Traction bars are mechanical components that connect the axle to the frame or leaf springs to prevent wheel hop during acceleration by limiting vertical movement of the axle. When installing traction bars on vehicles with spring-under configurations (like S10 trucks), the bars can be bolted directly without modification, whereas spring-over vehicles (like Blazers) require lowering the bars. The installation process involves removing the lower leaf spring plates, installing new bushings, and adjusting the bars to provide proper preload on the leaf springs.
Deep Dive
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Deep Dive
Installing the CHEAPEST Traction Bars on the Internet on my S10!Added:
Welcome back to the Ban Rest YouTube channel.
It's S10 time, folks.
Oh yeah, we're back on the freaking unit. The lovely Turbo LT S10. Folks, we got an event coming up Saturday, which will be May 16th, I think. If not, I'll correct it. I'm pretty sure it's May 16th, over in Gladwin, Michigan, Thunder on the Strip, which is just an airirst strip, where we take our street junk and go have some fun. So, if you guys are new to this truck, let me get you a light and show you what we got going on because we got something in store for this unit that we got to do really fast.
This, my friends, is a 2017 Cadillac Escalade 6.2 2 L86 bone stock with a cam phaser lockout port injection courtesy of ICT built and all their little brackets and adapters make it port injected and a VS Racing 7875. So, this thing's a fun unit. Dual 450s in the tank with Henson Motorsports uh premium dropin module.
This thing's a ripper, guys. Now, it is only on 7 PSI right now and we have room to turn it up. We just been having issues with turning it up and I think it's a wastegate problem because I put it in the crossover. I don't think I have enough spring. Either way, the problem is it doesn't hook as it is because it's a regular cab short, you know, back S10. Yeah, but it does have a Ford88 with a 373 and a limited slip.
It's got a turbo 400 full manual valve body FTI. It's their stage three and a half or something. It's the one just before trans brake and reverse manual valve body. So, it is a forward shift pattern and it's got the nice we're going to call that the the fresh air intake. You know, that's what we're going to call it. So, what are we doing to this unit today? Well, I just mentioned we're having trouble with the traction. And it is a beautiful day out today, guys. We're looking at uh you know, it's probably going to be 60 today, so it's kind of chilly, but Oh, you you saw that? Well, if you've been paying attention, you may have seen my short. That actually is our buddy Junkyard Waynees. Fresh barnf find 1986 TT type. Okay, she is turbo. She is factory. She is cool, but it doesn't run. That's what we're going to do with that at a later video. And yes, the quarter panel is smashed, but it is a saver. Trust me, we will have it on the hoist sooner than later. Back to the project at hand. Our Turbo LTS or XS10.
Let me lower this down so the sun's not in our eyes.
Let's show you what we're doing. So, traction, traction, traction.
We got this box here that is eBay performance's finest knockoff Calras.
And you're like, why don't you just buy the real ones? Well, remember folks, we're all about trial and error. And you know, let me find a damn knife. I need more knives. There we go. We got one box cutter. Okay, so we're all about trial and error around here. And I I got to try this stuff out for you guys as well as me to save my wallet. Now, everything I hear, these are very, very comparable traction bars to how the old uh, you know, Cal Tracks are, and I hear a lot of good things about them. So, it's unfortunate that this is how this stuff works, but fortunately for us broke folk, this is what we got to do. Oh, we do have another project showing up here in a few since uh it is that time of the year for drag racing and fun events. You'll see Jeremy's truck probably pull up here in a few minutes.
and you'll see that video later this week. This is hopefully uh look at that.
Okay. All right. There's our lower plates. Yeah. So, anyways, Jeremy's truck will be uh you'll just have to wait and see because we're going to be doing some special stuff to that one for Thunder on the strip as well cuz we're trying to get them both ready. But, okay.
Little bars aren't too bad looking, huh?
Looks pretty mint.
Don't want to scratch the paint on them.
There's our leaf spring plates. I'm not really sure how these work.
