Traction with leaf springs?

J

jdub

Guest
Ok, I know there's some folks in here with leaf sprung cars, or
who have at least run one before. I've actually gotten to the point now that I'm having (pegleg) traction problems on take-off, even with 255's.... Passenger side spins for about 5-6 feet, no
wheel-hop though, springs are fairly new, have put shock ext. to keep them from topping out. Is a rear sway bar a good option to try and help this? I'm not talking about a brutal amount of torque by any means, just looking for the next step. I don't believe there is a posi option for this rear, gm10 bolt 7.25or7.5, I was lucky enough Richmond makes gears for it. Anyway, anybody with some traction tips feel free to toss in.... Thanks!
 
Auburn and Eaton make posi units for the 7.5" 10 bolt and Powertraxx makes a thingy that replaces the spider gears and works "like" a posi. Competition Engineering makes that cool "Slide-a-link" for leaf spring cars that is supposed to help with traction. I would throw in a posi unit first since that made the biggest difference for my traction problems. HTH's -Chuck.
 
There are traction bars that bolt to the leaf springs. They help with weight transfer.
Sticker tires and some weight right on top of that side of the axle. When you lifted the back you transfered weight to the front.

monte_383 is right, the posi will be your best bet.
 
I use a rear sway bar and homemade slapper bars on my leaf sprung car. I think the Slide A Link or CalTracs are way overkill for any car that won't see 12 sec 1/4's. They require more torque to work effectively. Slappers - even the cheap ones - will at least keep the springs from winding up and unloading the tires, but they require some initial traction to function. Posi first, then stickier tires, ie. Drag Radials or Nitto's, then slapper bars. Try adding a leaf to the front half of each spring and cutting off the clamps on the rear half. This helps the leaf spring to act more like a ladder bar. GB
 
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