traction bar questions and solutions

[spderjhn]

been driving 275 spartan tune for a few weeks now and love it except the neck breaking shifts occasionally. I have been reading about traction bars and they seem like the easy solution. I drove in straight lines today in 4 high and it shifts like the wife's expedition. turn off 4wd and it tends to make harder shifts. both ways are firm, but the 2wd way has some obvious axle wrap. I am a jeep guy and have fabricated long arm suspensions for tj wranglers, but I am a little cautious on the ford. I am not planning on lifting the truck and pro comp clearly states that the traction bars for sale are for the 4 to 6 inch lift kit. I am looking to either make my own or order a set, but was wondering if either somebody has done so and could provide some rough specs for mounting. It is easy to fabricate for a vehicle when not worried about horsepower just articulation and off roading ie jeep. The ford has soo much torque that it is a completely different animal for me and my limited engineering. I thought i saw somewhere that they were 6' long. is this necessary. If i can get the truck to shift in 2wd like it does in 4wd i will be happiest spartan owner around. Thanks in advance for the help. I went to farmboy fabricators and looked, but their out of stock and website does not provide very much information.

[Tony V]

Well im sure if you talked to spartan they could probably help you out with the shift points. Have you contacted them? Traction bars wont help a shift just the wrap

[08stroker250]

Traction bars will help soften the shifts up

[Tony V]

Well im still learning sorry for the bad info.

[farmerhurd]

i made my own , used 2 top links for a 3 point hitch on a tractor, rear shock brackets (axle) for an 03 superduty, and fabbed up front brackets. cut both top links in half and welded in some steel rod to get the overall length i needed. this is the cheapest way out several others on this site have done similar things. the biggest thing i dont like is they are very noisy the heim joints on a top link are sloppy and every bump you hit they rattle and squeak, but they are cheap and efective.if you do a search you should find lots of info on a home made build , if you cant find it pm me, i will give you more details of what i did.

[as6.4stroke]

Im thinking about a set of farmboys they are nice but kinda pricey. Do you have pics of them i would like to see them.

[spderjhn]

I would order high dollar heim joints as these are pretty important to how the bars function the ones I used for jeep were $90 a pair, but well worth it. I agree with Jeff they should help I am willing to drop a few dollars to try. Will try and post write up when done. For the record second time reloaded tune did relearn and drove like scalded a$$ dog and it is shifting better it sure is a Hell of a lot of fun to smoke a mustang guy with a saleen poser sticker

[farmerhurd]

i dont have pics of them , if i did it again and had the money i would buy some good parts, or a pre made set , like i said this was the cheapest way out , i got $150 in everything and they function . its all in what you want to spend . when i can i will buy a set of farm boys or one up off road , i like those designs the best and hear great things about them.