I think I have to replace the leaf spring bushing. I don't know yet. We're going to learn together. Um because I'm sure because it's a eBay performance, there's no instructions. But we got our big aluminum roller wheel thingies. I don't really know how they work either, but uh I'm going to bet we're going to find some instructions.
There's no instructions. We're going to piece her together. But anyways, yeah, let's get this thing in the air. I'm going to start laying that stuff out real fast because I want to see kind of the ins and outs. I know it replaces the lower leaf spring plate, which we knew that. Um, for an S10, it's bolt-on because S10s are spring over. No, let me say this right. S10s are spring under the axle where Blazers are spring over.
So, if you use it in a Blazer, you got to lower it and make it spring under.
So, with trucks, it's going to be even easier for us. And being this is a Tennessee truck with no rust, we're gonna go ahead and we should be able to get that upper or front bolt out pretty easy. So, and it'll give us a chance to, you know, give this thing a look over.
Now, I wanted to ask you guys something real quick. I'm all I'm all over the place. All right, I'm excited. I love when I get the hot rod out, but I have one of the ICT billet plates up top here. And have you guys had issues with leaking oil? Mine has got the new O-ring and you have the lower delete plate. But then I also have that upper piece for basically I use it for a turbo feed, but mine's leaking oil. So, let me know in the comments if you have any issues with that. Um, I might just have it welded.
My buddy Jeff's a hell of a aluminum TIG welders. I may have him just burn that two together. I got to worry about leaks. But yeah, anyh who, let's get this stuff sorted out.
Let me give you guys a walk under under my truck here. Let me show you what's going on. Now, again, if you've been tagging along the build series, you know what's up here. But we got a 4-in aluminum drive shaft. We have 1350 U-jints. And this is just a forged 88 bolt-on yolk.
Goes up to our FTI TH400.
And we got our uh well, it leaks a little bit of oil and looks like transmission fluid still because god forbid I can't not have those leak. It seems like something to to pay attention to. Look at that. You see it's right on our our tape to know which one's which for our waste gate. But essentially this is our unit folks. Got a crossover. Got our uh blowoff there for the wastegate. Transcoolers mounted to the bed. And yes, I have not hooked anything up because you know what? I work on everybody else's stuff for mounting, right? That's just how it works out it seems like. I know. Um so she needs some love. But I'm telling you them lines being wet is annoying cuz I've tightened those things up countless times it seems like. If you have any tips for that, let me know. I mean, they are um on the uh more budget price side, so shame on me for that, I guess. But anyh who, you can see we had cut the frame out for our LT, which I know our rear main seal leaks because, god forbid, I don't think I can put a rear seal in without it leaking. So, yeah, she's full of oil leaks. Brand new starter dripping oil. It's great, great, great, great. But she's still fun to drive. I got to get This stuff will be handled all this summer, guys. I promise you that. I got to dial that in. You know, oil on the track ain't good. And plus, you know how fluid and heat is. That ain't good either. So, that's how things go.
Boom. All right. But back to the problem in hand. Um, you see we got our Ford 88 in the rear. We've talked about this. I do have wheel adapters and that's why the wheels stick out and look funny.
Just so I was able to keep my Chevy wheels for now. Eventually, we're just going to buy a Ford 4 and 1/2 five on four and a half pattern that are the same style wheel and you wouldn't know the difference. Kind of like we did on Jeremy's truck. with the 88 and that um what else for this unit? The disc brake setup. So, we didn't even we were able just to get away with the, you know, I didn't I didn't put an adjustable portion or nothing. I just bolted everything in. It just it works.
It feels good on the gravel road. The rear end doesn't lock up. So, we've been just rocking it. But other than that, yeah. So, Ubolts are all new and stuff like that. So, these should come apart pretty smooth. The shocks mount the same way. So, that'll be easy to distinguish which plate goes where.
Um, obviously this one's going over here.
And it almost looks like it changes the position of the shock, too. Maybe that's just for clearance sake. I don't know. I don't know. We'll see. So, let's uh Yeah, let's get unbolt some stuff, guys.
