Leaf Springs with Ladder Bars

[RichSchmidt]

About 20 years ago my good friend and old shop partner Jimmy had an a 12 bolt with those ladder bars on it,an 80 Malibu body with the frame rails notched,a burning desire to join the 2 and not 2 nickles to rub together.After cutting and welding the stock upper control arms to get the pion angle right but still left with worn out suspention bushings and socks,we had the bright idea of taking the ladder bars and drilling the front to accept a traction bar snubber.We then sheet metal screwed 2 blocks of wood to the floor of the car,positioned the ladder bars about 1" from the frame and zapped the bars right to the axle tubes.Car ran like a scalded dog and we got our first lesson on suspention design.They really should put a minimum age limit on how old you can be to buy a stick welder.

[69 Post Sedan]

Here's a picture of a Nova with ladder bars on it. It was for sale a while ago on this site. I like the look but after purchasing my car, which had ladder bars on it, I found out from a LOT of people that they are horrible on the suspension. Needless to say I took them off for multiple reasons. So, in my opinion, if you want "the look"...go for it.

But, if you are really going to POUND ON IT, I would either put good leaf spring traction bars http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CEE-2101/ or the Slide-A-Link traction bars: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CEE-2100/

[Zach Carter]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess they are coming off. I've got too much money invested in this project and don't want to have to fix broken rear end parts. I really like the look however I must say. I guess at the end of the day I do want something that is enjoyable to drive. I'm trying to stick with period "Day 2" components however. Does anyone know which Lakewood Traction Bars Dave Belk has on his Nova in the picture below?

[Zach Carter]

Well..... I was going to wait till the car was finished to post pictures, however I thought you guys might want to see what she looked like so far.

[m22mike]

That thing is sweet Zach.. ..how about some outside shots...

[MultiMopars]

Has anyone tried a pinion snubber like Mopar and Ford have used on leaf spring cars?

It is a pretty easy set up. Even for a rear end without a pinion snubber mount surface you can usually find a way to mount it to the rear end OR "reverse" mount it with a snubber on the floor pan. They now make newer easily adjustable ones. With this and a good set of springs it is "unseen" unless you get under the car and look for it.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

If you are only going for the ladder bar 'Look', can you simply mount them a little loose around the axle (perhaps using a rubber sleeve) to prevent the damage? I really like the look, and plan to install the screaming yellow version on the '69 SS Nova.... someday!

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

[quote=Zach]Well..... I was going to wait till the car was finished to post pictures, however I thought you guys might want to see what she looked like so far.


I like this look....

[PxTx]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">[quote=Zach]Well..... I was going to wait till the car was finished to post pictures, however I thought you guys might want to see what she looked like so far.


I like this look.... </div></div>

Marlin, I did not realize how lucky you were to get these from Zach. Not only are they NOS, but they included the super rare crossmember brace.

I recently found a set of leaf spring bars NOS and only after looking at the paperwork realized the bar was an extra, not part of the standard kit. This was confirmed by a set which recently sold NOS on ebay and also by Dan &quot;Day2speedshop&quot; who also has an NOS set.

I feel lucky now too since I just scored a bar, NOS and the matching color to my set. I also really like the look of the whole kit installed. Thanks to Zach for posting the sweet pics.

[WILMASBOYL78]

I believe the correct Lakewood bar would be the Traction Action. We have an original set on our 1970 TH400 L78...here is a pic.

wilma