.
Interesting. How long are your traction bars? 8 feet?

I didn't drill any additional holes or weld to my frame when I built mine. There are 4 rivets fastening the torsion bar key crossmember to the frame. I ground them off flush, drove one out at a time and replaced with bolts. So the frame is sandwiched between my traction bar mount and the crossmemeber bracket.

thats a damn good idea! why didn't i think of that? my bracket was going to cover those rivets so i was going to drill the bracket out so it would fit flush. might have to look a little closer tomorrow. thanks!

7'3" bars end up right under or just slightly behind the torsion bar crossmember

thats not a bad idea but they have to be some looooooooong bars

i thought 7'3" was the ideal length for sled pulling. read it somewhere on here i think

Yeah they're close to 8' 3'' if I remember correctly. Did them close to a year ago. There's a few older pics in my garage taken after they were completed. If anyone wants to do there's like this, let me know and I'll get the layout of the holes. I measured the rivets and got close. But when the rivets are hammered down they dont mushroom perfectly centered over the hole. First go around I drilled the holes 1/16 bigger than bolts. So if they were 3/8, I drilled 7/16. But had to go back and drill a few out to 9/16 or something like that to catch all the bolts. Looking back I should have ground them all down flush to see outline of the rivets then measured but whatever.

Someone posted that 1.5-2ft in front of the cab/bed split was perfect for pulling, thats how mine are being built. 74" or 6' 2" But I would say anything over 6' or 5ft(if built right) would do the trick. Tube wall thinkness plays a role too I think. Mine are 1/4" wall

Diameter has a bigger effect in the case of traction bars. A larger diameter will gain you more as far as deflection or rotational stress. Wall thickness is more important for impact strength. I'm not saying go make bars out of 4'' schedule 5, but I think bars made out of 1-1/2'' or 2'' sch.40 would be better than say 1'' solid.