You know, it's one of the benefits of spring under is that we don't have to worry about the axle falling out, right?
So, easy enough shocks.
And uh I thought about getting some like Lakewoods or some sort of like I don't know drag race type shock, but I'm not big big into this stuff. I enjoy it.
It's fun, but I mean I'm not like the most fluent in what I need for drag racing. I'm not trying to be the next, you know, I don't know, whoever, but it's just something we like to do as kind of a hobby. We got a couple drag strips that are within an hour of us.
So, we try to go down like Ubly or Northern um up in uh Khaliva, I think is where it's at. So, bounce around a couple local tracks and then we do this one event every year just to go screw off.
So, that's always fun. And then it's it's cheap, you know what I mean? You can take your kids, your family, whatever, you know, and and have a good time. And the car community is just great people anyways. So, usually you get a lot of support there, too. So, pretty cool. But we got four 19s, which mine are obviously different than yours possibly cuz I have different U-bolts, but they'll come off the same.
Now, at this point here, I almost wonder if I should pull a leaf spring cuz they say you got to if you go to like a mono leaf or something, but I think you got to buy a specific leaf for that.
Let me know in the comments if you're more familiar with this stuff.
Okay, them are loose.
Now, for me, these are going to take a little bit of effort just because of the fact that I have the the Ubolts kind of stretched around since the 88 axle is a little bigger than the factory.
Well, they did us a favor by slotting these things out. But honestly, this isn't too bad for a couple hundred bucks. I'll drop the link in. I think I paid like 220 or something on eBay. So, we'll see. I mean, and anything's going to be better than what we had, which was nothing. So, hopefully that stands true at the track. I mean, the him joints seem kind of, you know, I mean, maybe lower quality, but what do you expect?
Step one complete. And honestly, that went pretty quick. I'm like 10 minutes in tops, and that's filming as well. So, not bad. Obviously, we're going to recheck those with a torque wrench, at least a breaker bar. Now, step three, I got to get this dude loose. And again, my truck is southern, so it should come out nice. Um, if yours is not, I think you have to drill the bushing anyway, so you can just kind of whack the bolts off. What did he say? You know, just just kind of, you know, and then drill out the bushing. So, we're going to see that part in just a second because I know you end up with these big aluminum things. I think these are my new leaf spring bushings.
Maybe these maybe that would make more sense, but we're going to find out together here. So, let's get that front leaf spring bolt pulled.
So, we got to go ahead and get some support on this axle because when we pull the front leaf spring bolts down, she's going to flop. So, I'm hoping I can get that driver side bolt out without cutting it because they put it through the wrong way from the factory.
So, little bit of tension on that.
And then we have a 21 and a 21.
Oh, yeah. Got to love a southern truck.
I tell you that. Now, them Michigan trucks, boys. I tell you, this uh that bolt don't come out like that.
I get caught in the face. There we go.
See, I'm not used to that myself. So, don't don't think this is normal for me.
All right.
Wish me luck on the other side. So, I don't know if you see the potential dilemma here, but um this is a gas tank and this is a bolt and I don't think it's going to come out far enough. So, I do have another bolt just in case I have to cut this one. It it might be a forward leaf spring bolt, but don't don't tell anybody.
And that one's moving, too. Sweet.
And we'll just use a wrench to beat on it. You know, very professional, Brian.
We might get lucky, but I doubt it. I can tell you I already know. I mean, I got two fingers worth and it's not even through the leaf spring yet. So, I'm going to go ahead and cut this off real fast. And then we'll just have to find a new bolt.
put some locking pliers on here and see if we can get this out the rest of the way. Now, remember folks, you just got to commit to that stuff. You know what I mean? You don't really want to cut next to a gas tank. You don't really want to have to cut your bolt, but that's why a lot of these projects take way longer than you ever wanted them to is because you second guess yourself. Trust me, once you get past that and don't care as much, goes a lot faster. So, that one's ready to come out, too.
Now, theoretically, when we lower this down, they should pop out.
