I have an idea for making Caltracs look like Lakewood Traction Bars

I like the classic look of the "shelby style" bars like this.

 

Single shear mount at the front?

 

Depends on the 6, there are some hopped up 292s out there that flat run!

 

I'm with Gene on this one.

http://www.tractionmaster.com/app.html

Micah

 

i like those way better than traction bars (having smacked my fair share into speed humps in my life) but why a single shear mounting at the front of the link on the frame? id have def gone doubel shear like the back of the link.

Might have to make a set of these for the wifes 72 after the motor is in.

 

Why, have you broken one of these bars mounted as designed by the company?

 

no, just many years as a design engineer tell me its the weak link. another piece of flat stock wouldn't hurt for sure. And, i have seen similar applications on motorcycles (the brake stay arm for example) fail.
just my opinion.

 

If you think you are going to find yourself in a situation where this mount gets ripped out, then, I would think you would have experience a major structural failure in your car. The front spring mount is taking the load and the bar is just a stabilizer. For the stabilizer bar mount to get ripped out would mean that the front spring mount has failed. At this point, your rear end is probably lying in the road behind your car.

What may be the weak point in the front bar mount is not with the bar but the thin metal on the car in the location where the bar mount is attached.

If you wanted to add a supporting bracket to the front mount, you would have to do a bit of engineering. The bar is mounted in line with the leaf spring. You would need to find a decent mounting location on the outside of the front spring mount and fabricate a bracket that would line up with the bar mounting pin. The metal in this area is not very strong, so that would need to be reinforced. Or you could redesign the front spring mount to incorporate your added bracket. Then you are adding to the load on the front spring mounting area. Once you got your bracket all lined up, you would need to cut off the pin that is on the original bracket and replace it with a very long bolt because now, you would not be able to install the bar.

I think they designed it this way for a reason. I see no issues. If you really think you need to go beyond their design, I say, go for it, but I think you are asking for a lot of unnecessary problems.

I’m not an engineer. This is just my opinion also. Old Carroll Shelby was fine with it. I think that’s good enough for me.

 

Well what works on a racecar setup (particularly old stuff) is not always optimal on a street car.

to your point ion the sheet metal, id def reinforce that also with a small load distribution plate.
when that leaf winds up that bar is going to get some load.

but i'll take the extra 8oz of metal for peace of mind. its double sheared at the back though. i find that interesting to say the least.

just as a side note; the last professional engineering project i worked on was the replacement for the humvee. Maybe i'm just used to slight overkill but as said, just my opinion. not trying to be argumentative.