[flatlander757]

So for my 1 ton TJ build I went leaf springs in the rear... needless to say flipped XJ springs are soft as hell and wrap like a mofo.

I decided to build a slip-and-twist style traction bar to eliminate a shackle at the frame end, no heims are needed, just 3 cheap bushings to account for a tiny bit of side to side flex. The frame side piece is a machined fit(0.015" tolerance) and packed with grease. I still need to add a zerk fitting so it is servicable without complete removal when I take it apart to paint it.

The pieces:

You can see where it was machined:

Construction:

Finished product:

Mounted:

At ride height:

Taking off the rear end dips just a tiny bit so I've got less than 100% anti-squat which is what I was aiming for... it's 40" long at ride height so should control wrap pretty well.

The inner sliding portion is 1.5" 1/2" wall DOM, the rest is all 2.0" 1/4" wall DOM.

Anyone else ever built one of these? I've only seen 1 or 2 on Pirate 4x4... seemed like a different idea so figured it belongs on my Jeep

 

[Scotch740]

Saw this over on pirate, looks good. Any plans for a grease port? Or is that so infrequently needed youll just pull it?

 

[Brads_nky_yj]

Looks good :thumbsup:

 

[flatlander757]

Saw this over on pirate, looks good. Any plans for a grease port? Or is that so infrequently needed youll just pull it?

Yeah, I'll add one when I get a chance to take it all apart for paint prior to reinstall.

Looks good :thumbsup:

Thanks:thumbsup:

Hopefully I'll remember to post results here when I try to flex it out... unfortunately my front shocks are too short and until I replace them I'd rather not risk killing them violently. And also my hi-lift was maxed out:laugh:

 

[Matt Gertsch]

It would be nice to see better fit up where the two legs meet, but other than that, it looks pretty sweet. The 2 legs welded up well enough, so I guess its no biggie.

 

[flatlander757]

It would be nice to see better fit up where the two legs meet, but other than that, it looks pretty sweet. The 2 legs welded up well enough, so I guess its no biggie.

Yeah... unfortunately I've got no way to make an awesome straight cut... after about 3 hours with a couple grinders/cutting discs I decided "screw it time to weld it up" :laugh: It was maybe 1/4" gap at the most, with 2 passes it's fine.

 

[flatlander757]

Finished welding the traction bar bracket to the axle, then painted the traction bar tonight, also added a grease zerk. Need to trim the center skid a bit so the traction bar can go down further. What's cool is on level ground I can unbolt the bar from the axle, drop it down and slide the whole rear part out under the axle tubes.:thumbsup:

Here you can get an idea of how long that inner tube is... it's bolted up in this pic:

Now easily servicable from the side of the Jeep:

 

[fratis]

please keep us updated on how it works. reason why i ask is it would seem on first look that the binding nature that the axle rotation (upward force on the frame end of the bar) caused under load will be enough to keep it from moving freely inside the tube. this is something a simple flex test will not show. i remember teraflex had a link design similar and many people reported a similar problem. i only bring this up not as criticism but something to watch for as you put it to use. so let us know how it works.

 

[flatlander757]

I'll keep an eye on that, but don't think it will be a problem... it's such a close tolerance that the end won't dig in and it's pretty smoooooth with the grease in there... Either way I don't see it physically changing length a whole lot in it's travel so I'll see what happens when it's actually wheeled.

 

[buckshot500]

It took me a minute to realize you made it with a slip/swivel joint to prevent binding, very cool!

 

[BESRK]

Nice!

Tony, you know I have a CNC Plasma Table now right? Let me know if you need anything. Table is 4'x4' but I'm already looking to expand it to a 4'x8' before long... If you need small brackets, bring me a drawing on a Case of Mich Ultra and I'll stop what I'm doing to help... :rofl:

 

[flatlander757]

Nice!

Tony, you know I have a CNC Plasma Table now right? Let me know if you need anything. Table is 4'x4' but I'm already looking to expand it to a 4'x8' before long... If you need small brackets, bring me a drawing on a Case of Mich Ultra and I'll stop what I'm doing to help... :rofl:

Haha sounds good man:thumbsup:

I'll probably be heading over to your shop some time in the next month or so for you to just check over all my welds and whatnot... there are a couple I want you to hit with your 220v machine so I can feel better when I really wheel it.

I remember seeing some posts a while back that you can home-brew some front driveshafts and semi-balance them? I want to go ******* cheap on the front shaft... as long as it's good to 20mph I'll be happy, I'll be pulling the drive slugs when I'm not offroad.

 

[RARECJ8]

holy thread revival. any long term comments after the slip n twist went in? Am in need of this asap and researching all ideas. TIA

 

[RARECJ8]

How it turned out. Very solid.