I had exactly the same experience and voiced my opinion/observation to Mr Gasket tech. The tabs are welded in a poor location and will not allow the shock to install without hitting the axle tubes. I returned the bars to the store; they were the second set I had purchased. A friend with a very well equipped fabricating shop made a set that the Lakewood folks should copy. They fit properly and work great. He used the stock shock mounting plates as a guide to weld the tabs in the correct location and at the right angle - very easy when you have the skill and the resources. I can't believe that Lakewood hasn't fixed this issue.
I boxed em back up and shipped them back to Summitt Racing with a rather lenghty letter. Next will be an email to Lakewood to thank them for wasting my time and energy. I guess maybe later I will get the universal ones. They were more for looks than function anyway ....
I had a set of Lakewood traction bars on mine up till a month ago. Not sure what the part number was though.
If you're thinking of ordering the Lakewood 21604 traction bars that are supposed to fit a Maverick, the problem is still there. Shock mount holes on those bars line up directly with the U-bolt holes. Stock shock mount holes are offset 1.75" from the U-bolt holes to allow the shock to clear the axle housing. I just emailed Lakewood tech support to see what they say. I'm not eager to get new shock mounts welded on to the bars that are supposed to fit as is. The shock mount holes in the Mustang 21602 bars are offset, forward and rearward, but are for a 3" axle housing. 21604 is for 2.75" axle housing, which is correct for my '72 Mav. Looks like the 21602s might be usable if the old U-bolts are reused and the U-bolt holes in the bars are elongated to fit the 2.75" U-bolts. That is, if the length of the bars is right. I'll see what their tech support says. Maybe I'll try to get them to send me 21602s with 2.75" U-bolts. Its easier to elongate the holes than to fab new shock mounts.
The Lakewoods I have were ordered originally for a 67 Stang I was working on way back when. They fit the Comet and the 9" rear perfectly.
Talked with tech support at both Summit and Lakewood/Mr Gasket/... Summit guy was very helpful -- Lakewood/... not so much. Conclusion with Summit was to order the Mustang 21602 and use 2.75" U-bolts. Dimensions of the 21602 and 21604 are different by as much as 2" but, since others here have used 21602s, that seemed OK to me. Unfortunately, none in stock at Summit, JEGS, or the Lakewood warehouse. Summit suggested these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CEE-2109/?rtype=10 Competition Engineeering bars for Mustang. Picture looks like the shock mount would work. Anyone use them?
Anyone tried Tractionmasters? I had a set on mine, never put them back on after the rear disc install. I planned on putting them back on. http://tractionmaster.com/