There a little tension off. There it is.
Okay. Don't want to go crazy cuz we still got our drive shaft hooked up, but that should be enough. Now, we got to take the old drill bit. Now, I've never done that before, so we're going to see.
I've watched enough videos where guys say, "Oh, just ram a drill bit in there and walk it around and air chisel out the sleeve." And we're we're going to try it. Wish me luck. But I think actually I think Jeremy just pulled in.
Let's go. Uh let's go take a look at his truck and we'll get back to this project. Oh yeah, you guys remember this unit. There he is. What's up, dude?
>> What's up, buddy?
>> Oh, man. I was just telling him about the unit. I didn't tell him what we're doing yet to it, though. Or did I? I don't I don't remember.
>> Oh, I'm sure we gave him hints.
>> Yeah. So, it's been a long time coming, but we're going to finally put a Chinese choo boy on this thing.
>> Yes.
>> And makes all the horsepower. And then we hope that it hooks and does all kinds of fancy stuff. But there's a lot to do to this truck. What do we got? Track bars. Um, >> uh, Holly.
>> Holly. Yeah, we're switching over to Holly. Have turbo hot side, cold side, all the sides. And, uh, today is Monday and we're racing Saturday.
>> Yeah, theoretically. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense.
>> We still got to invent the wheel on the exhaust. And, you know, >> we got a MIG welder there. It'll be okay. It may not look the best, but it'll function. So, yeah, we got we're going to wrap up my truck real fast.
Like I said, this will be Tuesday's video. And this is a little sneak peek for what's coming Friday, guys. We haven't even started on it yet, so wish us luck. So, I got the uh the right angle drill. Um, and like I said, you'll see more of Jeremy's truck here in a couple days, but for now, we got to get this thing hooking. So, I'm hoping, you know, nobody tells you what size drill bit to use. And and we're just going to go for it. I break my wrist. That's why I got all this extra leverage, right?
Once you get through, I guess it just walks around, right?
Is that what's supposed to happen?
Well, it ain't walking around yet. Am I going the wrong way? Maybe.
I don't know. I don't know. Let's try a smaller drill bit.
Oh, whoa. It did something.
All right, that worked out. That's going to start if I can get this thing to take off again. There we go.
I guess let's try knocking out this way.
Hey, so this was the part I was kind of curious about. Um, I think we're just going to have to use the ball joint press and squeeze this in there because right now it ain't going to fit it. I mean, it should be pretty realistic.
Like I said, it's a big C clamp. We'll just put a plate on the back side. I'm going to go ahead and put a little bit of lubrication on there and then hopefully it goes right in. The old fluid film really good rust preventative stuff. I love this stuff. Uh what I like also is it cling it's clingy. You know it's messy when you undercoat with it but you know everything has a purpose and this stuff like I said I mean you could use like weight lithium or something you know but at least that way she's lubricated. What a managerie. But we got it. It is going. So, I'm going to get the impact out and see if we can rip this thing in quick.
So, the biggest thing is you don't want these things noisy. So, they give you this steel sleeve and we're basically just going to put some Molly lube on it.
Now, remember, you got to do two of them. They give you enough to do that.
So, be modest to save some for the other side.
Now, if I guess if you're desperate, we use some red grease, but I don't know how well it's going to work for you.
pretty early how much it expanded that, but I guess you want it to be tight, right?
So, she is lubed up. Got the passenger side bushing in. And by all means, I watched a video. Of course, that's what YouTubers do is watch YouTube videos, right? Uh yeah, the guy said 20 minutes, you can have them together. 20 minutes if the bushings were already installed because by all means, that was a pain in the ass, but the ball joint press for the win. And also, I did drive a chisel to kind of open it up a little bit and they went in really hard, but they are in and we got them hanging. So, while I got Jeremy here, we're going to jack this up and get our bolts through. Now, remember, we did cut that bolt, so we do have to find a a new one. So, at least for us. Go ahead and swing that up, Jeremy, would you?
>> Yep.
