Traction bars

[72chevyLWB]

I have a 72 chevy with the leaf spring rear end. I lowered the front two inches and the rear 1.75 with shackles and then took the overload and middle leaf out to get it level. Now when I get on it I have alot of wheel hop. Does anybody make traction bars for my truck or do I have to get universal?

[Randy70C-10]

With leaf springs, pretty sure you have to use universal (road slappers). Just be careful not to get suck on any speed bumps!

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[69 longhorn]

I have universal slappers on my longhorn,but the axle has been flipped. With the Axle in stock location,the brackets on the universal bars will be way too short. I dont know of anybody that makes bars for our leaf trucks,but you could build a set pretty easily,or modify the brackets on a universal set. that was 1 nice thing about the coil rears....they didnt wheel hop!Good luck.-----------------HotrodHorn

[nate68]

theres a guy on here with a 73-87 that had some custom made ones and they look pretty slick. i heard that traction bars won't work unless the leaf springs go under the axle, so you gotta do a flip for them to work (i'm not 100% on this but i read something about this somewhere)
you could always blow a ton of money and get a 4 link setup. air ride tech. has 4 link air ride conversions for 67-72 leaf trucks. i saw an article where they did a suburban.

[69 longhorn]

I think you can make those slapper bars work with the axle under or over the spring....You just need to limit the clearance between the snubber & the spring to 1-1 1/2". they will be easier to set up with the axle over the spring though.

[mldenniscc]

On the subject of leaf rearends. How much trouble would it be to convert to coils with track bars? I didn't know until last weekend that there was a such thing as a coil rear. --MD

[69 longhorn]

The frames are different,the coil frames kick out (at about axle centerline) to make room for the coils to sit.---------------------------HotrodHorn

[72chevyLWB]

If I put the stock springs back in it and flip the axle will I have to C-notch the frame?

[69 longhorn]

Yes,you are lookin at about a 6" drop with stock parts & flipped axle.....or you can take the spring brackets off the frame,& move em down along with the flipped axle ,to give a little less drop. I set my longhorn up that way,& have about a 5" drop. Clearance is limited(3 1/2" between the frame&axle),but I dont do any hauling so it works.Good luck.....HotrodHorn.

[LeRoy]

I put a set of traction bars on my 70 K5 Blazer. They sit on top of the axle, held down by u-bolts and run up to the frame. You drill a hole and run a pin through them so you can also get full suspension drop while offroading, with pin romoval. You'll have to convert to newer style u-bolts with nuts on top of axle instead of under. Ran me about $80 at the local LES SCHWABB tire dealer.

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[Fast68Chevy]

Lol @ mldenniscc

where you been all your life ? Most all(about 90% of them) the 67-72 Chevy trucks are coil spring rear, lol.

no offense meant

[72chevyLWB]

Hey fast68chevy, I wish I had coils they are much cheaper to lower. Having rare stuff sucks! Hey Leroy, is there a way you could put up a picture so I could see how they go? What brand are they? Have you seen them on the net somewhere also?