I have a set on my truck. I'm just wondering what you suspension gurus think about their effect on handling. I was sure doing a lot of slip sliding on the auto-x course last Sunday, and I'm wondering whether the bars may have contributed to the looseness. Maybe the F1s are just going away. Opinions?

 

From what I hear they do affect handling, but to what extent, I dont know.

 

thats odd.. i thought they made it handle a little better..
maybe it was my imagination. i know it rides a little rougher.

brooks

 

I have a set and I think you might be onto something. I've noticed a stiffeness (skittering) [for lack of a better word] while going around turns on bumpy/uneven pavement.

Here's a idea, remove them (four bolts) and go back to the auto cross track and see if it makes a difference. Most of us have never been on a road course and these traction bars were made to prevent axle wrap while dragracing.

Please let us know what you find.

 

Alpha,

I would think the length of the bars would assist (a little) in limiting lateral axle movement.

During your next Auto X adventure, try running with the bars then without.

A panhard bar is the shizznit when it comes to pummeling apexes...

Bob

 

George, as you know, I don't run JDM bars, but maybe I can be of help.

Any traction device that produces lift in the front end, probably is not your friend, when it comes to turning a 5000 lb. truck.

I have noticed with my Truck-Traks that it is possible to blast up and down the local mountain roads, and sacrifice very little in terms of cornering ability. Experience taught me, that I needed to adjust my driving style, with my traction bars.

What I found was that the lift provided by the bars would allow me very good traction out of the turns and down the straights. However, if I got on the accelerator too soon, the lift provided by the bars, would cause understeer due to weight being lifted from the steering tires.

The adjustment that I had to make, was to drive as deeply into the turn, with the brakes on as hard and long as possible. In doing so, weight stayed on the front tires longer, and further into the turn. By then, the exit toward the apex was much straighter, and the truck would accelerate hard out of the turns.

On the Truck-Traks, you can delay the lift produced by the bars by increasing the distance between the snubber and the springs. If you can do the same thing with the JDM bars, I don't see why they wouldn't work as well.

There are a couple of guys back east who autocross with my bars. You might contact them. One I know for sure is Daniel Lees, known to us as "thepawn".

I hope this helps.

 

This is exactly the kind of service that makes Jay Lincoln stand out. Way to go man....

 

Thanks for the info, Jay. The bars stay on, regardless, so I will just have to adapt my driving style to them. The truck seemed to be less loose at Fontana, though, so I suspect it may be more a matter of the F1s going away than anything else. Can't wait to get my hands on a set of the new 555R-IIs, though.