>> I got you.
>> So, hopefully it's as simple as popping that back in. So, go ahead and keep going.
Just need to get this to pop through. Of course, because we got that Ford 888 in it, we're using the factory spring with it's one of our problems. But let's see.
This one's going in pretty good. I may have to help Jeremy fight with that one in a second.
And remember, you always want to beat down your threads.
Hey.
Okay, that one is in.
So, we found the weakest link already.
These snap rings are garbage. Now, remember, these were 200 bucks, folks.
But, they've already popped off on the one side. They don't fit where the damn.
So, something to think about. We're going to change them. But, I did spin the bolt around. Now, we just got to find another one for the other side.
Second dilemma. This is selfinduced.
Remember, we said we put a 488 in it, which you've saw already. And I did not move the spring pad. So, basically, the leaf springs are kind of you kind of spring them out maybe a/ inch, which isn't a lot, and it works. definitely works. But check this out. Here's a self-induced problem.
You see the spring overhanging on this side? Well, if you understand how these work, they roll down the leaf spring.
So, they don't actually move, I don't think. But I'm going to go ahead and just bevel this spring back to here.
At least that way if it does decide to roll down it, we're not going to have any issues. But like right now, for example, it is wedged on this side. So, I think it's going to bind up here. So, little bit of grinding shouldn't be a big deal and we can carry on. I mean, some call it hack, some call it being resourceful.
So, I'm fairly confident we're 100% doing this the wrong way, but we're going to go ahead and try it anyway. So, we got the bar hanging. I threw that together. So, we got a dilemma. Hitting the leaf spring. Jeremy, problem.
>> Oh, yeah, definitely.
>> So, here's the thing. Um, I probably don't need it. I know you want the rear soft and we were considering pulling it, but I already got it all together. So, I'm just going to cut the front half of this off and, you know, do it the hack way because uh they're $200 traction bars. So, I mean, if anything, it's got to be better than nothing. So, let's try cutting it first.
Worst case, at a later date and we get more time, we could revisit this. And you say, "Why revisit it when you're already there?" Be because I don't want to do it. So, let's try cutting the spring off and giving us some clearance.
How about a nice action? Oh, yeah. Look at that, though.
>> See, it'll be just fine. Now he's got lift blocks. So, realistically, if we cut the back off again, like I said, it's essentially like a lift block, so it'll be fine. I'm going to leave the back on for now. But we got clearance now, folks. So, here's the other dilemma that I don't know. We're going to deal with these Chinese clips. See if we can find some nice ones. And then I almost think about put a bolt with a couple washers just so that can't pop off. You know what I mean? Just preference because they do feel super chintzy.
Again, it's 200 bucks. But I don't know if I should adjust this out now or do I set it on the ground and adjust it. So, I think I might do that. Um, you want a little bit of preload is the idea, but you also want it to reach again with the T-U version here. We got, you know, little eBay performance. Um, I did put a bolt with some big fender washers on there just so that can't come apart.
Them snap rings are super janky. Um, I have a minimal selection. So, I did find a couple, but of course I found two, not four. So, couple washers. That's just for my own sanity. But, being everything is basically like this him joint style and that's a steel bushing. We can tighten everything up. Normally, you would not do this until it's on the ground, you know, if you have a rubber bushing. But, so for us, let's send her home.
Now we can go ahead and tighten these shocks up.
So that is the final rendition. And yes, I hit these with a torque wrench. Uh well, let's just call it a breaker bar.
So I made sure they're good. They're good. Uh shocks are back on again. These aren't liquids. These are uh you know OEM, but we'll deal with that on a later date. Remember, we're just trying to get rid of this weekend. Okay, you see we got everything fastened up. These things are just a swinging.
But we got to get this thing on the ground. And rumor has it we need to basically when it finally sets on the ground, we need to adjust them basically. What was it Jeremy? Tension on the pins and then I think what a >> and then one full turn. Yeah, that's that's what we're seeing. Anyways, so we're going to go ahead and probably set it down now.
