trac bars on your tow rig

dove'd85 · Feb 10, 2010

okay so my buddy has an 07 CTD dually 6 speed crew cab

and he has bad axle wrap

uke:

when he hits the sand he can hardly drive out of 1st gear or his whole truck will start hoppin around

uke:

he's looked at kits but doesn't want to spend $600+

so i told him i would help him out

first of all he was telling me that he had heard of bad things to come if you weld on the frame:eeek: anyone no anything about this? said something about the frame being heat treated or something:eeek:

secondly all the kits have one mount onthe front of the axle housing and no shackle on the frame side just a bushing like a ladder bar?

i was thinking about making two mounts top and bottomish/front on each side and possible a shackle? anyone have an first hand experience with this? and or pictures?:corn:

Lucky Jeff · Feb 10, 2010

Dodge tells you not to weld to the frames on the 3rd gens. They use to tell you not to drill them either. But now they say you can drill the frame, but of course not on the flange. Which is just common knowledge. They also tell you not to drill any holes over 3/4 inch. Which I can't imagine why anyone would need to drill anything that big.. Sounds like you want to do a ladder bar setup, and using a shackle is pretty common for that style on a tow rig.

dove'd85 · Feb 10, 2010

Lucky Jeff said:
Dodge tells you not to weld to the frames on the 3rd gens. They use to tell you not to drill them either. But now they say you can drill the frame, but of course not on the flange. Which is just common knowledge. They also tell you not to drill any holes over 3/4 inch. Which I can't imagine why anyone would need to drill anything that big.. Sounds like you want to do a ladder bar setup, and using a shackle is pretty common for that style on a tow rig.

good info thanks, i no nothing about ctd period :redneck: not yet anyway:stirpot:

so why should i not weld on the frame exactly? and ya 3/4 in hole :redneck: im thinkin more like 9/16 or 5/8 if i cant weld on the frame

as far as length of the trac bar goes? do i just line it up with the front spring perch? or more leverage/longer the better?
:beer:

Mike G · Feb 10, 2010

My brother has the glacier kit on his 06 and seems to like it for towing. I have the DT kit on my 2nd gen the they work well also. Im not sure the DTs are to available tho.

Jaydog · Feb 10, 2010

I have that same exact truck and don't ever recall having issues with it doing that. :eeek:

Mike G · Feb 10, 2010

Hook 19k 5th wheel to it and you will see some s shaped springs. Ive seen it many times on the dyno aswell.

Jaydog · Feb 10, 2010

Mike G said:
Hook 19k 5th wheel to it and you will see some s shaped springs. Ive seen it many times on the dyno aswell.

I've hauled 23k with it :redneck:

Lucky Jeff · Feb 10, 2010

dove'd85 said:
good info thanks, i no nothing about ctd period :redneck: not yet anyway:stirpot:

so why should i not weld on the frame exactly? and ya 3/4 in hole :redneck: im thinkin more like 9/16 or 5/8 if i cant weld on the frame

as far as length of the trac bar goes? do i just line it up with the front spring perch? or more leverage/longer the better?
:beer:

I'm not the worlds best when it comes to traction bars.. There are so many different ways that people do it.. I've built my own after some research, but it's probably not the best for everyone..

And plenty of people do weld to the frame, I just don't like to. The treated hydro-formed frame just gets weaker with every weld....

dealer · Feb 10, 2010

Frame flexes ,welds dont

dove'd85 · Feb 11, 2010

Mike G said:
My brother has the glacier kit on his 06 and seems to like it for towing. I have the DT kit on my 2nd gen the they work well also. Im not sure the DTs are to available tho.

i need to look into some kits i guess and see how they build theres does yours mount in one or two locations on either side of the axle? and does it use a shackle?

Lucky Jeff said:
I'm not the worlds best when it comes to traction bars.. There are so many different ways that people do it.. I've built my own after some research, but it's probably not the best for everyone..

And plenty of people do weld to the frame, I just don't like to. The treated hydro-formed frame just gets weaker with every weld....

well basically he loads up his camper on the truck and tows his trailer with his cj behind that, and like i said once he hits the sand his ass end jumps all over the place?

pics of anyones setup:corn:

deerlick · Feb 12, 2010

the best way for these trucks is a nice long ladder bar setup with poly bushings and a small shakle up front. without the shackle it, once loaded, will be bound up very badly and also ride like dogshit. plenty of people do them without the shackle but they dont work the way they should

ceb0217 · Feb 12, 2010

I hull my camper on my 02 gmc on the sand all the time. I also air down and I dont pull the trailer with the truck onto the sand I use the fj40 to do that. Also is the truck lifted?? Part of the issue is not airing down.

dove'd85 · Feb 12, 2010

ceb0217 said:
I hull my camper on my 02 gmc on the sand all the time. I also air down and I dont pull the trailer with the truck onto the sand I use the fj40 to do that. Also is the truck lifted?? Part of the issue is not airing down.

truck is not lifted, and what a pita to unload your rig to tow your trailer into the sand then reload it to leave

uke:

ceb0217 · Feb 16, 2010

its not as big of a deal as you think cuse it has to be unloaded some time otherwise whats the point in taking it there to run on the dunes. :fawkdancesmiley:

you look a lot smarter doing that then being the fool trying to pull the loaded toy holler out there fully aired up and getting stuck then breaking a ujount.

I can usually be unloaded and pulled onto the dunes setting up camp before most will even get to there camp spots out there.

airing down is your friend for towing on the sand and also wide/tall tires.

ya I do know what wheel hop is mine has it really bad untill I air down. :kissmyass:

dove'd85 · Feb 16, 2010

ceb0217 said:
its not as big of a deal as you think cuse it has to be unloaded some time otherwise whats the point in taking it there to run on the dunes. :fawkdancesmiley:

you look a lot smarter doing that then being the fool trying to pull the loaded toy holler out there fully aired up and getting stuck then breaking a ujount.

I can usually be unloaded and pulled onto the dunes setting up camp before most will even get to there camp spots out there.

airing down is your friend for towing on the sand and also wide/tall tires.

ya I do know what wheel hop is mine has it really bad untill I air down. :kissmyass:

this is washington there are no dunes here, by dunes i am mostly refurring to moses lake/pot holes so loading and unloading the rig to drive it 100 yards to camp would be pretty dumb

and yes i agree that airing down would deff help out,

but i no track bars will make a world of diff so i choose to go this route,

this is not my rig this is a buddies he wants trac bars but doesn't want to spend 600 bucks on them i mearly started this thread looking for some good advise/real world experience from those who have traction bars on there tow rigs

ceb0217 · Feb 16, 2010

yup 100 yards is kind of stupid. I have seen traction bars from lift kits in the wrecking yards and they usually sell for cheep cuse the lift is wrecked. Or get some shackles and home build them. And I am sorry I thought you guys up north had dunes like oregon know I know why we see so many of you guys down here.

dove'd85 · Feb 16, 2010

ceb0217 said:
yup 100 yards is kind of stupid. I have seen traction bars from lift kits in the wrecking yards and they usually sell for cheep cuse the lift is wrecked. Or get some shackles and home build them. And I am sorry I thought you guys up north had dunes like oregon know I know why we see so many of you guys down here.

yeah right:looser: i ****in wish we had dunes like that here:booo:

i am going to build everything in house