Ladder Bars any experience??

Discussion in 'Drag Racing' started by Bobo Greybeard, Jun 5, 2012.

  1. Bobo Greybeard

    Bobo Greybeard Member

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    Well I did some trading today for a set of Competition Engineering ladder bars for my 73 comet. I traded a set of 5.13 gears for a 9" for them if anyone wants to know. LOL

    Anyway, anyone have any experence with these that they can post up or better yet have photos of the way they mounted them. I had a pair close to 20 years ago on a Grand Prix but we paid to have those put on.

    Thanks for looking and thaks in advance for any help.

    Bobo
     
    Bobo Greybeard, Jun 5, 2012
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  2. Shorty

    Shorty Member

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    I had a set on a '76 Ford F150 Custom Flareside. I had removed the leaf springs making room for Micky Thompson tires on 14" x 15" wheels. I built a cross member and installed coil springs along with the ladder bars. I replaced the supplied diagonal track bar with a panhard bar because I didn't trust the diagonal link on a daily driver. I don't recall having any issues with driving it year round with narrower winter tires and weight in the bed.

    Bruce
     
    Shorty, Jun 5, 2012
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  3. Boss302maverick

    Boss302maverick Member

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    do you plan to put on a set of ladder bars with the leaF springs? or coil over shocks? if you are keeping the leaf springs, sell the ladder bars and get Caltracs, ladder bars are old school and do not work with leaf springs.and in reality, they didnt work with the old GM coil spring carts either.

    Duane
     
    Boss302maverick, Jun 6, 2012
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  4. mavman

    mavman Member

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    The only way that they halfway function properly is with coil overs...and I said "halfway". 4 link blows the ladders out of the water once you start looking at tuning choices.

    And ladders don't just "bolt on". Usually to make them work properly (or halfway), you'd remove the floors and build new frames. I don't suggest making them work on the factory sheetmetal frame rails.
     
    mavman, Jun 14, 2012
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  5. olerodder

    olerodder Member

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    Ladder bars are old school as MavMan and Boss302Maverick have said, and today there are much better ways to go like the CalTraks and certainly a 4 link.
    Now with that said my Maverick has had ladder bars since the 79 Winternationals, and they are set up correctly to let the axle move....the Maverick does hook hard and goes as straight as a dime.
    You can't just weld ladder bars to the rear axle because the axle has to be able to move.
    My Maverick is strickly "Ole School" and I don't want to tear into the chassis that already works ok.
    Now, if I were going to try and run mid to low 9's with this car I would certainly put a 4 bar setup in...........because you have so much more adjustability........................IMHO
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2012
    olerodder, Jun 18, 2012
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