>> I guess if we hinge these up, it might get the pins in. If we were to like knock these back like that, that might reach now, right? Oh, yeah. See, we're smarter than the average cookie, you know? I don't know why the hell I didn't think about that, guys. But look at that. So, now we got our big bolt going through, and she fits like factory. Now, remember, make sure you tell me how you would do it in the comments. I'd love to hear what you guys do on this stuff because uh your boy's new. All right?
I've been racing and doing all kinds of crazy my whole life, but you know, competitive drag racing is not my treat.
And I'm not saying that's what we're doing either, but I got to go faster than Jeremy's truck.
Theoretically, this is what we're supposed to be looking at. Everything is tight and ready to set on the ground.
And this way here, we can adjust what we need, but we obviously want this pin resting on top of the spring. And that's why we cleaned up this mess, too. So, hopefully that'll slide right past. I did the same to the other side. And again, that's just because I stretched the springs and didn't move the perches on the old 88. So, let's set her down and see what she looks like.
She's on the ground just like she's supposed to. So, let's take a look.
Theoretically, we just kind of twist our arms to bring the the pin against the top of the spring.
Now, again, the dude we watched, he said do this and then once you get to that point, give it one full turn when it touches. I almost wonder if we're going to run out of him joint. That is crazy.
Crazy crazy.
Really hope that's not the case.
But that is that is on it. But that is not like tight. You know what I mean? Like I can do this by hand.
Oh, I guess it does push the leaf spring down.
It definitely is doing that. So, I'm going to go ahead and just get it to touch it and then give it a quarter turn by hand. I didn't think it was going to be that easy, but we do have new everything. But, I'm blown away how minimal these are actually in. And that might be the difference between uh China versus Calras. So I got the other side adjusted and there's not a lot of him joint in the rod, you know, the rod end in the link bar. I don't know. I mean, there's no way of verifying verifying.
So I don't have one to compare cuz they're already all together. But in a situation like this, I guess it is what it is and we'll just see what happens.
If it breaks, what's worse going to happen? It's got leaf springs still. I mean, >> yeah, you're lo >> That's the worst going to happen. Go ahead and tighten this one up here. But overall, for 200 bucks, guys, not bad.
Not bad.
>> Yeah, they look great.
>> Yeah, I mean, they look super professional. I'm just going to write uh you know, I don't know.
>> Might have to order some stickers that say >> No, we'll put uh China tracks on there or something, you know. Not bad. That wasn't a bad job, guys. I think that in this situation for the couple hundred bucks, it it was worth it so far to me. I mean, realistically, we haven't tried them yet. Obviously, we're going to try them this weekend. We got the drag radials back in the corner. We're going to get the street tires off. And like I said, I'm going to end up getting some Ford wheels just so it looks better. And you ask, why not redo the axles? Well, if I break an axle, I can go to the auto part store and get one. I don't have to modify anything. So, that's why we're still running the Ford pattern in the rear. And for the guys that say you should have put an 8 and 1/2 in there out of an S10 ZR2, you'd still have that goofy looking width. So, to each their own. Plus, I'm not a Govock fan. So, just remember that when you get your eight and a half out of your ZR2. But overall, guys, we have traction bars on the S10. Hopefully, we don't get the wheel hop. Hopefully, it hooks.
Hopefully, the tires stick to the ground. It's going to be glorious next.
What's that?
>> I was going to say or you spin out and I pass you.
>> I mean, that we're going to see. We're going to see cuz remember who's >> I do one of the >> remember who's helping them set that unit up. So, guys, I do appreciate you for tagging into this how Tuesday. It wasn't really going to be a how-to Tuesday, but it is now because we showed you how to put the eBay performance traction bars on your S10. And this does work from 82 to 02 or the whole span of these trucks. Anyways, and again, the Blazers if they're axle swap or uh axle flipped. So, on that note, on behalf of me, Jeremy, and this truck, make sure you like, subscribe, show good stuff.
We'll see you on the next one.
Heat.
Heat.
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